0:00:05 > 0:00:08These are the Shetland Islands.
0:00:08 > 0:00:12Lying over 100 miles north of mainland Scotland,
0:00:12 > 0:00:13this archipelago is made up
0:00:13 > 0:00:17of dozens of separate islands and skerries.
0:00:17 > 0:00:19Only 16 are inhabited,
0:00:19 > 0:00:22and, for those who live on them, life can be challenging.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27These are places shaped by the elements,
0:00:27 > 0:00:29where the history of whole communities
0:00:29 > 0:00:32is bound up with a rugged environment
0:00:32 > 0:00:34and linked to the ever-restless sea.
0:00:39 > 0:00:40In this series,
0:00:40 > 0:00:44I'm on an island-hopping tour that explores the Northern Isles,
0:00:44 > 0:00:46sails to the Hebrides,
0:00:46 > 0:00:50and discovers the secrets of some of the remotest places in Europe.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56No-one is really sure about the total number of islands
0:00:56 > 0:00:59that cluster around Scotland's beautiful coast -
0:00:59 > 0:01:04but, for my island-bagging purposes, it's well over 250.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07So far, I've been to over 80 of them,
0:01:07 > 0:01:09so there's quite a lot still to go.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13For this Grand Tour, I'm travelling across the Shetland Islands,
0:01:13 > 0:01:15from west to east.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31My journey starts on Papa Stour,
0:01:31 > 0:01:33to the west of the Shetland mainland,
0:01:33 > 0:01:38hops east to Whalsay, and ends on a tiny, remote group of islands,
0:01:38 > 0:01:40known as Out Skerries.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47For centuries, the Vikings famously held sway over Shetland,
0:01:47 > 0:01:50and their legacy is everywhere,
0:01:50 > 0:01:54especially in the names they gave the islands where they settled.
0:01:54 > 0:01:59My first destination, Papa Stour, lies just ahead of us, over there.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01Like nearly all the islands in Shetland,
0:02:01 > 0:02:04it has a thoroughly Viking name.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06From my own rather hazy knowledge of Norwegian,
0:02:06 > 0:02:11I know that "stour" means "big" and "papa" is "priest".
0:02:11 > 0:02:14So, Papa Stour is the big island of the priest.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22The fact that the pagan Vikings named the island Papa Stour
0:02:22 > 0:02:25suggests that Christian holy men were there before them.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29I doubt that the monks hung around for long,
0:02:29 > 0:02:32but the Vikings certainly made an impression.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36Their influence is woven into the landscape and folklore
0:02:36 > 0:02:37of Papa Stour.
0:02:37 > 0:02:39That is the maiden stack.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41So-called because, long ago,
0:02:41 > 0:02:45an evil Viking lord imprisoned his daughter in a tower
0:02:45 > 0:02:50that he built on the summit, to protect her valuable virginity.
0:02:50 > 0:02:52Now, just as in the Rapunzel story,
0:02:52 > 0:02:55her lover turned up and spirited the lass away.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02The coastline is a striking feature of this rugged little island
0:03:02 > 0:03:05and its surprisingly fertile soils
0:03:05 > 0:03:08attracted Viking settlers in the eighth century.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13Under their rule, Papa Stour became an important outpost
0:03:13 > 0:03:17for a man who would live to become King of Norway.
0:03:18 > 0:03:23Before King Hakon IV ruled over his Viking empire, he had land here.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28This partially reconstructed building once belonged to Hakon
0:03:28 > 0:03:30and it's called the Stofa,
0:03:30 > 0:03:34the name the Vikings gave to the great hall of the estate.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38This is where all the important decisions would have taken place.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41Significantly, it's actually made of timber -
0:03:41 > 0:03:44great logs that have come all the way from Norway.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48You can imagine, on a treeless island like Papa Stour,
0:03:48 > 0:03:50this was a rare, high-status building.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54Fit for a king, the Stofa
0:03:54 > 0:03:55was designed to impress.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01The Stofa visibly demonstrates the importance
0:04:01 > 0:04:04of Papa Stour to the Vikings -
0:04:04 > 0:04:07but when Norse rule ended in the 15th century,
0:04:07 > 0:04:10the fortunes of the island's population fluctuated.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16Traditionally, these were people who combined crofting with fishing.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20Everyone, it seems, had a boat, and training began early.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23Hi, George!
