Talk:Shetland

Does anyone have a smaller map of the Shetland Islands? I'm afraid it's way too big. --webkid 23:19, 14 Aug 2003 (UTC)

New map underway

I'm in the process of drawing a detailed new map of the islands. I can add lots of villages, but finding room for the text labels for each village can be difficult (and can make the map ugly and useless at smaller sizes). So, I intend to add about 10 to 15 villages. Other than Lerwick, which villages are the most notable (and so worthy of mention). -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 20:04, 23 Apr 2005 (UTC)

There's a list of villages in the Shetland Mainland article which could be useful. The Yell and Unst articles also list the islands' main settlemets. I'd also add Symbister on Whalsay.

Sold or pawned by Norway?

As I understand it, Norway regarded the islands as having been pawned and has on occasion talked of unpawning it (although it is no longer a realistic possibility). But does anyone have any evidence either way? Warofdreams 12:05, 2 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I read something about the islands being annexed as a a replacement for a Dowry owed to Scotland by the Norse king at the time, because of some... marriage, obviously. Whether this is even remotely true, I don't know. But it that case it is not accurate to say they were pawned. 128.175.205.36 01:24, 11 March 2006 (UTC)

James III of Scotland married Princess Margaret of Denmark-Norway, but the latter country was unable to provide a proper dowry for her. The result was that James was given control of the islands as a guarantee that her dowry would be paid (according to the Norwegian Wikipedia, the amount promised was 8,000 guilders/gulden). The dowry was never paid, and James annexed the islands to his crown. In Denmark and Norway, the islands are sometimes referred to as simply "pawned", and is seems pretty certain that it was never the Danish intent to surrender the islands permanently. Valentinian ^(talk) 13:21, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

Reclaim attempts by Denmark? Documentation needed.

"Subsequent attempts by Denmark to make good on the debt and reclaim Shetland have been ignored, including the last bid in the early years of the twentieth century"

I allowed myself to delete the phrase 'by Denmark' , rendering the rest more neutral. A citation on this very interesting point would be nice. Whereas it is well-known in Denmark and Norway that the islands were pawned, I never heard of any official considerations to redeem the pawn. Sometimes ordinary citizens would talk about the matter in a nostalgic or witty tone, however. I recall a feature in the Danish TV news around 1990 about people in the Orkneys learning Norwegian and - maybe - wanting to get back to Denmark or Norway. I think they also said they had contacted the Danish queen on the matter. Which, by the way, would mean the initiative came from them. I doubt Margrethe II could promise any efforts to reclaim them, even if she wanted to. --213.237.69.51 04:47, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

Name

The people I know on Shetland say that that (ie Shetland) is the proper appellation, and that the "Shetland Islands" is less correct (maybe on the inheritance of Hjaltland): they distinguish clearly between "Shetland" and the "Orkney Islands". Should not the entry here therefore be entitled "Shetland"? Mark O'Sullivan 21:13, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC)

...also engendering a capitalisation inconsistency; we have the "Orkney islands" but the "Shetland Islands". Probably this should be "Shetland" or "Shetland islands", but shouldn't the latter at least be a redirect? Blahedo 07:39, 15 August 2005 (UTC)

Shetland and Shetland Islands are both accepted but local inhabitants absolutely abhor 'the Shetlands'.

Likewise, the Orkneys should be avoided.

Puffinbillyunst 18:38, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

New map - comments please

Test version of new Shetland map

I'm not done with my new map, but I think all that's needed is to add towns. Here's a test version - I'd welcome comments and corrections before I go any further. Thanks. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 21:11, July 14, 2005 (UTC)

It looks great and could be adapted for use in all the articles on individual islands. My only suggestion would be making it clear that Muckle Roe is a separate island from the Mainland. Warofdreams 13:30, 18 July 2005 (UTC)

Thanks, the islandness of Muckle Roe wasn't entirely clear from my reference map, so I'll do that (I've been avoiding it, as it's a bit of a pain to do). -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 14:36, August 27, 2005 (UTC)

Excellent map! though some of the names are a bit hard to read. Suggest settlements should include as minimum Lerwick, Sumburgh Airport and Sullom Voe Oil Terminal, and also Scalloway as historic capital. Mark O'Sullivan 14:13, 27 August 2005 (UTC)

It you can't read the labels then you probably need to zoom in further (the original image is nearly 2000 pixels wide, although your browser and mediawiki may scale it down, depending on their configurations). Mapmaking for screens always has this problem - compared with paper, the resolution is so poor that you either have to have a few (giant) labels, or make the image giant. For future-proofing (and if anyone actually wants to print the image out) I erred on the side of making the image giant. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 14:36, August 27, 2005 (UTC)

possible miniversions

The new map is (I think) done. It has the same name as before (you may need to refresh your cached version, as it's now on commons). I also propose to replace all the individual island maps with simplified versions based on it. Three possible versions are shown to the right (I think option one, the simplest, is probably best). Does anyone have any comments before I do this? -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 21:13, August 29, 2005 (UTC)

re individual island maps: First, I should point out that I know almost nothing about Shetland (which perhaps is a useful qualification here). I like all three (simple = good in my book), but the first one is, for me, a bit too minimalist. The third is a bit too "busy" for me. The second feels about right. ("Goldilocks" could be my middle name :-).) Actually, I wonder if you shouldn't just not label the various stretches of water, but instead label the two places that outsiders like me have heard of — Lerwick and the Sullom Voe oil terminal, names to "hook" into. --Finbarr Saunders 22:08, 29 August 2005 (UTC)

