SCALLOWAY, a village, in the district of Tingwall,
parish of Tingwall-Whiteness-and-Weesdale,
county of Shetland, 6 miles (S. by W.) from
Lerwick; containing 405 inhabitants. This place, the
name of which is said to signify " the harbour by the
mansion-houses ", was in ancient times the capital of
Shetland; a burgh; and the occasional residence of the
Earls of Orkney and Shetland, as well as of nearly all
the persons of consideration belonging to the islands.
After the cession of Shetland to the crown of Scotland,
the principal court of law, which under the crown of
Denmark had been held in a small island in the loch of
Tingwall, was removed to Scalloway, and the Foud or
chief magistrate himself resided here. But the most
memorable facts connected with the history of the
place, relate to the government and tyranny of Earl
Patrick Stewart, who, in 1600, obtained from the crown
a grant of the Shetland Isles, and erected a splendid
castle at Scalloway, the ruins of which are still imposing.
Here he took up his residence, and so cruelly oppressed
the inhabitants by laying on them numberless intolerable
burthens, and by other abuse of his unlimited authority,
which placed their lives at his disposal, that the parliament,
about the year 1612, in consequence of an
appeal from the inhabitants, revoked his charter, and
annexed the lordship to the crown; and the earl, two
years afterwards, was executed for high treason. The
village is situated at the south-western extremity of the
Tingwall district, at the foot of a valley consisting of
one of the finest and most fertile tracts in the country,
having a rich soil incumbent on a stratum of valuable
grey limestone. East of Scalloway stands the ancient
castle, on the margin of an excellent harbour called
Scalloway Voe: the building was occupied in the time
of Cromwell as barracks by his soldiery, who are said to
have introduced the cultivation of the cabbage, with
other improvements. Mr. Scott, the chief proprietor,
has a residence and garden in the village, where there
are several other good family houses; but the place is
principally distinguished as a fishing-station, and has
risen to a condition of much prosperity within the last
few years, chiefly through the attention paid to the
taking of herrings, about 15,000 barrels of which were
shipped in a late year. A church has been erected for
the benefit of the village and neighbourhood; and there
is a small place of worship for Independents; also a
school supported by the Society for Propagating Christian
Knowledge.