0:04:23 > 0:04:27To find out more about the ups and downs of life on Papa Stour,
0:04:27 > 0:04:31I've come to meet George Peterson, the island's most senior resident,
0:04:31 > 0:04:35whose croft is bursting with the first signs of spring.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38We call this the Voar,
0:04:38 > 0:04:39which means the springtime.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42- Right! - I think it's a Scandinavian word.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44- It is.- Yeah. - If I remember my Norwegian,
0:04:44 > 0:04:45it's the Norwegian for spring.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47- Spring, yes.- There you go.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50I know, George, you've got connections to this island
0:04:50 > 0:04:52that go back years and years.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55Well, my mother was a powerful wife.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58My father was from Sandness across the sound.
0:04:58 > 0:05:03They were here for many, many generations, I'm sure.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09George remembers a tight-knit crofting community on Papa Stour
0:05:09 > 0:05:13when he was growing up in the 1930s and '40s.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17There was a post office, a school and a church.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20It was an idyllic island to be brought up on,
0:05:20 > 0:05:23but sadly things have changed dramatically
0:05:23 > 0:05:25since those halcyon days,
0:05:25 > 0:05:27when the population was much greater than it is now.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32I remember over 90.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36- Over 90 folk stayed here? - On this island, yes.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38What's the population now, would you say?
0:05:38 > 0:05:42I think around eight or ten. I'm really afraid to think.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45Eight or ten? It's really clinging on, isn't it?
0:05:45 > 0:05:49- Yes, yes.- Are there any children on the island?
0:05:49 > 0:05:52- Er, no.- No?- No. Not now.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59George puts the decline down to economics.
0:05:59 > 0:06:03The income from a traditional croft is never likely to be enough to
0:06:03 > 0:06:06satisfy the expectations of a modern lifestyle.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09You see, the croft
0:06:09 > 0:06:12really wasn't enough to live off.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15- Right, it was subsistence. - Subsistence, yes.
0:06:15 > 0:06:20But there were big families and many of them left,
0:06:20 > 0:06:22there were just too many people on the island.
0:06:22 > 0:06:24There were too many people?
0:06:24 > 0:06:26- 90 was too much?- Yes.
0:06:26 > 0:06:30But the real hammer blow came when the school closed.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33I think 1962 or '63,
0:06:33 > 0:06:37the educational system demanded that children of 12 years of age
0:06:37 > 0:06:40- had to leave and go to a secondary school.- Uh-huh.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45And they were obliged to do that and,
0:06:45 > 0:06:47well, few ever came back.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50Morale plummeted.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52It never quite recovered.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55But it's sad, though, that the population has declined
0:06:55 > 0:06:57- and the community is just clinging on.- Oh, yes.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59Oh, it is very sad.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01But it's inevitable.
0:07:01 > 0:07:03I mean, you can't blame anybody.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11Despite the sad story of decline,
0:07:11 > 0:07:13George is proud to be a Papa man,
0:07:13 > 0:07:17and has been instrumental in keeping the old traditions alive.
0:07:19 > 0:07:23I've come to meet the custodians of one such ritual -
0:07:23 > 0:07:27an ancient dancing tradition with its own fancy moves.
0:07:32 > 0:07:36This is the famous Papa Stour sword dance.
0:07:36 > 0:07:40It's considered by connoisseurs to be a classic of the genre
0:07:40 > 0:07:42and quite unique.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46It's deeply symbolic, representing the victory of Venus,
0:07:46 > 0:07:50the goddess of love, over Mars, the god of war.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57I have to say, it's not quite what I expected.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01More like morris dancing than a sabre-rattling sword dance.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06Today it's kept alive by enthusiasts
0:08:06 > 0:08:09on the neighbouring island of Muckle Roe.
