The Celtic and Scandinavian Antiquities of Shetland

Gilbert Goudie (1843–1918) spent his professional career as a banker, but had a passionate interest in Scandinavian and Celtic history, folklore and archaeology. A native Shetlander, he published widely on the Scottish islands, and was co-translator of the Orkneyinga Saga, edited by Joseph Anderson and also reissued in this series. This 1904 work presents an edited compilation of Goudie's various journal articles on Shetland, arranged in chronological order of their topics. These include prehistoric stone tools, the brochs or 'Pictish castles', monuments from the Celtic Christian period such as the St Ninian's stone, medieval legal documents, Danish and Norwegian claims to Orkney and Shetland, horizontal water-mills, the ancient 'kollie' (a simple oil lamp), its manufacture and use, and other household tools, like the 'bysmar' and 'knockin'-stane', with their description, etymology and use. This work gives fascinating glimpses of the long history and traditions of a remote and self-sufficient community.