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Two girls drifted in a boat to Norway; years later, their so...

Date 13 April 1973
Track ID 74304
Part 1

Track Information

Original Track ID

SA1973.60.A1

Original Tape ID

SA1973.060

Summary

Two girls drifted in a boat to Norway; years later, their sons returned to Unst speaking Shetland dialect.

In the early 1800s two girls from Unst went to milk their cattle on the isle of Haaf Gruney. They were heading for home when a gale sprang up from the west. They struggled to row back to Unst but broke an oar and drifted for eight days before they arrived in Norway. They were taken to a house and looked after by kind people. They were assumed lost, but many years later a Norwegian boat put into Unst and the people were amazed that two of the crew could speak Shetland. They explained that their mother had drifted to Norway years ago and they had learned to speak like her.

Andrew Irvine heard this story when he was about ten, and had always thought of it as a legend, but he read it many years later in an old copy of The New Shetlander, which gave it some extra credibility.

Recording Location

County - Shetland

Parish - Unst

Island - Unst

Village/Place - Westing

Item Location

County - Shetland

Parish - Unst

Island - Unst

Non Scottish Item Location

Norway

Non Scottish Item Location

Nirribhidh

Language

English, Scots

Collection

SoSS

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good