0:08:09 > 0:08:11There's a family connection here, too.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14Leading the dancers is Danny Peterson,
0:08:14 > 0:08:16whose grandfather, George Peterson,
0:08:16 > 0:08:19saved the dance from extinction.
0:08:19 > 0:08:21He's been responsible for training up
0:08:21 > 0:08:23quite a number of dancers
0:08:23 > 0:08:24in mainland Shetland,
0:08:24 > 0:08:26and luckily we've got a nice big pool to pick from
0:08:26 > 0:08:28when it comes to the dancers.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31That's brilliant. So your grandfather rescued the dance?
0:08:31 > 0:08:35Yes, absolutely. It would have been long gone if it wasn't for him.
0:08:35 > 0:08:37- Amazing.- Yeah. - And it's such a hit, as well!
0:08:37 > 0:08:39- Absolutely.- Yeah.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43- Do you tour with it? - We're open to invites.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46We've been away at several times in the last couple of years.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48We've been to Aberdeen in 2010,
0:08:48 > 0:08:50we've headed across to Norway and Denmark in the past,
0:08:50 > 0:08:53we're actually hoping to go to London next September
0:08:53 > 0:08:54for a tour, as well.
0:08:54 > 0:08:56So all these guys in the background
0:08:56 > 0:08:59are auditioning for their spot to London.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02- So we'll see how they go. - Right, right!
0:09:02 > 0:09:04So do you think I'd be able to have a shot?
0:09:04 > 0:09:07Absolutely, Paul. Yes, we'd be more than delighted to have you in.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10Right. I've got two flat feet and no sense of rhythm.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12No problem at all. No problem at all.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14No, we've got lots of strapping gents
0:09:14 > 0:09:16that'll help you out, I'm sure.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18Just drag me round or give me a prod with the sword.
0:09:18 > 0:09:20That's it. That's it!
0:09:24 > 0:09:29Donning a coloured sash, I grip my sword and join in.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33Almost immediately I discover that it's not as easy as it looks.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38It's like playing Twister,
0:09:38 > 0:09:42but with dangerous weapons and a ceilidh band backing -
0:09:42 > 0:09:44nothing like morris dancing.
0:09:44 > 0:09:49All I can hope for is to avoid an unpleasant encounter
0:09:49 > 0:09:52with anything sharp and pointy.
0:09:54 > 0:09:55Take it.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04A star is born!
0:10:05 > 0:10:08Not wishing to push my luck any further,
0:10:08 > 0:10:11I return to the green fields of Papa Stour,
0:10:11 > 0:10:14which are resounding to a different tune.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16It's lambing time.
0:10:17 > 0:10:22Jane Puckey has lived and crofted on Papa Stour for many years.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26This morning she's feeding two recently orphan lambs -
0:10:26 > 0:10:28Jacob and Ina.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30It's a great time of year, really, isn't it, spring?
0:10:30 > 0:10:32When you see this new life.
0:10:32 > 0:10:33It's extraordinary.
0:10:33 > 0:10:35I bet you never get tired of it.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37Never.
0:10:37 > 0:10:38And these are Shetland lambs?
0:10:38 > 0:10:40Yes. Pure Shetland.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42- Indigenous sheep to the island, aren't they?- Yes.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45- Yes, to Shetland.- Do you know much about the background of the breed?
0:10:45 > 0:10:50Well, I had heard that they'd come down from Iceland.
0:10:50 > 0:10:51- Uh-huh?- Yes.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53So, that's why they are hardy. They're used to the cold.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56And they're used to it - they are a hill sheep.
0:10:56 > 0:11:00In another lifetime, Jane was a teacher and then a radiographer
0:11:00 > 0:11:05in Gloucestershire until she discovered the charms of Papa Stour.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08But she's unsentimental about the good life.
