Shetland

In order to understand the history of the Burgar family in Shetland it is necessary to have some understanding of the history and geography of Shetland. Much of the following discussion has been derived from www.Shetlopedia.com ¹³

Firstly, Shetland is made up of hundreds of Islands, but the largest and most important are Mainland, Yell, Unst and Fetlar.

Shetland measures about 70 miles from Sumburgh Head in the south to Muckle Flugga off the coast of Unst in the north. With a land area of 567 square miles enclosed by a coastline of 900 miles, nowhere is more than three miles from the sea, and very few places are out of sight of it.

Shetland is thought to have been inhabited by the Picts. This was the name given by the Romans to the inhabitants of Scotland. It is likely that they were Celts along with the rest of the population of the British Isles and Ireland.

In the 8^th century the Vikings started raiding the British Isles and soon Orkney and Shetland and other northern islands were under Norwegian rule. Eventually Norway was conquered by Denmark and the Islands passed to Denmark. The Orkneys and Shetlands remained Danish unto 1468, when they were mortgaged to Scotland as part of a marriage dowry between the future James III and Princess Margrethe of Denmark. However, for several hundred years prior to this the major landowners in the islands were Scottish aristocrats who paid tithes to the Norwegian/Danish crown.

The land was divided into crofts (about 5 to 10 acres each) which were worked by a family. In Viking times these crofters had rights to the land but after the Scots took over, the Scottish Lords gradually bought up the crofts and the previously independent crofters became tenants and were virtually reduced to serfdom. By 1600 various branches of the Sinclair family had established estates in the Dunrossness area of the Shetland Isles. Other wealthy families established estates in the rest of Shetland.

Dunrossness is in the southern tip of mainland and is important to this story in that most of the Burgar family in the 1700s were living there..

Following in the wake of the Sinclair Lairds were many people from Scotland and Orkney. It is thought that by 1600 a third of the population of Shetland (estimated at 10,000) were immigrants from Scotland or Orkney. In Dunrossness maybe a half of the population were immigrants.

Norse law prevailed in Shetland until 1611, when it was replaced by Scottish Law.

In the 16th and 17th centuries many German merchants (the Hanseatic League) had trading posts in Shetland. They sold luxury goods, household implements, brandy and gin, tobacco and basic raw materials (timber) to Shetland and in return the Shetlanders sold them local produce. In 1685, Hugh Leigh wrote: ⁴⁸

The product of this Countrey is mainly Fish, Oyl, Butter, Wool, Feathers, Beef, Tallow, Hides, Stuff, Woolen Stockings and Woolen Gloves and Garters.

In addition the Dutch had an enormous fishing fleet which would buy fish from the Shetland fishermen.

However, by 1700 most of the Merchants ceased to operate and the Dutch fishing fleets stopped coming.

Up to this time the Lairds had received income from renting the land and receiving various tithes from the crofters. These tithes were in the form of fish, butter, cloth, and the items mentioned above, which the Lairds then sold on to the merchants. In addition they received goods in kind from the merchants in payment for allowing them to set up Booths from which the merchants transacted their business. The merchants also paid the Shetlanders in cash, normally German and Dutch, Scot and English coinage. The Lairds also charged the Dutch fishing fleet a charge for all fish taken.

When the merchants and fishing fleet left Shetland, the income of the Lairds fell drastically and they had to change the way the Islands were run.