220 



SHETLAND ISLES SHIELDS. 



large leather vessels, or, as the Spaniards call them, ' 

 botas, whence we derive the term butts. This fla- 

 vour goes off with keeping. The sherry wines are 

 chipped, for the most part, at Cadiz, and are princi- 

 pally exported to England. See Henderson's His- 

 tory of Ancient and Modern \Wnes (London, 1826, 

 1 vol., 4to.). 



SHETLAND OR ZETLAND ISLES; the north- 

 east division of the Scottish Northern Isles, about 

 fifteen leagues north-east of the Orkneys. The | 

 southern promontory of the Mainland (the largest ; 

 of the Shetland islands) lies in 59 48' 30" of north i 

 latitude, and the northern extremity of Unst, in 

 latitude 60 52' north. The meridian of London 

 passes through this last island. The islands are . 

 about eighty-six in number, of which forty are in- 

 habited : the others are small holms or rocky islets, 

 used only for pasturage. The principal inhabited 

 islands are the Mainland (with the capital, Ler- 

 wick), Yell, Unst, Whalsay, Bressay. The climate 

 is not agreeable. The winds are tempestuous, and 

 the rains heavy. The sea swells and rages in such 

 a manner, that for five or six months the ports are 

 almost inaccessible. There is great diversity of 

 soil. The general appearance is a scene of rugged- 

 ness and sterility. Some patches of miserably cul- 

 tivated soil relieve the eye of a traveller; but no 

 tree nor shrub is to be seen. The western parts 

 are peculiarly wild, dreary, and desolate, consisting 

 of gray rocks, stagnant marshes and pools, broken 

 and precipitous coasts, excavated into vast natural 

 arches and deep caverns. There is plenty of peat 

 and turf for fuel. Great numbers of horses are 

 bred in Shetland, though they are of very small 

 size. These little animals, however, are full of 

 spirit, and bear fatigue much better, in proportion 

 to their size, than larger horses, and evidently pro- 

 ceed from the Norway horse, though reduced in 

 gize, perhaps, in some degree, by scanty fare. The 

 cattle of Shetland are also of a small size. The 

 inhabitants are a hardy, robust, and laborious race, 

 and hospitable. They have few manufactures. 

 They make a coarse cloth for their own use, and a 

 little linen. They likewise export great quantities 

 of stockings, knit from their own wool; some of 

 which are so fine that they equal silk in price, and 

 can be drawn through a finger ring. Their chief 

 trade is to Leith, London, Dublin, and Barcelona; 

 but they also deal with the Dutch fishermen, who 

 visit their islands. They export annually about 

 1000 tons of cod, tusk, and ling, and about 5000 

 worth of stockings and mittens. The whole exports 

 may be estimated at 35,000. In 1755, the popula- 

 tion of Shetland was estimated at 15,210; in!793, at 

 20,196; in 1831, at 29,392; and in 1841, at 30,558. 

 See Hibbert's Description (Edinburgh, 1821). 



SHIBBOLETH. When Jephthah, at the head 

 of the Gileadites, /had defeated the Ephraimites, 

 and his troops intercepted their flight across the 

 Jordan, they required the former to pronounce the 

 word Shibboleth. The peculiar pronunciation of 

 the Ephraimites, who, unable to give the aspirate, 

 called it Sibboleth, betrayed them to their enemies. 

 The word has thence acquired the signification of 

 the watch-word of a party. 



SHIELD ; a piece of defensive armour, borne on 

 the left arm, to screen the body from the blows of 

 the enemy; afterwards superseded, in a great de- 

 gree, by the use of more convenient armour. (See 

 Breast-plate.") Shields were composed of different 

 materials, and were of various figures. The an- 

 cient clypeus was round, and of brass. 



The scutum, or afir't;, was of an oblong shape, rect- 

 angular, generally made of wood, covered with 

 skins; the parma was made of skin; the pelta was 

 crescent-shaped. In the centre was the umbo, an 

 iron boss projecting forward, to glance off missiles, 

 or to press the enemy. They were often highly 

 ornamented, and the ancients esteemed it a great 

 disgrace to leave them on the field of battle. 

 " With it, or on it," was the exhortation of a Spar- 

 tan mother to her son, giving him the buckler of 

 his father, as he went to war. In time of peace, 

 they were hung up in consecrated places, and those 

 taken in war were often suspended in the temples 

 as trophies. (Potter's Antiquities; Vegetius, ii., 

 17.) The Tartar shield is made of leather. Both 

 in France and in England and Scotland, round 

 leather shields were used. Many of these shields 

 had wood wicker work or metal plates below the 

 leather. There was a particular kind of shield used 

 several centuries ago, called pavois or tallevas, of 

 extraordinary dimensions, and borne by an attend- 

 ant. This in sieges was interposed between the 

 archers and the besieged. The most ancient and 

 universal form of shields, in the earlier ages, seems 

 to have been the triangular, vulgarly called the 

 heater shield. Numerous instances of this are seen 

 in the monuments and gems of antiquity. This 

 was the shape of the Norman shields. The shield, 

 though not entirely relinquished while the use of 

 the long-bow and cross-bow continued, underwent 

 some alteration in its form, the triangular shape 

 gradually giving place to the circular or rectangular. 

 They seem to have been used in affrays as late as 

 the reigns of Elizabeth and James I. The target 

 and broad-sword were the favourite arms of the 

 Scotch Highlanders as late as 1746, and even later. 

 SHIELDS, NORTH; a sea-port town in the 

 county of Northumberland, situated on the north 

 side of the Tyne, at its junction with the German 

 Ocean, 279 miles N. by W. from London. It has 

 risen in modern times from a small village contain. 