0:11:08 > 0:11:10You not only do... I do lambing,
0:11:10 > 0:11:12but I also do everything else with the sheep,
0:11:12 > 0:11:15including slaughtering and butchering.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17Uh-huh. How do you feel about that?
0:11:17 > 0:11:19Because you're living very close to them -
0:11:19 > 0:11:21I mean, that's a very intimate scene there.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23It's all par for the course.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26It's all, you know, that's why you have them.
0:11:26 > 0:11:31On that practical note, I join Jane and her assistant Finn
0:11:31 > 0:11:34at the business end of a heavily pregnant ewe.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36You can feel the lamb in there.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38Oh, my goodness, my hand is over the head.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40- Is it, really?- Yes.
0:11:40 > 0:11:42It's like Call The Midwife, really, this, isn't it?
0:11:42 > 0:11:45And once you've got the head and shoulders out,
0:11:45 > 0:11:47the rest of it will fall out by gravity.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49Look at that.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51There's a lamb's leg.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55- That's it.- Little lamb!
0:11:56 > 0:11:58The whole head's there.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08Look at that.
0:12:08 > 0:12:10Wow, it's a huge lamb. Look at that!
0:12:10 > 0:12:12Wow.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15Look at that. He's opening his eyes.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18Seeing light for the first time.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20Yeah - looking straight up into the camera.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22- Look at that.- Wow.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24Is it quite a stressful business?
0:12:24 > 0:12:26- Who for?- For you.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28- No...- Cos it must be quite...
0:12:28 > 0:12:32Cos you're responsible for making sure it goes well.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34Yes, you're right.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36No, I wouldn't say it was stressful,
0:12:36 > 0:12:37but obviously in the back of my mind,
0:12:37 > 0:12:40or, really, right at the forefront of my mind,
0:12:40 > 0:12:43I'd like to... I want to be able to deliver a live lamb,
0:12:43 > 0:12:45and it is a disappointment if you don't -
0:12:45 > 0:12:48but then it's no good blaming yourself.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51You win some and you lose some.
0:12:51 > 0:12:52Hopefully you win most of the time.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54Yes, well, we do, actually.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59If delivering one large lamb weren't enough,
0:12:59 > 0:13:02Jane discovers there's another on the way -
0:13:02 > 0:13:03it's twins.
0:13:05 > 0:13:06Wow.
0:13:09 > 0:13:10There's another whopper!
0:13:11 > 0:13:13Right, go and see Mummy.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16It's such a wonderful sight, isn't it?
0:13:16 > 0:13:18- It is, isn't it?- It's renewal.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20- It goes on every year.- Absolutely.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23Year by year, all over the country at this time of year.
0:13:25 > 0:13:30Having witnessed the cheering sight of new life coming into the world,
0:13:30 > 0:13:32it's time to leave Papa Stour,
0:13:32 > 0:13:37its lambs, Viking heritage and strange dance moves.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43The next destination on my odyssey is Whalsay -
0:13:43 > 0:13:46which, in the language of the north, means whale isle.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52To get to Whalsay these days is pretty straightforward -
0:13:52 > 0:13:55there are several ferries a day -
0:13:55 > 0:13:57but in the past there was no pier big enough
0:13:57 > 0:13:59to take the steamer from Lerwick.
0:14:02 > 0:14:06In those days, passengers had to disembark using small craft
0:14:06 > 0:14:07called flit boats.
0:14:07 > 0:14:12Some more important passengers were even carried ashore.
0:14:14 > 0:14:15Rather disappointingly,
0:14:15 > 0:14:19there doesn't appear to be anyone here to carry me ashore...
0:14:20 > 0:14:23..so I comfort myself at the thought that on this modern ferry
0:14:23 > 0:14:26I wouldn't have got my feet wet anyway.
0:14:28 > 0:14:30Once on dry land,
0:14:30 > 0:14:35the first thing that strikes me is just how busy Whalsay is.
