Scalloway Castle

                                                                                  
This is where you pick up the key to the castle.








 

 

How many of you have held the key to a castle?

 The castle was begun in 1600 by Robert Stewart who was the illegitimate son of King James V. He was given lands in Orkney and Shetland Islands. He became a powerful but unscrupulous ruler.

As with most historic sites, this too can be rented for weddings ect. You would have to check the weather as there is no roof. 

Notice the very thick walls. I think they would help with the temperature, but not completely.

Our Shetland Adventure

A typical approach to Lerwick landing at the Sumberg Airport. About 200,000 people pass through
this airport during the year. Hard to believe.

Our 35 seat plane almost ready for the 1 hour and 10 minute flight.

We cross the runway looking both ways before we cross. NO, we are crossing the airport runway,
but there are lights to check and we stop if they are flashing. On the right is the Atlantic Ocean and on the
left is the North Sea.

A closer look.

The average temperature is 45 in March followed by 59-61 in July and August. We wore
our winter coats the entire time. The coldest recorded temperature was 16 F.

 The general climate is windy and cloudy.We still loved it. The people who live here are HARDY people. They are friendly and ready to help with any directions.

This road  on the left is for one car. You always have to be on the lookout for an oncoming
car and be prepared to turn out at the frequent car turn outs.

The history books say the Shetland islands are made up of about 100 islands formed by a range
of ancient hills standing on the continental shelf  and partly drowned when the sea level rose 400 feet
at the end of the last glaciation 10,000-12,000 years ago. 16 of the islands are inhabited.

The mainland, where we were, is 351 sq feet. This is the 3rd largest Scottish Island. The population is about 23,000 people. There are 6 more moderate sized islands  with six more smaller ones. Some islands have very few people inhabiting them.

There are very few trees on the islands, due to years of grazing and burning the heather and
being so close to the ocean winds. When you do see a tree, it is something to behold.

Since 1970's oil exploration has made a significant impact on the economy and way of life here. Often times 3,000 workers are here at any one time. 

SHETLAND ISLANDS

Find Glasgow close to the United Kingdom and then we are slightly north and east of Glasgow.. Now follow the red balloon and that is the Shetland Islands. It was gifted to Scotland in 1469 in lieu of a dowry for a Norwegian Princess.

This is the Shetlands capital. About 1/3 of the inhabitants of the Shetland Islands live here.

The wind is usually 15 mph during the summer but in the winter can increase to hurricane force 12. From mid May to mid July the summer sun dips below the northern horizon for a few hours. This gives the Shetland Islands 19 hours of sunshine. However, winter gets less than 6 hours of sunlight.

Summer is typically showery and bright and cool while winter can be dark and wild. It is slightly warmer than the Gulf of Alaska which lies on the same 60th parallel of latitude.

The northern lights are extra beautiful as seen in the winter.

We will be in the Shetland Island from June 12-16 doing family history experiences with the wee branch there. We have been talking with them via email for about 2 weeks now. We are so excited to see this beautiful part of Scotland.

UPDATE ON THE SWAN FAMILY

I love how they follow the mother.

Taking much pride in preening themselves.

The daddy swan to the right was looking at us as waited patiently to go around them all. We only had
2 two foot clearance to get by the dad as the lake was on both sides. Luckily we went slowly.

A HISTORIC VISIT-June 7, 2015-Edinburgh, Scotland

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

June 23, 1994, called to be an Apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

General Authority presiding at the Northern Europe Stake Conference

This included, Iceland, UK, Ireland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Greenland.

This conference was televised to 56 stakes and 4 districts.

Apostles are special witnesses of Jesus Christ, called to teach and testify of Him throughout the world.

What a special blessing to hear him testify of the divinity of the Book of Mormon.

He gave great counsel which included:

Commend in public, reprove in private.

Tithing is not about money, it is about faith.

Help people feel and recognize when they feel the Spirit of the Holy Ghost.

Some experiences only come by obedience. If you do my will, you will know if it is true.

Testimony has to be earned and re-earned. That is eternal progression.

The more specific your you are in your prayers, the more specific you answers will be.

Live the gospel and keep your covenants.

Cling to the iron rod.

Jesus is the Christ.

Andrew Carnegie

The Andrew Carnegie birth place in Dunfermline, Scotland. His father was a weaver in Scotland. Andrew was born in 1836. He emigrated to the United States of America as a 12 year old with his family in 1848. His father worked in the weaving business in America and finally peddling linens. He died seven years after coming to America and Andrew became an economic help to the family.



The museum is free and shows where he lived with the other 7 in his family. The bedroom is on the left of the roof.

He started as a bobbin boy earning $1.20 per week for 7 12 hour work days. (Check out the Stanley Mills blog), then progressed to running messages for the Telegraph company and then as being a telegrapher. He earned $2.50 a week at this job. He was sought after because he was trustworthy.

By the 1860's he had investments in railroads, sleeping cars, bridges and oil derricks. He built further wealth as a bond salesman raising money for American enterprise in Europe. He built Pittsburgh's Carnegie Steel Company, which he sold to JP. Morgan in 1901 for 480 million. In 2013 that would equal 13.6 Billion.






He devoted the remainder of his life to large-scale philanthropy, with special emphasis on local libraries, world peace, education and scientific research. With the fortune he made fro business, he built Carnegie Hall, founded the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Carnegie Institution or Science, Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland Carnegie Hero Fund, Carnegie Mellon University and the Carnegie museums of Pittsburgh. 

Read the quote below on the left. He lived this quote.


He became the wealthiest man in the world and had given away 90% of of his wealth at the time of his death. That probably made him the happiest man in the world.

He lived what he preached.

The first 1/3 of your life get all the education you can.
The next 1/3 of your life make all the money you can.
The next 1/3 of your life give it all away for worthwhile causes.

SCOTTISH Woolen Mills

This is the owner of the Scottish Woolen Mills.

It costs the farmer 1.5 pounds to shear the sheep and he sells the wool for 50-75 pence, so he loses money on the sheep for their wool.

Brian is the owner of 3,500 sheep in the highlands. He presents 3 lectures each day on sheep and sheep herding with dogs. It was MOST informative and interesting.

The black face sheep are Scottish and very hardy. They are born in the Highlands and live there and return there if taken somewhere else. There are no fences or corrals and no sheepherders. Scotland does NOT have bears or wolves as predators.

 The white face sheep are not as hardy and live on the lowlands. They are called the White Cheviot. 15% of these males have horns, the rest do not. Their wool is not good for anything except rugs.

This was so exciting. We watched the sheep dog herd Ducks. It takes one year to train a dog. I am not sure about the ducks.

The dog uses eye domination to get the lambs or in our case the ducks to do what the master wants.

The master uses different whistles and words: "That will do,Come, Lie down, Come by, Away."When the master is at 12 o'clock the dog is trained to be at 6 o'clock. When the master moves to 9 then the border collie moves to 3.

The average lamb weighs from 99-353 pounds. The record time for shearing is 28 seconds. Most shearers now are women. They must be VERY strong.

Sheep are kept until age 5 and then their teeth start to fall out and then they can't eat very well. They only have teeth on the bottom. They are grazers. Older sheep are breeders. Some breeds will have twins or triplets, others single births.

This sheep just drops his wool whenever and wherever, no shearing for him.

Mule Sheep are bred for meat. They are a cross between a low land ram and a hill ewe. The lambs are mature at 10-14 weeks so that allows for a quick return on investment.