Great work! My preference would be for the first - I like simple! - but any of the three would be a big improvement on the maps I knocked up when I was originally creating articles on many of the islands. Warofdreams 14:32, 30 August 2005 (UTC)

Gaelic

I disambiguated Gaelic to go to Scottish Gaelic language instead of the disambiguation page. Is that right? --Finbarr Saunders 08:26, 26 August 2005 (UTC) I forgot that - thanks! Mark O'Sullivan 14:13, 27 August 2005 (UTC)

Population?

Population of Shetland is approximately 23,000 people.

Shetlopedia.com

The new Shetlopedia can be used for Shetland Specific articles, text, images, maps, etc.

It's a new website and it needs your input.

http://www.shetlopedia.com

Is there any benifit on having a completly seperate portal?

Why not just keep everything focused in the same place?

To be honest I don't see why there should be a seperate shetlopedia?! Wikipedia is the definitive resource on 'everything' and people would do well to keep it all within it's confines and structure. Why go off and break from this already massive and successful project?

• A separate site may be wise, given the minutiae apparently contained on Shetlopedia's site. I suspect identical Wikipedia entries would be quickly AfD'd with questions over their notability -James Francis 62.56.124.229 17:08, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

• Shetlopedia.com released a statement yesterday which explains "Wikipedia is an excellent general information resource, but by its own rules it is a general resource and contributors are urged not to put ‘trivial’ information into Wikipedia as it would become less useful to the casual user. Shetlopedia.com is different: by specializing on one topic – Shetland – I hope that this can become a centralized resource where all contributors’ knowledge of Shetland is equally valid.". The full press release can be read here.

CFD

The related Category:Members of the United Kingdom Parliament from Orkney and Shetland has been nominated for deletion. You are encouraged to join the discussion on the Categories for Discussion page.

--Mais oui! 09:37, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

Independent Orkney and Shetland wiki site

User:Mallimak and I held a meeting in Stromness this weekend with a number of interested parties and a group of visiting colleagues from Shetland.

We are all shocked at the way Orkney contributors and contributions have been treated on Wikipedia. It is clear to us that Wikipedia has less to do with encyclopaedic articles and more to do with information control.

There is currently a group of “Wikipedians” dedicated to editing Orkney articles to suit their own agenda and attacking anybody who tries to resist them. None of us can compete with those with the time and inclination to make literally a hundred or more edits each day. We would be willing to contribute scholarly articles and to allow them to be edited (if necessary) and added to by responsible editors – but that is not how things are happening on Wikipedia.

We have resolved to get our own independent wiki site up and running exclusively for encyclopaedic articles on Orkney and Shetland. We shall be approaching local internet service providers and website developers to help us set this up.

If you are interested in contributing to this project please leave a message on the Category talk:Orcadian Wikipedians page. (The Orcadian Wikipedians’ Noticeboard was demolished!)

Locally, we shall advertise in the press in due course.

Orkadian 00:17, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the debate was PAGE MOVED per discussion below. -GTBacchus^(talk) 01:14, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

Requested move

Shetland Islands → Shetland – Official and commonest name. Mais oui! 02:23, 21 September 2006 (UTC)

Survey

Add "* Support" or "* Oppose" followed by an optional one-sentence explanation, then sign your opinion with ~~~~

• Support --Mais oui! 02:24, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
• Support per Mais Oui. The 'What links here' evidence points in this direction, and it seems a prevailing usage in Scotland, although I suppose that is OR. As the official name it should be a 'no-brainer'. --Guinnog 03:37, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
• Support -- Angus McLellan (Talk) 07:38, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
• Support -- Evertype·✆ 08:32, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
• Support -- dave souza, talk 08:42, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
• Support. Peter O. (Talk) 20:41, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
• Support Abtract 21:21, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
• Support Fraslet 21:38, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
• Support; time for the move, methinks... Aquilina 22:28, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
• Support Not OR; English-speakers can attest to English usage. Ultimately, there is no other source. Septentrionalis 03:17, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

Discussion

Add any additional comments

Why is the local authority called the Shetland Islands Council then? -  AjaxSmack  06:01, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Location of Shetland

Look at any map and the Shetland Islands are clearly located between the Orkney Islands and Norway. The Faroe Islands are to the NW of Orkney whilst Shetland is to the NE of Orkney. So unless the meaning of "between" has altered recently, there is no way that Shetland can lie between Orkney and the Faroe Islands. 81.156.57.128 21:50, 17 October 2006 (UTC)