0:14:35 > 0:14:40Unlike Papa Stour, Whalsay has a growing population of over 1,000,
0:14:40 > 0:14:46and nearly everyone here depends in some way on the sea and its riches.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48Island life is always precarious,
0:14:48 > 0:14:50especially in the past,
0:14:50 > 0:14:53when every aspect of it was controlled by the laird,
0:14:53 > 0:14:56who lived in the big house up there,
0:14:56 > 0:14:58known hereabouts as the Haa.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04The Haa was home to the Bruce family.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06They owned the entire island
0:15:06 > 0:15:11and dominated the lives of everyone in an almost feudal way.
0:15:12 > 0:15:15Fishermen were first to sell their catch to the Bruce laird,
0:15:15 > 0:15:18who fixed prices in his favour.
0:15:18 > 0:15:20He also owned the only shop,
0:15:20 > 0:15:23where islanders were forced into debt slavery.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27Failure to settle outstanding accounts
0:15:27 > 0:15:31created an excuse for the laird to evict his tenants from the island.
0:15:33 > 0:15:37Things got so bad that a curse was put on the entire Bruce family
0:15:37 > 0:15:39for the laird's hard-heartedness.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45The curse was made 150 years ago,
0:15:45 > 0:15:49after two brothers defied the Bruce laird
0:15:49 > 0:15:52and signed aboard a Greenland whaling ship.
0:15:52 > 0:15:57Instead of working like slaves for the landlord, they made good money.
0:15:57 > 0:16:01The laird was furious, and he refused absolutely
0:16:01 > 0:16:05to let the brothers ever set foot on Whalsay again.
0:16:05 > 0:16:07Now, this broke their mother's heart
0:16:07 > 0:16:10and she pleaded with the laird to relent,
0:16:10 > 0:16:15but he turned his back on her and she in turn cursed him,
0:16:15 > 0:16:17saying that it would come to pass
0:16:17 > 0:16:20that no Bruce will ever live on Whalsay,
0:16:20 > 0:16:23that the proud mansion will stand empty,
0:16:23 > 0:16:26and that children will play freely in the grounds.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34Local folk believe her curse came true.
0:16:34 > 0:16:39The last Bruce laird died without an heir in 1944.
0:16:40 > 0:16:46The Haa deteriorated, but was saved from ruin in the 1960s,
0:16:46 > 0:16:49when it was converted into the island's school,
0:16:49 > 0:16:52where children play freely in the grounds.
0:16:52 > 0:16:56The Bruces' grip on Whalsay had come to an end.
0:17:01 > 0:17:03Speaking your mind in the struggle to survive
0:17:03 > 0:17:06is something of a tradition on Whalsay.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09During the 1930s, the island was the home
0:17:09 > 0:17:13to the communist-inspired poet Hugh MacDiarmid,
0:17:13 > 0:17:16who lived here with his wife, Valda, and their son.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19Jacqueline Irvine takes me to the house
0:17:19 > 0:17:23where MacDiarmid spent the best part of a decade
0:17:23 > 0:17:26living in poverty and obscurity.
0:17:26 > 0:17:28- Hugh MacDiarmid was the pen name of the poet.- Yes.
0:17:28 > 0:17:29What was his real name?
0:17:29 > 0:17:31Christopher Murray Grieve,
0:17:31 > 0:17:35but he was always known in Whalsay as Auld Grieves.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37- Auld Grieves.- Yeah. - What does that mean?
0:17:37 > 0:17:39- Old!- Old!- Old Grieve!- Old Grieves!
0:17:39 > 0:17:42MacDiarmid wasn't as old as he looked,
0:17:42 > 0:17:45but alcoholism had taken its toll on his health.
0:17:45 > 0:17:47Being a dry island,
0:17:47 > 0:17:51Whalsay was considered a good place for him to recover.
0:17:51 > 0:17:52And this is where they stayed, then?
0:17:52 > 0:17:55Yes, for nine years.
0:17:55 > 0:17:56What's the address of this place?
0:17:56 > 0:18:01- Sudheim.- Is that the "south home" in the dialect, is it?
0:18:01 > 0:18:03I think it probably is, yes.
