Frances144 Posted May 31, 2011 Report Share Posted May 31, 2011 What is a Finnie and what is a Garth or Girt or whatever and how do you actually spell it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hermie10 Posted May 31, 2011 Report Share Posted May 31, 2011 Sorry don't know what a finnie is but garth is/was/maybe! a dyke or a stone enclosure? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Njugle Posted May 31, 2011 Report Share Posted May 31, 2011 Garth is still listed in archaic form as yard or garden in the dictionary. There are a couple of Finniegerts around Shetland*, as you probably know. There's something in the back of my mind abut what the Finnie bit may refer to, but I'm damned if I can retrieve it! (*Isn't one of them haunted?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuckleJoannie Posted May 31, 2011 Report Share Posted May 31, 2011 According to John Stewart's Shetland Place Names "vinjargaror from vin - pasture or meadow, but another possibility is Finnagaror from Finnar, Finns or Laps" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frances144 Posted May 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2011 Thank you! Hope mine is not haunted! It doesn't feel it and it is a lovely spot, very airy and happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Njugle Posted May 31, 2011 Report Share Posted May 31, 2011 If it's west it isn't. If it's east: WoooOOooooh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deardron Posted May 31, 2011 Report Share Posted May 31, 2011 Mentioning of the Picts suggests a mentioning of the Finns, the Norway Finns, who were the early inhabi- tants of the Scandinavian peninsula prior to the Norse conquest. The numerous myths about them, still linger- ing in Shetland, make one inclined to think, that they have been in these islands, but whether they have been here as an original and independent race or not, we have no means of knowing. It was customary among the Norsemen to take their servants or thralls from among the captives made by them in war, and as Finnish thralls were commonly kept by the Norwegians, there is reason for believing that they were kept also by the Norse settlers in Shetland* The Finn seems to be commemorated in one place-name at least (possibly more) in Shetland. It is the name of an ancient dyke- stead in Fetlar, about which an old myth is told. My attention was drawn to this by Mr Laurence Williamson of Mid Yell. The " guidman " Kolbenstaft in the north- west of Fetlar did not have a sufficiently good dyke around his property to keep away the sheep which broke in continually and destroyed his corn. One night when he went to bed, he expressed the wish, that a dyke sufficient to keep off the troublesome animals might be standing in the morning, when he awoke, even if he should give his best cow for it. Next morning, when he went out, he found a splendid new dyke standing where he had wished it, and at the same time his best cow had disappeared from the byre. Parts of the stead of this dyke still remain, and it can be traced all the way to Hoobie on the south side of Fetlar. There are a few legends told about places, situated alongside this dyke- stead, and the spot where it terminates on the south side of the island has been from old a noted troll-place. The name of this dyke or dykestead at the present day is "de Finnigirt dyke." But the old name is simply Finnigord: the Finns' dyke. The suffix "dyke" in " Finnigirt-dyke " thus comes to be a tautology, a modern addition caused by ignorance of the word " gord." As the Finns were from early times believed by the Norwegians to possess great magic power, and as there are several old myths about them to this effect, the just mentioned Fetlar legend is in favour of deriving the name " Finnigord " from the Finns. There can be no connection at all between this Finnigirt-dyke and the township in Fetlar called Finnie, as this latter is situated at the other end of the island. THE DIALECT AND PLACE NAMES OF SHETLAND TWO POPULAR LECTURES BY JAKOB JAKOBSEN http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924026356406/cu31924026356406_djvu.txt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crofter Posted May 31, 2011 Report Share Posted May 31, 2011 Thanks for that link deardron. Frances - another "garth" thread here: http://www.shetlink.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3576 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frances144 Posted June 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2011 Thanks. So how would you spell Finniegarth, Finnigirt, Finniegerth? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostrider Posted June 1, 2011 Report Share Posted June 1, 2011 ^^ As with everything, spelling would probably vary according to where in Shetland you come from. My choice would be Finnigert, but that's Ness, and its not a name from down this end, so probably best to use the spelling nearest to the pronounciation most local to the one you have in mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crofter Posted June 1, 2011 Report Share Posted June 1, 2011 I think the roadsign convention is to use "garth" as the spelling, so possibly "Finnigarth" although I would pronounce it the same as Ghostrider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frances144 Posted June 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2011 All food for thought. Thank you. Well, here it is, in all its glory (just finishing landscaping the outside now), but it really is a beautiful little croft, complete with old watermill. http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e302/Frances144/Finnigert/IMG_0336.jpg http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e302/Frances144/Finnigert/IMG_0332.jpg Habitable and rentable!http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e302/Frances144/Finnigert/IMG_0325.jpg http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e302/Frances144/Finnigert/IMG_0324.jpg http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e302/Frances144/Finnigert/IMG_0321.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brunalf Posted June 2, 2011 Report Share Posted June 2, 2011 dere might be nae ghosts dere,but i widna pit bets on dat,but dere's certainly trows,dey left me wi twartree exellent tunes,da rod tae finnigert, an granny trow,bein a cupple o dem,i see sum o me trees ir still livin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frances144 Posted June 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2011 The trees are doing well especially the ones down the side. A few didn't make it and the rabbits in winter don't help. Finnigert is beautiful. I lay down on Tuesday in the long grass thinking this had to be the most perfect spot. The orchids are just beginning to show their heads. The grass is growing. We have recordings of the Burn of Finnigert, the Hill of Finnigert and the Yard of Finnigert made by Jim Leask and Bernadette Porter. Can send you a copy of you want! What other tunes are there related to this spot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brunalf Posted June 6, 2011 Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 thanks,but i hae recordins o dat tunes,da only ider tunes i ken o aboot finnigert is twa dit cam tae me when i wis dere,"DA ROD TAE FINNIGERT, and GRANNY TROW",but a'm afraid dey're only in my head,i kanna right doon music,and a'm no great at playin it eider.mind you you're no ment tae share tunes dit da trows teach you ,is da monkey puzzle still living too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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