Question re the Shetland Coat of Arms

[Malachy]

Certainly looking at descriptions of the Chough and its choice of habitat it could well have bred here in the past.

 

That is possible, though there are no confirmed records. But since the jarl's shield is a fairly new creation it is more likely that someone just drew the wrong bird - thinking they had portrayed a raven, or perhaps just gave it a red beak and legs to make it look more exciting?

[Malachy]

Or, I suppose, it may have been used on the Lerwick council coat of arms as a symbol rather than an accurate portrayal of local ornithology. Apparently choughs represent "Strategist in battle, watchful for friends, divine providence." However, I'd still like to think it was one huge mistake.

 

http://www.shetlopedia.com/images/thumb/9/9c/Jarlgalley.jpg/180px-Jarlgalley.jpg

 

 

http://birdcheck.co.uk/main/images/previews/preview58.jpg

 

 

http://www.m-w.com/mw/art/raven.gif

Raven

 

Just to show the difference...

[nautim]

Perhaps the Raven got blood on it's beak and feet retrieving the red hand, thus destroying the attempt to claim the land? This would then result in it's murder, hence the wings on the helmet?

[Malachy]

What red hand is this you're referring to?

[Ghostrider]

What red hand is this you're referring to?

 

The Galley always has a red hand mounted on the end of a long vertical pole set well for'ard doesn't it? It had crossed the mind once or twice in the past if I saw the Galley what such an oddity was supposed to be about, but I've never had the interest to ask.

[Njugle]

I have a feeling it was mentioned way way back in the UHA thread, or i heard it sometime last year. It's really interesting and as far as i remember.........

 

 

 

 

 

.........i've totally forgotten Somebody round here knows though....

[Malachy]

This is when we need the experts.

 

Or we could just make up the story instead....Perhaps, amid the geographical confusion that caused a chough to be emblazened on the Jarl's shield instead of a raven, someone suggested they also put the red hand of Ulster on a flag above the galley, because the Vikings were, after all, hardline Unionists. Ian Paisley was the guizer jarl in 1949!

[MuckleJoannie]

What red hand is this you're referring to?

 

The Galley always has a red hand mounted on the end of a long vertical pole set well for'ard doesn't it? It had crossed the mind once or twice in the past if I saw the Galley what such an oddity was supposed to be about, but I've never had the interest to ask.

 

Briefly it it comes a race held between two rival galleys. The winner was to be the first to lay hand on the shore. The leader on the losing galley cut off his hand and threw it ashore. This tale is also told in Northern Ireland. The Red Hand of Ulster being a symbol sometimes used by Loyalists but it would appear it has no sectarian origon.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Hand_of_Ulster

[Malachy]

I knew the Irish story. I didn't know there was a Shetland version. Where does that come from then? Or is it 'originless'?

[lisa]

From "The Birds of Shetland" by S.H. Saxby 1871

 

"The Raven is resident and very abundant in Shetland,

but large numbers, which are certainly not natives

arrive in autumn, usually about the middle of October,

remaining until the breeding season begins. At such

times I have seen upwards of forty within the space

of a few acres. In November also, when the yearly

slaughter of the cows takes place, enormous numbers

of ravens come to feed upon the offal, and this occurs

throughout the whole islands..."

 

The chapter describes how the ravens attacked weak ponies

and sheep, snatched chickens & geese from cottage

doorsteps and made a general nuisance.

 

"Not long ago, a payment of threepence was offered for

every Raven's head..."

[Malachy]

^^^^^

If you're suggesting that the red legs and beak of the Jarl's bird are the result of snaffling cow's offal I think that is perhaps a little far-fetched!

[lisa]

Maybe this will help clear up the mystery a

little, though it was written about the Lerwick

coat of arms:

 

from Black's Guide To Scotland, 1903

regarding the Town Hall of Lerwick built in 1881

 

"On the gable above the centre oriel are the arms

recently granted to the burgh of Lerwick - a Viking

galley surmounted by a Norwegian battle-axe, and for

crest the Danish raven, with the motto Dispecta est

Thule, from the Agricola of Tacitus - the first

reference to the islands in the classics."

[Malachy]

There are several coats of arms becoming confused with each other here. There is the SIC / Shetland coat of arms, pictured above, there is the Lerwick Community Council coat of arms, there is the one you've mentioned Lisa (is that the one on the Anderson High gates?), and there is the Lerwick Town Council (which no longer exists). The LTC coat of arms, though I havenn't got a picture to prove it, is the one with a chough on it. Hence, presumably, the Jarl's chough. (The Jarl's Chough - could be a good name for a book)