0:18:03 > 0:18:04It's also known as Sodom, is it not?
0:18:04 > 0:18:06Yes - spelt "Sodom".
0:18:07 > 0:18:09Much to the mirth of some people, I imagine.
0:18:09 > 0:18:10Yes.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15When MacDiarmid arrived here in 1933,
0:18:15 > 0:18:20he perhaps thought that Sodom was an appropriate place to be for a poet
0:18:20 > 0:18:23whose moral reputation was frequently questioned.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27With no electricity or running water,
0:18:27 > 0:18:32life was hard for a man more used to the hustle and bustle of city life -
0:18:32 > 0:18:36yet I'm surprised to learn that the revolutionary poet
0:18:36 > 0:18:39liked to make social calls on the island's gentry.
0:18:39 > 0:18:46The laird would invite them for dinner, and they would play bridge.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50They were also invited to the manse, by the minister,
0:18:50 > 0:18:52although we have been told
0:18:52 > 0:18:54that him and the minister didn't really see eye to eye.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57They wouldn't have done, if he was an atheist and a communist.
0:18:57 > 0:18:58Yeah, yeah.
0:18:58 > 0:19:03Interesting that he somehow wanted to get close to the upper classes.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09It's perhaps ironic for an avowed communist
0:19:09 > 0:19:13to prefer the company of his ideological enemies
0:19:13 > 0:19:15to mingling with the proletariat,
0:19:15 > 0:19:19but MacDiarmid did join a fishing boat on a couple of occasions -
0:19:19 > 0:19:24not to earn money, but to research the Shetland dialect.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28His shipmates would also teach him a thing or two
0:19:28 > 0:19:30about the Shetland sense of humour.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32There was one of the crew members
0:19:32 > 0:19:35who liked to have a bit of a joke, fun,
0:19:35 > 0:19:39and one day he came down and he shouted, "Skara ma dubh!"
0:19:39 > 0:19:41and Auld Grieves shot his head out of the bunk
0:19:41 > 0:19:43and said, "What was that, what was that?"
0:19:43 > 0:19:47Well, it was just a joke, I think, yeah.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49It wasn't a word at all.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51- No, no.- It was a made-up word. - Yeah, just pulling his leg, yeah.
0:19:51 > 0:19:55It would have been wonderful if he'd used that word in one of his poems.
0:19:55 > 0:19:56Yeah.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00- A great "skara ma dubh" of Sodom. - Yeah, mm-hm!
0:20:03 > 0:20:06Looking at the number of boats around the harbour,
0:20:06 > 0:20:09it's pretty clear that fishing remains a big part
0:20:09 > 0:20:10of the local economy,
0:20:10 > 0:20:13just as it was back in MacDiarmid's day.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17It's what makes the island tick, and always has done.
0:20:19 > 0:20:21Heading along the quayside,
0:20:21 > 0:20:24I make my way towards one of Whalsay's biggest
0:20:24 > 0:20:26and most up-to-date fishing boats -
0:20:26 > 0:20:29the deep-sea pelagic trawler, Charisma.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33Jimmy John Tulloch, owner and fisherman,
0:20:33 > 0:20:38has kindly offered to take me to my next destination, Out Skerries.
0:20:38 > 0:20:42I just hope he doesn't ask me to split the fuel bill.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45Jimmy, I imagine you must go through quite a lot of fuel on this boat.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47- What's the consumption like? - Yeah, it's...
0:20:47 > 0:20:48When we're going pretty fast,
0:20:48 > 0:20:52- you're probably speaking about a tonne of fuel an hour, yeah.- Right!
0:20:52 > 0:20:55That's a lot of juice,
0:20:55 > 0:20:59which could make this the most expensive ride I've ever hitched...
0:21:02 > 0:21:05..but it's hardly surprising Charisma is a bit of a gas guzzler.
0:21:05 > 0:21:11She's 71 metres long and weighs 2,500 tonnes -
0:21:11 > 0:21:15and she's not the only big boat operating from Whalsay.
