Mail is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

on the island of

Mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or demogr ...

, in 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 ...

Geography

Mail is located on the south-eastern side of the island of

adjacent to the

A970 road The A970 is a single-carriageway road that runs from south to north of Mainland Shetland, Scotland. The road also spurs to Scalloway and North Roe. The road crosses the end of a runway at Sumburgh Airport Sumburgh Airport is the main ...

some south of

Lerwick Lerwick ( or ; ; ) is the main town and port of the Shetland archipelago, Scotland. Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick had a population of about 7,000 residents in 2010. It is the northernmost major settlement within the United Kingdom. Centred ...

, between Cunningsburgh and Sandwick. It lies almost on the

60th parallel north The 60th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 60 degrees north of Earth's equator. It crosses Europe, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean. Although it lies approximately twice as far away from the Equator as ...

. Mail has two beaches, the Sands of Mail and the Beach of Mail, separated by the promontory of Bur Ness. Bur Ness contains the Mail churchyard, which has been the site of various archaeological finds.

History

Bur Ness was the site of Mail's chapel. The chapel was part of Cunningsburgh parish, now part of Dunrossness. Nothing is known of the chapel except that it was the recognised church of the area from a very early date. However, the churchyard still remains.

Archaeology

Several

Pictish Pictish is an extinct Brittonic Celtic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from late antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited number of geog ...

gravestones dating from the 7th century have been found in the churchyard, including the Mail Stone, with an incised Pictish figure, found in 1992. Gravestones have also been found with Norse runes, indicating

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

activity in the area, as well as inscriptions in

Ogham Ogham (also ogam and ogom, , Modern Irish: ; , later ) is an Early Medieval alphabet used primarily to write the early Irish language (in the "orthodox" inscriptions, 4th to 6th centuries AD), and later the Old Irish language ( scholastic ...

. Evidence of earlier

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

archaeology is also present. Located on a tidal islet at Bur Ness is the site of the former

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 ...

of Mail. The broch is now non-existent. However, a visit in 1934 indicated the circular foundation of a broch tower, although there are no visible traces, having been covered by turf.

References

External links

{{commons category, Mail, Shetland Islands
Canmore - Elizabeth: Sand of Mail, Cunningsburgh, North Sea site recordCanmore - Secret: Mails Ayre, Cunningsburgh, North Sea site recordCanmore - Heroine: Mail, Cunningsburgh, North Sea site recordCanmore - Lizzie Jane: Mail, Cunningsburgh, North Sea site recordCanmore - Semper Paratus: Mail, Cunningsburgh, North Sea site record
Villages in Mainland, Shetland