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

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TAP Field Report No. 5There is a remarkable correspondencebetween the distribution of the gallows andthe parish division listed above. Apart fromthe smallest parish of Burra and Gulberwick(also including Quarff), each of the parisheshas at least one alleged gallows site (Fig. 42).Interestingly, there is only one site namedGallow Hill in each of them, except for Yell,which has none, and Tingwall, which has two.The Gallow Hills of Scalloway and Tingwallwere probably not used at the same time; theformer was probably taken into use after thelawthing was moved from Tingwall to Scallowayin the late 16th century and can hencebe considered as the successor of Tingwall’sGallow Hill (Smith 2006). It is also strikingthat most of the sites lie in the interior of theparishes. This is most obvious for the sites insouth and west Mainland and the more dubioussites in Northmavine and Yell. The GallowHills of Unst and Fetlar are the only exceptions,since they are both located at the westcoastof the islands, facing the neighbouringislands (and parishes). This also applies to thealleged Gallow Hill of Whalsay, but as we haveseen this island did not constitute a separateparish. Indeed, it is surprising, that there isno Gallow Hill in the parishes of Nesting andLunnasting, but one on Whalsay instead.The Gallow Hill of Brae is a bit harder tojudge: it is located very centrally, but alsooverlooks the border of Northmavine.Apart from Scalloway, there is no obviousrelation between the gallows sites and thevenues of the local courts held in the early17th century (Donaldson 1958: 133-136)(Fig. 43). Some of the gallows sites are relativelyclose to a court site, as in Unst (2.3km)and Delting (2.9km), but most of them arenot. This is hardly surprising, since the localcourts probably did not have the power to in-lict capital punishment. Although the districtcourts were presided over by the same judgeas the main court in Scalloway, there seem tohave been different levels of judicial power, asin most of Europe at this time. Capital crimeswere only brought before the Lawthing orhead court in Scalloway. The Court Books of Shetland only document one case, in whichthe convict was sentenced to death by a districtcourt. This concerns the case againstChristopher Johnston from Scatstay, whowas convicted of repeated theft by the courtof Delting at Wethersta in 1602 (Donaldson1954: 18 f.). As far as I know, this is also theearliest known death sentence in Shetland. Instandard wording, Johnston was sentenced‘to be taine to the gallow hill and thair to behangeit be the crage quhill he die, in exempill Figure 43 Location of court sites mentionedin the courtbooks between 1600 and 1615 withthe location of gallow hills and other possiblegallows sites. The parishes correspond to ig.42.Court sites: 1 Neap; 2 Gardie; 3 Still; 4 Ueyasound;5 Islesburgh; 6 Aywick (Eawik); 7 Wethersta (Woddirsta); 8 Twatt; 9 Houss; 10 Sumburgh (Soundbrughe);11 Scalloway; 12 Graveland; 13 Burravoe;14 Brough; 15 Skeldvoe; 16 Sand; 17 Ustaness; 18Hillswick; 19 Urairth.28
Gallow hillsFigure 44 Location of pre-reformation parishchurches (after Cant 1975) gallow hills andother possible gallows sites.Parish churches: 1 St. Matthew / Cross Kirk,Quendale; 2 St. Magnus?, Sandwick; 3 St. Colme?,Cunningsburgh; 4 St. Olaf, Gunnista; 5 unknown,West-Burra; 6 St. Magnus, Tingwall; 7 St. Mary?,Weisdale; 8 St. Mary, Sand; 9 unknown, Twatt; 10St. Paul, Kirkigarth; 11 St. Margaret, Sandness; 12St. Olaf, Olnairth; 13 St. Magnus, Laxobigging; 14St. Magnus / St. Gregory?, Hillswick; 15 St. Magnus?,Houll; 16 St. Olaf, Ollaberry; 17 St. John, Reairth;18 St. Olaf, Breckon; 19 St. Magnus, Hamnavoe; 20St. Mary, Haroldswick; 21 St. John, Baliasta; 22 St.Olaf, Lundawick; 23 Cross Kirk, Papil; 24 St. Olaf,Kirkabister; 25 St. Margaret, Lunna; 26 Cross Kirk,Kirkness; 27 St. Olaf, Whiteness.of utheris’. Unfortunately, the text does notreveal if this refers to the Gallow Hill in Brae(overlooking Wethersta) or to the one in Scalloway.The local courts of the early 17th centurywere usually held at the manors of the fouds(bailiffs) or other oficials. Although most ofthe manors were located in or nearby a majorsettlement, they do not necessarily representthe old centre of their parish (Smith 2009:43). Since it has been assumed that Shetland’sgallows sites are indeed older, we need to lookfor other possible associations.The old parish churches may give a betterclue in this respect. Indeed, there is a strikingcorrelation between the gallows sitesand the location of the pre-Reformation parishchurches listed by Cant (1975) (Fig. 44).The distance varies from 550m (Sandwick)to 5.2km (Brae); 10 of all 14 sites are locatedless than 3km from a Medieval parish church.This applies both to the Gallow Hills as wellas the gulga-names. The most striking examplefor this is Dunrossness. The Gallow Hillof Huesbreck lies 2.5km from St. Matthew’schurch (Cross Kirk) in Quendale, which wasabandoned in 1790. 29 The Knowe of Wilgalies 1.5km from St. Columba’s church in Mail(Cunningsburgh), while Golga lies only 550mfrom the old parish church of Sandwick. 30 Thestrong link between the gallows sites and thepre-Reformation parish churches seems toconirm that the latter hold valuable informa- tion on the old administrative (and judicial)division of Shetland. Cant (1996: 166) statesthat Shetland Medieval, ecclestical parishescorresponded with thing-parishes and weregenerally divided into thirds, each with achurch, one of them being the main parishchurch.As said before, few documents present aclue to the administrative units before thereign of the Stewarts. Based on the numberof original parish churches in each of the districtsmentioned by Pitcairn, Clouston (1914:430 f.) drew a parallel between the parish divisionof Iceland, Orkney, the Isle of Man andShetland. This administrative model generallyinvolved a division into quarters and thirds atmultiple levels. According to Clouston, thisapparently typical Norse administrative systemhad its origins in the organisation of theScandinavian homelands of the settlers, goingback to the Germanic Iron Age. Hence, he be-29
Page 1 and 2: TAP Field Report No. 5A survey ofSh
Page 3 and 4: Gallow hillsTable of contentsIntrod
Page 5 and 6: Gallow hills
Page 7 and 8: Gallow hillssite’s biography and
Page 10 and 11: TAP Field Report No. 5to the northw
Page 12 and 13: TAP Field Report No. 5Figure 11 Top
Page 14 and 15: TAP Field Report No. 5 Figure 17 V
Page 16 and 17: TAP Field Report No. 5Hills (252m).
Page 18 and 19: TAP Field Report No. 59) Watch Hill
Page 20: TAP Field Report No. 5Figure 28 Top
Page 23 and 24: Gallow hillsFigure 36 Topography of
Page 25 and 26: Gallow hillsWilgi Geos should proba
Page 27: Gallow hillsboth from the sea and l
Page 31 and 32: Gallow hillsas Herrisdale (Park) an
Page 33 and 34: Gallow hillsof the discussed sites
Page 35 and 36: Gallow hillsturn are strongly conne
Page 37 and 38: Gallow hillsNotes1Brian Smith, foru
Page 39 and 40: Gallow hillsCrawford, O.G.S. 1922.
Page 41 and 42: Gallow hillsAppendix IHistorically
Page 43 and 44: Gallow hills‘Luckymenis Ness’ (
Page 45 and 46: Gallow hillsto be naild to the gall
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