UNST
Hills — Lochs—Geological
Formation—Harbours—History and Antiquities.
THE most northerly spot
in Her Majesty's home dominions is one of the most interesting islands
of Shetland. Of oblong shape, it is about twelve miles long, and four or
five broad. The rapid tideway of Blue Mull Sound, about a mile wide,
separates it from Yell. Although more level than other islands of the
archipelago, the surface of Unst is diversified by several hills of
considerable prominence. “Vallafield, rising within a mile and a-half of
its southern extremity, runs in a direction parallel to the west coast,
and, under different names, to^the very northern point.” The bold peak
of Saxaforth, the highest in the island, rises somewhat abruptly towards
its north end. It is nine hundred and thirty-six feet high, and is
visible fourteen leagues off the coast. “Crossfield stands nearly in the
middle, and at right angles to Vallafield.” “Vordhill stretches out
parallel to the east coast.” A chain of lochs runs through the
longitudinal diameter of the island—from Burrafirth in the north to
Belmont in the south. The most important lake in this chain is that of
Cliff, which is more than two miles long. On the west it is overhung by
the comparatively high hill of Vallafield; and, altogether, the scenery
along its shore is very pleasant. Interspersed between these hills and
lakes are considerable tracts of level ground, which afford good
pasturage where cultivation does not exist. As to geological structure,
Unst is chiefly formed of gneiss, and mica, and talc schists, with
considerable quantities of serpentine. Through the serpentine run
several rich veins of chromate of iron, discovered by. Dr Hibbert, in
1817. Other minerals of less importance have also been found in the
serpentine, as hydrate of magnesia.
The coast is generally
rugged and craggy, unless along the harbours. It is not very high,
except on the west and north. There are three or four very good harbours,
particularly Balta Sound and Uyea Sound, both of which have the great
advantage of shelter from the isles, from which they derive their names.
History and Antiquities.—Unst
appears to have been one of the first districts of Shetland settled by
the Scandinavians. Its greater contiguity to their own country than any
other island in the group, together with the protection afforded to the
vikings by its insulated position and good harbours, probably commended
it to the Norsemen as a desirable site for a colony. It was at
Haroldswick, in this island, that Harold Harfagre, King of Norway, first
landed when on his famous expedition, which resulted in the conquest of
all the Scandinavian colonies of Shetland, Orkney, &c., and their'
annexation to the mother country.
Unst appears to have been
a place of some importance in the old Pictish times, long before the
arrival of the Norsemen. In the neighbourhood of Balta Sound, in the
middle of the island, the remains of three Druidical-like circles are to
be found. The largest of these is near the now ruinous kirk of Baliasta.
“ It is formed by three concentric circles, cut into the stratum of soil
that covers the serpentine, into which boulder stones or earth were
thrown, until they rose above the level of the ground. The diameter of
the outermost circle is 67 feet, of the middle one 54f feet, and of the
innermost 40 feet. There is a small central tumulus of stones in the
middle of the enclosure, 12 feet in diameter, the presence of which is
no unfrequent indication of a Scandinavian temple.” Traces of a similar
set of concentric circles, of less circumference, however, than those
just mentioned, are to be found a mile to the^ eastward, along the hill
of Courcifield; and about eighty feet from this second temple, as Dr
Hibbert terms it, is a third enclosure, consisting of only two
concentric circles, the outer being twenty-two, and the inner seventeen
feet in diameter. One of the neighbouring hill-peaks called the Muckle
Heog is said to have been a place of execution, winch tradition was
confirmed by the late Dr James Hunt, President of the Anthropological
Society of London, who in 1865 overturned a tumulus on its summit, and
found a considerable quantity of human bones.
The great Ting, or
general Parliament of Shetland, is said to have met in Unst before it
was removed to Tingwall. Its place of meeting is supposed to have been
one of the circular enclosures just mentioned. The foude, or judge, sat
on the central tumulus, while the udallers took their places within the
concentric enclosures, according to their rank in the community. “If any
accused person, after hearing the sentence of the lagman, was desirous
to appeal to the voice of the people, he tried to effect his escape in a
direction that led to the more westerly circle of stones situated on an
adjoining hill; and if he reached in safety that sacred site of ground,
his lif$ was preserved, but if the popular indignation was against him
he was pursued on his way to the sanctuary, and any one before he
reached it might put him to death.” The ruins of numerous chapels have
been already referred to. They present no architectural features worthy
of note, and are merely interesting as showing that, in their younger
days, the island contained a large population, much attached tc the
Roman Catholic faith. |