hae: have
hadna: hadn’t
harled: exterior plaster using small stones
heid: head
hoosie: little house, usually for bairns
howk: to search among: I howked ida box o auld claes.
isna: isn’t
ken, kent: know, knew
keek: peep at
kirk: church
kirkyard: graveyard
kishie: wicker basket carried on the back, supported by a kishie baand around the forehead
kleber: soapstone
knowe: hillock
Lerook: Lerwick
lem: china
likit: liked
lintie: skylark
lipper: a cheeky or harum-scarum child, generally affectionate
mad: annoyed
mair: more
makkin belt: a knitting belt with a padded oval, perforated for holding the ‘wires’ or knitting needles.
mam: mum
mareel: sea phosphorescence, caused by plankton, which makes every wave break in a curl of gold sparks
meids: shore features to line up against each other to pinpoint a spot on the water
midder: mother
mind: remember
moorit: coloured brown or black, usually used of sheep
mooritoog: earwig
muckle: big – as in Muckle Roe, the big red island. Vikings were very literal in their names, and almost all Shetland names come from the Norse
muckle biscuit: large water biscuit, for putting cheese on
myrd: a good number and variety – a myrd o peerie things
na: no, or more emphatically, nall
needna: needn’t
Norroway: the old Shetland pronunciation of Norway
o: of
oot: out
park: fenced field
peat: brick-like lump of dried peat earth, used as fuel
peelie-wally: pale-faced, looking unwell
peerie: small
peerie biscuit: small sweet biscuit
Peeriebreeks: affectionate name for a small thing, person or animal
piltick: a sea fish common in Shetland waters
pinnie: apron
postie: postman
quen: when
redding up: tidying
redd up kin: get in touch with family – for example, a five-generations New Zealander might come to meet Shetland cousins still staying in the house his or her forebears had left
reestit mutton: wind-dried shanks of mutton
riggit: dressed, sometimes with the sense dressed up
roadymen: men working on the roads
roog: a pile of peats
rummle: untidy scattering
Santy: Santa Claus
scaddy man’s heids: sea urchins
scattald: common grazing land
scuppered: put paid to, done for
selkie: seal, or seal person who came ashore at night, cast his/her skin and became human
Setturday: Saturday
shalder: oystercatcher
sheeksing: chatting
sho: she
shoulda: should have
shouldna: shouldn’t have
SIBC: Shetland Islands Broadcasting Company, the independent radio station
skafe: squint
skerry: a rock in the sea
smoorikins: kisses
snicked: move a switch that makes a clicking noise
snyirked: made a squeaking or rattling noise
solan: gannet
somewye: somewhere
soothified: behaving like someone from outwith Shetland
spew: be sick
spewings: piles of sick
splatched: walked in a splashy way with wet feet, or in water
steekit mist: thick mist
sun-gaits: with the sun – it’s bad luck to go against the sun, particularly walking around a church
swack: smart, fine
swee: to sting (of injury)
tak: take
tatties: potatoes
tay: tea, or meal eaten in the evening
tink: think
tirricks: Arctic terns
toorie, toorie-cap: a round, knitted hat
trows: trolls
tushker: L-shaped spade for cutting peat
twa: two
twartree: a small number, several
tulley: pocket knife
unken: unknown
vexed: sorry or sympathetic: ‘I was that vexed to hear that’
vee-lined: lined with wood planking
voe: sea inlet
voehead: the landwards end of a sea inlet
waander: wander
waar: seaweed
whatna: what
wasna: wasn’t
wha’s: who is
whit: what
whitteret: weasel
wi: with
wir: we’ve – in Shetlan grammar, ‘we are’ is sometimes ‘we have’
wir: our
wife: woman, not necessarily married
wouldna: would not
yaird: enclosed area around or near the croft house
yoal: a traditional clinker-built six-oared rowing boat
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thank you to all the people who helped me with research for this book: the journalist from The Orcadian who told me about the Eynhallow incident; Jonathon and the Walls Coastguard Team for letting me join in a search; Robert Thomson of Fetlar Developments Ltd for information on Fetlar and the game of hnefatafl; Maxie for playing several games against me, and showing me how quickly a young chess enthusiast could wipe out an ageing writer; Commander Roy on the finicky ways of captains; and Philip for our day out on Fetlar.
On the writing side, thank you to my wonderful agent, Teresa Chris, for all her support and encouragement, and to Susie and the editors and designers at Allison & Busby. Cass’s adventures wouldn’t happen without you!
We hope you enjoyed this book.
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About the Author
MARSALI TAYLOR grew up near Edinburgh, and moved to Shetland as a newly qualified teacher. She is a former tourist guide who is fascinated by history, as well as a keen sailor who enjoys exploring in her own yacht. She lives on Shetland’s scenic west side.
marsalitaylor.co.uk
@MarsaliTaylor
By Marsali Taylor
Death in Shetland Waters
Death on a Shetland Isle
Copyright
Allison & Busby Limited
11 Wardour Mews
London W1F 8AN
allisonandbusby.com
First published in Great Britain by Allison & Busby in 2018.
This ebook edition published in Great Britain by Allison & Busby in 2018.
Copyright © 2018 by MARSALI TAYLOR
The moral right of the author is hereby asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All characters and events in this publication other than those clearly in the public domain are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which
it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent buyer.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978–0–7490–2389–8