Shetland winter traditions

At sixty degrees North, Shetland winters are long with as little as six hours daylight in the darkest months so it isn’t surprising the islands have a rich history of winter traditions.

Trows are small mythological beings said to live in Shetland’s hills. They dwell underground, only venturing above the surface after dark, otherwise the sun’s rays will turn them to stone.

Christmas is a relatively recent addition to the Shetland calendar. In the past islanders celebrated Yule which began at mid-winter and lasted for 24 days.  The origins of Yule are thought to have been inspired by the Norse winter festival of Jul.  For much of our history, winter was a time of scarcity and uncertainty.  Folk hoped they had produced enough food in summer to last all the months where darkness and weather made cultivation impossible. Wild winds and rough seas limited the number of days that boats could go out fishing and only essential outdoor crofting tasks were done in this season. So many Yule rituals and celebrations took place indoors, with friends and neighbours gathering around the hearth to share food, drink and stories. Some Yule days had specific rituals associated with them and although many traditions have changed over the years, several elements associated with Yule can be experienced in our winters today.

Ghost stories and trowie tales

Across Britain, ghost stories have become a Christmas tradition with families gathering to tell stories or watch spooky tales on TV.  Storytelling has always been an important part of Shetland winters.  Long dark nights drew people to the peat fire and families would gather to do their jobs in this warmest part of the house. As they worked people shared stories. Although ghost stories could be part of this, the islands have many accounts of supernatural encounters, the stories most associated with Yule are trowie tales. Trows are small mythological beings said to live in Shetland’s hills. They dwell underground, only venturing above the surface after dark, otherwise the sun’s rays will turn them to stone. So it makes sense that midwinter would be the time they are most likely to be active. Although much has changed in Shetland social life, a rich storytelling tradition remains with many folktales being shared and appreciated by new generations.

A lovely trowie story comes from Papa Stour.  A crofter called Olly noticed that each Christmas eve his small boat disappeared but always returned safely by Yule morning. One year he decided to solve the mystery so hid in his boat before nightfall. As soon as it was dark he saw 4 trows approaching. They quickly got into the boat and steered her skilfully towards a sea cave. After disappearing into the cave for some time the emerged, each carrying a barrel. They had been using his boat to collect their Yule drams! After safely returning the boat to it’s noost, Olly was surprised to see they only took three of the kegs with them. As they left he could hear them chanting ‘one for the sleeper’ and he realized they had seen him in his hiding place and chosen to share their drink with him.

Fires

Fires have always been the heart of Shetland winters, providing warmth and a focal point for social life. In addition to fireplaces in homes there were often community events where fire featured. When I first moved to Shetland I lived in the island of Whalsay and was delighted that the traditional fires during the festive period remains a popular part of social life. On Christmas eve there was a huge fire close to where I stayed. In the days leading up to it, lots of people brought wood to contribute and by the night itself the bonfire was huge. The evening included a torch lit procession and the jokes and storytelling lasted late into the night.

A neighbouring community has an annual tar barrelling event every Christmas morning.  A barrel on wheels, filled with wood then set alight, is pushed through the community. A procession follows with bells and horns. Nobody in the island remembers exactly when this began but it is thought that a Whalsay man saw the Christmas tar barrelling in Lerwick and decided to start a similar event at home.  Lerwick’s tar barrelling was a riotous affair that often happened several times during the Yule period. Folk would dress up in costumes, consume large amounts of alcohol and roll a burning barrel of tar around the streets of town. The danger to both people and property led to these events being banned in 1874. This practice was replaced by the safer, but still spectacular, Up Helly Aa fire festivals that are one of the highlights of our winters .

Visitors and skeklers

Winter is a time for visiting, both today and in the islands past. Like many parts of Scotland, Shetland has the tradition of ‘first footing’.  This is the practice of visiting friends and neighbours on New Year’s Day, known as Newerday. Visitors bring food and drink to share and households would traditionally offer reesit mutton soup and Bannocks to guests.

But some New Year visitors were a little bit more unusual. On a dark winters nights you might answer a knock at the door to find a group of skeklers .Dressed in straw petticoats, with tall straw hats and faces obscured, skeklers were an unsettling sight. With winter being a time when supernatural creatures were thought to have more power to wander, these figures carried a sense of ambiguity. Were these just your neighbours paying a visit? Or was something altogether more otherworldly happening? In either case, the only correct response was to invite them in as any refusal of hospitality could have negative consequences. Once inside, skeklers would play fiddle music and dance before requesting “gie me something I me bogie, a penny o’ money, a bit o’ flesh”.  Householders gave a little of what they had then the skeklers would continue on their way.

In some ways the tradition has parallels with Halloween guising in other parts of Scotland but Shetland Skeklers didn’t only visit on that night. They could appear anytime during the winter and were particularly active around Yule, with Newerday being the most common visiting time.

Although this tradition belongs to our distant past, skeklers are beginning to reappear. Community groups have started to teach Shetland’s distinct straw weaving techniques to new generations. Along with the straw baskets and kishies, skekler costumes are a popular choice for participants. So you never know, if you hear a knock at the door some winter’s night, you might encounter a skekler!

By Catherine Munro
Catherine Munro is an author and anthropologist living in Shetland. Her work focuses on nature and human-animal relationships in the islands. She loves exploring Shetland with her children and sharing these experiences through her writing.

Pin it!