Shetland By Heart: Peerie Stories, Simmer Dim & the Isles Beyond the Telly
The telly gets the cliffs right. This book is for everything else.
Shetland is back on BBC One this month, and once again folk all over the country will be asking anyone with a Shetland accent whether it's really like that. Shetlanders know the answer. It's better, it's harder, and it's a lot funnier.
This book is about the Shetland the cameras never get round to. Peerie words, and the Norse still hiding under them. Simmer dim and the long winter dark. Up Helly Aa. The merchant navy families and the folk who left for the boats. Fair Isle knitting and the hap. Reestit mutton soup. Mousa broch with the storm petrels coming in at night, and the sand bridge out to St Ninian's Isle.
Shetland By Heart is a book of island stories, places and words, written for Shetlanders at home and every one of them living somewhere south.
Inside you'll find:
- The boat from Aberdeen, Lerwick and the lodberries
- A starter in peerie words, from du to hame
- Simmer dim, the long dark, Up Helly Aa and the wind
- Yell, the merchant navy families and the folk who left
- Fair Isle knitting, reestit mutton soup, bannocks, and fish suppers at the top of the map
- Jarlshof, Mousa, Eshaness, St Ninian's Isle, and Unst at the very end of Britain
Who it's for: Shetlanders on the isles and off them, families with a Shetland mam or granny, and anyone who has stood on the boat at Holmsgarth and felt that pull. A lovely gift for someone living south who misses home.
What you get: 20 chapters, about 60 pages, as a PDF you can read on your phone, tablet or computer, or print at home. Any corrections and new memories added later are sent to you free.
This is an ebook (a digital download), so nothing is posted. Your download link arrives straight after checkout. Made by Roots & Routes, a small independent shop.