0:21:15 > 0:21:20There are six more like her, in addition to a fleet of small craft,
0:21:20 > 0:21:23making fishing the backbone of the island's economy.
0:21:24 > 0:21:29Probably have 150 men employed by the Whalsay boats,
0:21:29 > 0:21:33and out of a population of 1,000 on the isle,
0:21:33 > 0:21:36it's a big proportion of the workforce.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39It just depends on the fishing.
0:21:39 > 0:21:40The heart of the community is fishing.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43Oh, yeah, it's all... it's all fishing, yeah.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48Charisma goes after pelagic fish,
0:21:48 > 0:21:51a word that comes from the ancient Greek for open sea.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57She catches mostly herring and mackerel,
0:21:57 > 0:22:02and, to find them, uses an amazing array of hi-tech equipment.
0:22:04 > 0:22:08You can see the shoal of...the shape of the shoal of fish on the sonar
0:22:08 > 0:22:11and you can tell that it's a big lump of fish
0:22:11 > 0:22:13or a smaller lump.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16If it's a big lump of fish, how big would that shoal be?
0:22:16 > 0:22:21- Any idea?- Sometimes they can be as big as five or six miles, maybe.
0:22:21 > 0:22:23Five or six mile shoal?!
0:22:23 > 0:22:27Yeah. That has the potential to burst the net,
0:22:27 > 0:22:29especially when it's rough weather.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36Charisma sails the seas of the north
0:22:36 > 0:22:37in the hope of a good catch,
0:22:37 > 0:22:41just as Whalsay boats have done for generations.
0:22:41 > 0:22:43It's an enduring tradition.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48You're one of the few hunter-gatherers left, really,
0:22:48 > 0:22:51when you think - that's what human beings used to do.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53You're out getting the catch.
0:22:53 > 0:22:58Yeah, that's what fishing is, yeah, and Shetland,
0:22:58 > 0:23:01Whalsay and Shetland depends on the fishing.
0:23:01 > 0:23:03And that's the Skerries out there.
0:23:03 > 0:23:04That's the Skerries, yeah.
0:23:04 > 0:23:06That's where I'm hoping to get to.
0:23:10 > 0:23:12Da Skerries, as they're known hereabouts,
0:23:12 > 0:23:14are a group of islands and reefs
0:23:14 > 0:23:19that lie 24 miles east of the mainland of Shetland.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26Covering an area of just two square miles,
0:23:26 > 0:23:29they look almost too small to be habitable -
0:23:29 > 0:23:31but the hardy breed of folk who live here
0:23:31 > 0:23:34have a great reputation for hospitality.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37Stepping ashore here on Da Skerries,
0:23:37 > 0:23:40I'm following in the illustrious footsteps of royalty -
0:23:40 > 0:23:42and the Queen, no less.
0:23:42 > 0:23:44Now, she came here in 1960 -
0:23:44 > 0:23:46but I suspect that her reception committee
0:23:46 > 0:23:49was marginally more impressive than mine.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56This film was made almost 60 years ago,
0:23:56 > 0:24:01when the Queen came to open the new pier.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04Back then, over 100 people lived on the Skerries.
0:24:06 > 0:24:10There are three principal islands, Housay, Bruray and Grunay.
0:24:10 > 0:24:14As well as lots of smaller rocks and skerries.
0:24:14 > 0:24:20Only Housay and Bruray are inhabited today, connected by a small bridge.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22There is only a mile of road,
0:24:22 > 0:24:25and it leads me to the door of a Skerries woman
0:24:25 > 0:24:27whose family have lived here for generations.
0:24:27 > 0:24:29Alice Arthur,
0:24:29 > 0:24:32who made a brief appearance in the film starring the Queen.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35I was four months old at the time,
0:24:35 > 0:24:39so I don't remember, obviously,
0:24:39 > 0:24:42but, yeah, it was a huge day in the history of Skerries.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45That's not the only time you met the Queen though, was it?
