In this document you will find examples of Shetlandic which have been organised into film clips, songs, audio, poetry and prose. The links within this document will take you to sites where there are more examples such as these, not only for
Shetlandic but for many regional varieties of Scots.
When using English, we say 'Shetland dialect' or just 'the dialect'. 'Shetlandic' is an English name used when writing in English. But, for dialect speakers among other dialect speakers, the word most commonly used is 'Shetland.' The name of the speech and the name of the islands are the same.
Go to the Scots Language Centre website to listen to Shetlandic sound clips, understand characteristics of Shetlandic, read a thumbnail history and discussion of this regional variety of Scots, as well as examples of prominent writers and speakers: http://www.scotslanguage.com/articles/view/id/4012/type/dialect/archive/0

Couldna fin da words (2012) by Sound Junior Youth Club. Go cheek to cheek with “the happy couple” on their wedding day in this five minute romantic comedy, created by the
Primary pupils at Sound School in Shetland. http://hansel2012.org/films/couldna-fin-da-words Click here to watch the clip on the Hansel of Film website
Victorian Knitting in Shetland (2013) by BBC Scotland L.A.B. This six minute documentary looks at modern day knitting on Whalsay. The school knitting club discusses the differences between knitting in Victorian Shetland and present day by trying out lace knitting and visiting a wool broker. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0171g2p Click here to watch the clip on the BBC L.A.B
Scotland website
Down the Line (2014) by James Ewen. This eight minute documentary takes place in the guts of a Shetland fishing boat, where a father and son speak about the industry in their natural Shetland voices. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itF3CMWfQXE Click here to watch the clip on YouTube
Out Skerries (1978) by Oscar Marzaroli of Ogam Films. A twenty minute documentary looking at the Out Skerries of Shetland. Narrated in proper TV English, the people of Skerries speak in good Shetland dialect. Watch in particular at 7.47 minutes where two women have a conversation in island shop. http://ssa.nls.uk/film/2691 Click here to watch the clip on the National Library of Scotland’s
Scottish Screen Archive
Dis Quiet (2014) by Bruce Eunson and Andrew Lowes. A short film about poetry in
Shetland, told in a modern Shetland dialect. A good example of written dialect, which appears in moments throughout the film. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTLOgz03aUk Click here to watch the clip on YouTube
Mair aboot Tirval by Freida Leask and Brian Nicolson. Childish but hilarious, this song is a great introduction to Shetland dialect, folklore and humour. http://www.shetlanddialect.org.uk/Mair-aboot-Tirval Click here to listen to the song and read the words on the Shetland ForWirds website. The song appears on the CD Craigsaet a copy of which is in every ‘Gaer Box’ in Shetland schools
Skerry Song by Evergreen. Maria Millar Barclay has two collections available on CD containing fantastic songs written in Shetland dialect. The Skerry Song contains references

to various seabirds. The words are by Harry Kay and the music by Ronnie Matthewson.
Maria sings the song herself and is accompanied by Eddie Barclay. http://www.scotslanguage.com/Education/Audio_resources Click here to listen to the song and read the words on the Scots Language Centre website
No A Fast Car (2013) by Steven Robertson. This video from the Shetland Folk Festival is a comedy cover of Tracey Chapman’s ‘Fast Car’ written and performed in hilarious Shetland dialect complete with jokes, integrated idioms and profound idiocy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QUV_LleYUM Click here to watch the clip on YouTube
Dialect Interview (2014) Helen Smith interviews Mary Blance of Shetland ForWirds on
Shetland dialect. An excellent discussion of – and in – Shetland dialect. Mary discusses the origins of the dialect, features and favourite phrases with fellow speaker Helen Smith. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vURk1-Ucrfs Click here to watch the clip on YouTube
Patron of Shetland Wool Week (2014) Hazel Tindall is interviewed by Helen Smith. The fastest knitter in the world is also a great speaker of Shetland dialect. Listen to this interview to hear her describing her unique and lifelong relationship with Shetland knitting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKA4469Ukj8 Click here to watch the clip on YouTube
Brekken Beach, Nort Yell by Christine De Luca. A fantastic description of an amazing
Shetland scene. The language of the poem mirrors the scene in that it explores the features in a Shetland vocabulary, and yet there are plenty of universal or Scottish details within the lines. http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/resources/k/kistscotslanguage/texts/brekkenbeach/i ndex.asp
Click here for the text, an audio recording and learning resources from the ‘Kist o
Riches’
Da Show by Vagaland. Hear, see, smell and feel the details of a Show in Shetland. The poem looks at shows from the past as well as more recently, travelling across the West side of
Shetland as well as through the years. http://www.shetlanddialect.org.uk/assets/files/tinder-box/files/da-show-vagaland.pdf
Click here to read and listen to the poem on the Shetland ForWirds website, along with support activity ideas from the ‘Tinder Box’
Sang oda Post War Exiles by Robert Alan Jamieson. A unique writer - and speller - of
Shetland dialect, Robert Alan Jamieson uses his Sandness voice to give life to the poor post

war exiles in Shetland who were torn between the lives they had and the life they must now face. http://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poetry/poems/sang-oda-post-war-exiles Click here to read the poem on the Scottish Poetry Library
Da Peesterleeties an da Curse o da Njuggle by Valerie Watt. A good example of Shetland prose for Scots speakers or not, as with many Scots texts the characters speak in dialect but the story is narrated in English. This excerpt is a fine introduction to popular characters from
Shetland folklore like Trows and Njuggles. http://www.shetlanddialect.org.uk/da-peesterleeties-an-da-curse-o-da-njuggle Click here to read the story on the Shetland ForWirds website
Da Lass wi da Peerie Dug by Bruce Eunson.
This translation of Anton Chekhov’s famous short story The Lady with the Little Dog is told in 4 parts, not only in Shetland dialect, but also reset in a more modern Shetland and Scotland. http://www.scotslanguage.co.uk/articles/blogs/31/2655 Click here to read the story on the
Scots Language Centre website.
Alice’s Adventirs in Wonderlaand by Laureen Johnson. Another in the Evertype series of
Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland translations. This version is in Shetland Scots and is probably the longest story printed in Shetland dialect. http://www.evertype.com/books/alice-sco-zet.html
Click here to read a summary and introduction to the book