View from south end of East Burra Shetland

East Burra ()Anderson, Joseph (Ed.) (1893) ''Orkneyinga Saga''. Translated by Jón A. Hjaltalin & Gilbert Goudie. Edinburgh. James Thin and Mercat Press (1990 reprint). is one of the Scalloway Islands, a subgroup of the

Shetland Islands Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the Uni ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It is connected by a bridge to West Burra. With an area of it is the twelfth largest of the Shetland Islands. East Burra has a much smaller population than West Burra and no substantial settlement; rather, there are a few hamlets and a scattering of individual croft houses. It is known for its

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

remains including a burnt mound, and for

sea cave A sea cave, is also known as a littoral cave, a type of cave formed primarily by the wave action of the sea. The primary process involved is erosion. Sea caves are found throughout the world, actively forming along present coastlines and as re ...

s. The roofless, plain, Old Haa (manor or laird's house) of Houss is a prominent feature. From Houss, it is possible to walk the two kilometres or so to the cliffs at the southern end of the island. From there, the island of

South Havra South Havra (; ), formerly Hevera, is an uninhabited island in the Scalloway Islands, Shetland, Scotland. Geography and geology South Havra lies south of Burra and west of the southern peninsula of the Mainland. The island's rock is "epidi ...

, nowadays home only to sheep and seabirds, can be clearly seen. East Burra is linked to the Shetland Mainland via West Burra and Trondra by a series of

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

Etymology

''Collins Encyclopedia of Scotland'' suggests that the name " Burra" is a corruption of "Borgarey" (island of the

broch In archaeology, a broch is an British Iron Age, Iron Age drystone hollow-walled structure found in Scotland. Brochs belong to the classification "complex Atlantic roundhouse" devised by Scottish archaeologists in the 1980s. Brochs are round ...

),Keay, J. & Keay, J. (1994) ''Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland''. London. HarperCollins. and while this is unlikely, and no broch is extant, the place name Brough, on West Burra lends some support to this case. However, the form used in the ''

Orkneyinga saga The ''Orkneyinga saga'' (Old Norse: ; ; also called the ''History of the Earls of Orkney'' and ''Jarls' Saga'') is a narrative of the history of the Orkney and Shetland islands and their relationship with other local polities, particularly No ...

'' is "Barrey".

References

Islands of Shetland Scalloway Islands {{Shetland-geo-stub