12 THE ORNITHOLOGIST'S GUIDE 



active, industrious, and persevering ; nearly all the 

 agricultural labour is performed by them, — I may 

 safely say the most laborious part of it, — and should 

 they not possess ponies the duty devolves upon 

 them of carrying the manure to the land, which 

 they do on their backs in small hampers, or caseys 

 as they are called ; and during this labour their 

 hands are occupied in knitting, — indeed it is the 

 custom of the women on all occasions to carry the 

 articles necessaryfor that purpose along with them, 

 • — while in all probability the husband or brother 

 is smoking at home or basking in the sun on the 

 side of some neighbouring hill. 



The houses or huts of the Shetland peasantry 

 are very imperfectly built of stone and clay; and in 

 many situations where the latter cannot be obtained, 

 and they are consequently destitute of this material, 

 they are rudely and imperfectly thatched with 

 straw and the outhouses covered with turf; they 

 are exempt from the duty on windows, as the light 

 in most of them enters through the opening of the 

 doors and chimney: the dwelling-house consists of 

 two apartments, with a fire in the centre of the 

 largest room, in the roof of which is a hole that 

 answers the double purpose of allowing the escape 

 of the smoke and the admission of light. The pigs 

 enjoy the privilege of sleeping around the fire in the 



