Walls, known locally as Waas (

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

: ''Vagar'' = "Sheltered Bays" (voes) - the

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added the "ll" as they thought it was a corruption of "walls". Cf

Vágar Vágar ( da, Vågø) is one of the 18 islands in the archipelago of the Faroe Islands and the most westerly of the ''large islands''. With a size of , it ranks number three, behind Streymoy and Eysturoy. Vágar region also comprises the island ...

and

Vágur Vágur meaning ''Bay'' ( da, Våg) is a town on the island of Suðuroy, part of the Faroe Islands It is situated on the east coast of the island on the Vágsfjørður fjord, and was founded in the fourteenth century. Expansion has meant that the ...

in the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

), is a settlement on the south side of

West Mainland The West Mainland of the Shetland Islands is the part of the Shetland Mainland lying west of Aith (1° 23′ W). Geography Points of interest include: *Aith * Twatt *Sandness * Walls *Easter Skeld * Reawick *Wester Skeld Wester can refer to: ...

Shetland Islands Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The settlement is at the head of Vaila Sound and sheltered even from southerly storms by the islands of

Linga A lingam ( sa, लिङ्ग , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. It is typically the primary ''murti'' or devotional im ...

and

Vaila Vaila (Old Norse: "Valey") is an island in Shetland, Scotland, lying south of the Westland peninsula of the Shetland Mainland. It has an area of , and is at its highest point.Haswell-Smith, Hamish. (2004) The Scottish Islands. Edinburgh. Canong ...

. Walls is within the parish of Walls and

Sandness Sandness (the "d" is not pronounced locally) is a headland and district in the west of Shetland Mainland, Scotland. Sandness was a civil parish, which also included the island of Papa Stour some 1600 metres northwest across ''Papa Sound''. ...

History

One of its old names is "

Vagaland Vagaland (6 March 1909 – 30 December 1973), was a Scottish poet from Shetland. Biography Born Thomas Alexander Robertson at Westerwick at the southern tip of the parish of Sandsting, his mother's home. He was the second son of Andrina Joh ...

", hence the name of the local poet. A pier was built at Walls in the 18th century, and from 1838, it was a center for fish curing. Walls itself is a quieter place than once it was. The large houses of Bayhall, now converted into flats, and Voe House are signs of past wealth, as are the three churches visible around the head of the sound. Two are still in use, while the third bears a sign showing its later conversion to a bakery. Waas was the childhood home of two fine poets,

and

Christine de Luca Christine De Luca (born 4 April 1947) is a Scottish poet and writer from Shetland, who writes in both English and Shetland dialect. Her poetry has been translated into many languages. She was appointed Edinburgh's Makar, or poet laureate from 2 ...

, and in 1884 was the birthplace of both Peter Fraser (1884-1966), musician and founder member of the Shetland Fiddlers' Society, and William Moffatt, the author.

Community

A little to the east of the centre of the village is the marina, making this a popular base for leisure sailors. The fishing vessels that are still based in Walls tend to use the pier a few hundred yards along the west side of Vaila Sound. This is also the terminus for the ferry service to the island of

Foula Foula (; sco, also Foola; nrn, Fuglø), located in the Shetland archipelago of Scotland, is one of the United Kingdom’s most remote permanently inhabited islands. Owned since the turn of the 20th century by the Holbourn family, the island wa ...

which lies west, out into the Atlantic. Today it is home to the dialect children's writer Iris Sandison, also secretary to the local history group. Waas has long been famed for its annual Agricultural Show. A short film of 'da Waas Show' in the early 1960s, by the late Dr. Albert Hunter, is available at the link below.

References

External links

map''Waas Show'' - early 60s film by Dr. Albert Hunter
Villages in Mainland, Shetland {{Shetland-geo-stub