Two girls drifted in a boat to Norway; years later, their so...
Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1973.60.A1
Original Tape ID
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
Genre
Collection
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Good