( 154 ) 



THE DENSCHMAN'S HAD. 



A LEGEND. 



From Widwick to Hermaness the cliffs rise steep and 

 high from a deep ocean, so deep that a large ship might 

 float alongside of the crags without danger of scraping 

 her keel. What would be the fate of such a vessel, if 

 she were carried by the might of that sea against that 

 iron wall, I leave you to imagine. The rocks are 

 broken all along their range by fissures and caves, 

 inaccessible from the land, and scarcely approachable 

 from the sea. He is a bold voyager who brings even 

 a boat to thread the " baas " and " stacks," submerged 

 rocks and needle-crags, which guard the way to those 

 haunts of sea-fowl and seals. One of the caves is 

 named the Denschman's Had. I ought to explain 

 that a "had" means the den of a wild beast, his 

 stronghold : and " Denschman " is " Dane." 



In old days, Shetland (or Hialtland) was nothing 

 more than a " had " of vikinger, those pirates of the 

 North who have so often been confounded with the 

 noble sea-kings of Scandinavia; but while the islands 

 belonged to Norway, their inhabitants were under 

 powerful protection, and suffered little inconvenience 



