peeriebryan Posted April 7, 2006 Report Share Posted April 7, 2006 Below is a link to an interesting article on Jarlshof published on the Scotsman website Shetland's past comes to life amid the ruins I didn't know the site was named Jarlshof by Sir Walter Scott...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostrider Posted April 7, 2006 Report Share Posted April 7, 2006 I didn't know the site was named Jarlshof by Sir Walter Scott...... Many of the older generations (now all deceased) loathed the name Jarlshof, and steadfastly refused to use it, preferring simpy to refer to it as "Da Paechts". As far as I could ascertain their resentment of the name stemmed from two main sources, the fact it was created by a short term visitor who neither had in depth knowledge of the site or the area, rather than a resident who did, and that it had obvious Viking connotations. Their feeling was that the name should have reflected either the founders of the site, or been descriptive of the overall nature of the site, choosing a name which really only reflected one grouping that had occupied the site, was to them rather disrespectful to the other groups which had also occupied it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peeriebryan Posted April 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2006 Has there been ony alternative names suggested? Its probably a bit late to change it now though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Njugle Posted April 7, 2006 Report Share Posted April 7, 2006 Has there been ony alternative names suggested? Its probably a bit late to change it now though No more chance of changing that as there is of Up Helly Aa being scrapped Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostrider Posted April 7, 2006 Report Share Posted April 7, 2006 I can't recall any alternative being spoken of, but someone a bit older or with more knowledge of the site may well remember better. I just recall how the 60+ year old generation reacted to the name when I was growing up, and as I had a relative who sometimes did part time seasonal work on the site (and he even refused to refer to it as Jarlshof), it was a subject that came up on a semi regular basis. I stand corrected if I'm wrong in this, but I got the impression that the excavated site was never "officially" named as Jarlshof, it was just one of those names that someone started using to refer to it, and it caught on with increasing numbers of people over time. I don't think it would be wise to change it now, the knowledge and reputation of the site is far too widely known for a name change to do anything much unless confuse people, and harm it's popularity. I don't think there can be many people who object to it today, it was mainly a thing of the adult generations of the day when the excavations were undertaken and the name grew in popularity. That's a good article on the Scotsman's site though, a considerable amount of information in a relatively short passage, much of which is not often heard or widely known, even locally. I enjoyed reading it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ichorus Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 Has there been ony alternative names suggested? Its probably a bit late to change it now though No more chance of changing that as there is of Up Helly Aa being scrapped well ya never know stranger things have happened... 8O Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twerto Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 Has there been ony alternative names suggested? Its probably a bit late to change it now though No more chance of changing that as there is of Up Helly Aa being scrapped OMG Non identity has arrouse from the depths Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Njugle Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 OMG Non identity has arrouse from the depths Eh? I don't get that. To clarify my point there, Jarlshof has become an 'international' label in keeping with U-H-A and our shameless 'viking' promotion, even though the Vikings came here and didn't originate here. It is ironic that Jarlshof has been tarred historically with the same brush, though the vast majority of the archaeology present there is non-viking. A bit like 'Maes Howe' being titled after one of the vikings who scrawled their names on the internal walls, thousands of years after it was built. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trout Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 Non Identity was a username from the SIC website - quite an articulate poster if I might be so bold. They were female though Twerto were they not? Or so I was led to believe. I can safely vouch for Njugles man-ness - if there is such a phrase!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pooks Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 I think most people are in agreement that although Jarlshof is perhaps not the best name for the place, it will never change due to it being a large tourist attraction for Shetland. What surprises me more than anything is why folk 'back in the day' never reclaimed the majority of stone there to use for dyke building and so on. This also poses the question as to where the majority of stone came from for dykes in the past. Is it possible that many other 'sites of interest' were taken apart to provide farming boundaries? In my opinion this was almost a normal practise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muppet Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 This also poses the question as to where the majority of stone came from for dykes in the past. Is it possible that many other 'sites of interest' were taken apart to provide farming boundaries? In my opinion this was almost a normal practise. You're quite right there. There are many places in shetland called brough. All named after a broch which stood there. I'm thinking of brough in Whalsay in particular where there is no sign of the broch now. All the stone was used to build the houses which are there now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twerto Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 Non Identity was a username from the SIC website - quite an articulate poster if I might be so bold. They were female though Twerto were they not? Or so I was led to believe. I can safely vouch for Njugles man-ness - if there is such a phrase!? He played out being a female, but it turned out to be a man from what I heard.. i was told who it was, as it turned out to be a friend or acquaintance on harry V, but alas my memory let me forget as the name didn't mean anything to me. but yes very articulate, with well ( sometimes overly ) thought out replies and was always good for a good debate, even if it was in the role of the devils advocate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peeriebryan Posted May 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 Here's an article from the Shetland News website on the opening of the new Jarlshof visitors centre. The audio tour sounds like a good idea New Look Jarlshof a hit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted May 10, 2006 Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 Yeah, the audio tour is pretty good; I went along to the Historic Scotland free weekend at the beginning of April. The nifty thing is that you can choose how much information you want on each bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrunchieSquirrel Posted November 8, 2009 Report Share Posted November 8, 2009 I like Jarlshof and hate it at the same time because you keep ducking your head because of those low ceilings, why can't they build bridges over the monuments to make it safer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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