Whalsay ( or ''Hvals-øy'', meaning '

Whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully Aquatic animal, aquatic placental mammal, placental marine mammals. As an informal and Colloquialism, colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea ...

Island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

') is the sixth largest 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 ...

in the north of

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

Whalsay, also known as "The Bonnie Isle", is a

peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...

-covered island in the Shetland Islands. It is situated east of the

Shetland Mainland The Mainland is the main island of Shetland, Scotland. The island contains Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick, and is the centre of Shetland's ferry and air connections. Geography It has an area of , making it the third-largest Scottish island and ...

and has an area of . The main settlement is

Symbister Symbister is the largest village and port on Whalsay, an island in the Shetland archipelago of Scotland. The population in 1991 was 797. The focus of the village is the harbour, which is home to small Fishing vessel, fishing boats as well as larg ...

,Haswell-Smith (2004) pp. 454–55 where the fishing fleet is based. The fleet is composed of both

pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean and can be further divided into regions by depth. The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or water column between the sur ...

and

demersal The demersal zone is the part of the sea or ocean (or deep lake) consisting of the part of the water column near to (and significantly affected by) the seabed and the benthos. The demersal zone is just above the benthic zone and forms a layer o ...

vessels. Other main settlements include

Clate Clate (also known as Clett) is a hamlet and ward in southwestern Whalsay in the parish of Nesting, Shetland, Nesting in the Shetland Islands of Scotland. Geography Clate is located south of the largest village of the island, Symbister, along the ...

, Isbister, Sandwick, Saltness,

Huxter Huxter is a crofting township in southeastern Whalsay in the parish of Nesting in the Shetland islands of Scotland. Location It lies to the east of Symbister, just north of the Loch of Huxter Loch of Huxter is a loch of southeastern Whalsa ...

Challister Challister is a crofting township and ward in northwestern Whalsay in the parish of Nesting in the Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the ...

Marrister Marrister is a settlement on the west coast of Whalsay in the parish of Nesting in the Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Island ...

, North Park and furthest north is Skaw. The island is fertile and fairly densely populated, with

crofting Crofting (Scottish Gaelic: ') is a form of land tenure and small-scale food production peculiar to the Scottish Highlands, the islands of Scotland, and formerly on the Isle of Man. Within the 19th-century townships, individual crofts were est ...

taking second place to

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

as the main local industries.

Transport

Ferries A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus. ...

sail from Symbister to

Laxo Laxo is a small settlement at the end of Laxo Voe in Vidlin, Shetland, Scotland. A ferry from the Mainland to Symbister in Whalsay operates from the nearby Laxo Ferry Terminal, and is operated by the Shetland Islands Council The Shetland Is ...

and

Vidlin Vidlin (from Old Norse: ''Vaðill'' meaning a ford) is a small village located on Mainland, Shetland, Scotland. The settlement is within the parish of Nesting. History It is at the head of Vidlin Voe, and is the modern heart of the old parish ...

on the

. When normal service is in operation two ferries run a tandem service between Symbister and Laxo. Departure times from the two terminals are normally around every 35 minutes according to a timetable, with the crossing taking approximately 30 minutes. The two ferries currently in service are the ''Hendra'' and the ''Linga''. The Vidlin terminal is used when the weather causes the crossing to Laxo to become too rough. The journey between Symbister and Laxo takes around 30 minutes, but can take slightly longer depending on the weather and tides. The island also has an airstrip,

Whalsay Airstrip Whalsay Airstrip is located at the village of Skaw in the northern end of the island of Whalsay, Shetland, Scotland. It is the only airfield An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place ...

, at Skaw which is used only for emergencies.

Recreation

Skaw is home to the most northerly 18 hole golf course in the UK. There is a club house with adequate parking. Other sporting facilities on the isle are the Whalsay Leisure Centre, a snooker club and Harbison Park artificial sports field. Sailing dinghies and Shetland model boats are popular, with an annual Whalsay Regatta, usually taking place in the last week of July. In recent times, the popularity of sailing has declined, with the number of participating boats decreasing with each passing year. Whalsay has an amateur football club, as well as hockey and netball teams. These teams participate in Shetland leagues. Whalsay F.C.'s home ground is Harbison Park. In 2005, Whalsay F.C. took part in the Highland Amateur Cup, reaching the fourth knockout round. They beat Halkirk FC 2–0 in the 3rd round, but lost to Pentland Utd 2–1 in the 4th.

Attractions

Attractions on the island include the

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 ...

ruin of

Benie Hoose Benie Hoose, also Bunyie Hoose, is a Neolithic site in the parish of Nesting, northeastern Whalsay, in the Shetland Islands of Scotland. It is located approximately to the northwest of the Standing Stones of Yoxie, and about southeast of the ...

and the settlement of Sudheim where

Hugh MacDiarmid Christopher Murray Grieve (11 August 1892 – 9 September 1978), best known by his pen name Hugh MacDiarmid ( , ), was a Scottish poet, journalist, essayist and political figure. He is considered one of the principal forces behind the Scottish ...

lived in the 1930s and early 1940s. Grieve House is now one of Shetland Amenity Trust's Böds which offers economic, self-catering accommodation in a traditional building. Scotland's great poet Hugh MacDiarmid (Christopher Grieve) lived for nine years in this croft house, where he wrote some of his best work.

Media and the arts

Whalsay is the location for the 2011 novel ''Dancing with the Ferryman'' by Frankie Valente and is the main location of

Ann Cleeves Ann Cleeves (born 24 October 1954) is a British mystery crime writer. She wrote the Vera Stanhope, Jimmy Perez, and Matthew Venn series, all three of which have been adapted into TV shows. In 2006 she won the Duncan Lawrie Dagger for her ...

's novel ''Red Bones'' (Macmillan, 2009), the third of her Shetland quartet.

'Black fish' scandal

In 2012, a number of Whalsay fishermen were fined for a 'cynical and sophisticated' fishing scam involving the landing of tens of millions of pounds of illegally caught fish.

Footnotes

References

External links

Listen to recordings of a speaker of Whalsay ScotsBBC Voices: further example recordings of speakers from Whalsay, 2004
{{Coord, 60, 20, N, 0, 59, W, region:GB_type:isle, display=title Islands of Shetland