TAP Field Report No. 5 A survey of Shetland's gallow hills Joris ...

Gallow hills able quartzite outcrop, known as the WhiteStane of the Knowe of Wilga. It is separatedfrom the Knowe of Wilga by a boggy depressionand is not as exposed (and therefore notas visible) as the cairn.Since the Knowe of Wilga is set at a rathersteep slope, the vista covers an angle of almost160° towards the east of the cairn, whilethe view towards the west is limited by thenearby hillside (Fig. 10 & 51). Although theview from the cairn is quite spectacular, coveringan area of almost 3000km², it mainlycovers distant areas, while the closer neighbourhoodis largely obscured.To the north, we can see the hilltops of HooField on the opposite site of the Burn of Catpund,the latter being known for its Norsesteatite quarry. Catpund itself is obscured bythe slope below the Knowe of Wilga. The siteoffers a wonderful view of Cunningsburgh tothe northeast, extending as far as Bressay andon clear days even to Whalsay. To the southeastwe see Mousa, and turning further in thesame direction we can see the headland of NoNess. Because of the higher elevation of theKnowe of Wilga, the horizon at the open sealies at c. 50km distance. 4) Gallow Hill, Scalloway, MainlandFigure 10 Viewshed from the Knowe of Wilga,Cunningsburgh. Legend: see ig. 4 (DTM: OrdnanceSurvey. © Crown copyright /database right2010).turn resembles the Icelandic monster Grýla(Jónasdóttir 2010: 21). Hence, both the storyitself and the name of its main character seemto be part of Shetland’s Norse heritage. It isdoubtful, whether the story of Kil Hulter hasa kernel of truth. However, it is possible, thata common story passed on across the Norsecolonies was connected to existing locales,such as the place of execution.The Knowe of Wilga is marked by the remnantsof a large chambered cairn, which wasbuilt on top of the natural, rocky hillock (Fig.9). About 120m to the west, there’s a remark-HU 3991 3963The Gallow Hill of Scalloway lies directly tothe west of the town (Fig. 11). The site of thegallows is described as ‘the west hill of Scallowaycallit the gallow hill abone Houll’ in thecourt book of Shetland in 1615 (Barclay 1967:116). (Wester)Houll was a group of houses onthe west side of Scalloway, the name of whichstill survives in Houl Road. In recordings of1616 and 1625 the Gallow Hill is referred toas ‘the place of execution’ on the ‘hill aboveBerrie’ (Donaldson 1991: 43 & 124). Berry isa farm on the north side of Scalloway, about500m from Houll. Morphologically, the GallowHill is a small spur on the hillside of theHill of Berry (103 m), at the edge of the steepbase towards the town.11