0:24:45 > 0:24:48In fact, it's part of a long and continuing relationship,
0:24:48 > 0:24:50- it seems to me.- Yeah.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54In 2006, Alice was invited by Buckingham Palace
0:24:54 > 0:24:57to receive an MBE from the Queen.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01Just six years earlier, her father was honoured with the same award.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05So, I'm telling my kids the pressure's on now,
0:25:05 > 0:25:11because it's a family tradition. One of them has to get an MBE.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14Alice's award was in recognition of her services
0:25:14 > 0:25:16to the local fire brigade
0:25:16 > 0:25:18and to the community on Da Skerries...
0:25:20 > 0:25:22..but that wasn't all she did.
0:25:22 > 0:25:24Alice also worked in the fish factory,
0:25:24 > 0:25:28at school as an art teacher, and on the family croft.
0:25:28 > 0:25:30That's a lot of different hats.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32A lot of different hats, yes.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34But sadly, things have changed a lot since then.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38It seems like it's all happened very suddenly.
0:25:38 > 0:25:44It's been just in the last two years that's really gone downhill fast.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48We've lost the secondary department of the school,
0:25:48 > 0:25:51we've lost the salmon farm,
0:25:51 > 0:25:54we've lost the flights coming into the isle,
0:25:54 > 0:25:57we've lost the fire brigade.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01We're really struggling at the moment to survive.
0:26:01 > 0:26:02That's a terrible loss, isn't it?
0:26:02 > 0:26:05- Yeah.- Because those are the very important components,
0:26:05 > 0:26:07the fabric that holds the community together.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09- Yeah.- To survive and to look to the future.
0:26:09 > 0:26:13- It's all vital.- If you don't have that, life's going to be a struggle.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16Yes, it really is - but we'll struggle on.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23All this adversity hasn't diminished Alice's love for her home.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26It's a place to treasure - quite literally.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30For as long as anyone can remember,
0:26:30 > 0:26:34sunken treasure has been continually washed ashore
0:26:34 > 0:26:37from ships wrecked long ago on the harsh coast.
0:26:39 > 0:26:44Well, that came from a Dutch East Indiaman.
0:26:45 > 0:26:50My dad found this one stuck in a crevice in a rock.
0:26:50 > 0:26:51Ah, right.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55And this silver one has got an inscription
0:26:55 > 0:26:57running around the side in Latin.
0:26:57 > 0:27:03It says, "Concordia res parvae crescunt",
0:27:03 > 0:27:09which I think is Latin for, "In harmony small things grow."
0:27:09 > 0:27:11- Really?- I think, yeah.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15I think for a small group of islands with an uncertain future,
0:27:15 > 0:27:18- it's a wonderful talisman. - It's amazing.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23That could be our motto for Skerries.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26I think it should be, Alice, I think it should.
0:27:33 > 0:27:35As I head to journey's end,
0:27:35 > 0:27:39I reflect on what has been a fascinating Grand Tour,
0:27:39 > 0:27:44where I found island life to be both robust and fragile.
0:27:44 > 0:27:49Da Skerries may have been having a hard time in the 21st century,
0:27:49 > 0:27:52but, like each of the three islands I've explored,
0:27:52 > 0:27:55it has its own voice made proud and distinctive
0:27:55 > 0:27:58by the determination of the islanders
0:27:58 > 0:28:00to keep their communities alive.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07So, here we are - journey's end
0:28:07 > 0:28:12on an island that I like to think of as Scotland's eastern frontier,
0:28:12 > 0:28:15because if you keep sailing that way,
0:28:15 > 0:28:18the nearest landfall is the coast of Norway,
0:28:18 > 0:28:21about 200 nautical miles away.
0:28:21 > 0:28:23But to be honest, on an evening like this,
0:28:23 > 0:28:26I really wouldn't want to be anywhere else
0:28:26 > 0:28:29than right here on the Skerries.
0:28:31 > 0:28:36The Isle of Skye is the destination for my next Grand Tour,
0:28:36 > 0:28:40where I'll be exploring a land of giants and fairies.