the shallows near the village, the final bloody tragedy takes place. The custom,
once followed, of drawing a net across the entrance of a voe 3|i falling into
disuse. The closing scene is exciting: men, women, and children leap into the
sea, up to their , necks at times, amid the struggling Cetaeeans, and hack and
stab them to death, aiming at the throat and breast - as the most vulnerable parts.
Quendale Bay, in the south of Shetland, used to be theiscene of annual
slaughter: as many as 1540- Pilot Whales met their death there in 1845 on
September 22. .Weisdale: Voe,1 the voes on the east side of Yell, and Dales Voé
in Delting, have been the scenes of regular hunts, but the Shetlanders, kill but
few annually now. Between i860 and 1880 Whale drives "were frequent. The
excitement of the chase and the monetary reward caused the crofters to hurry to
the sport at any time of day or night. : Whale hunting was an occupation in which
all' ages and-’ classes joined and shared profits. At one time the lord of the mane»
took a large share, but his claim is now abandoned. When the Whales chose to
enter the voes on the Sabbath day even the Sabbath was not respected. In
Shetland they-tell a story which is: probably true enough. The minister of
DunrossnesswaS ih thé middle of his sermon: one'Sunday: afternoon when he
noticed that several members of the congregation were feeling for their hats.
When some of them stole out of the church he understood, and closed the service
hurriedly with these words:— ‘ I have only one final word to say, my brethren, and
that is : Let us all have a fair start—just a fair start.’ Then he opened his
pulpit door and ran out as fast as his legs could carry him.
The value of these Whales is about 3/. to 3/. i o j . each. The meat is dried
and pickled, and the intestines are dried and used for buoys: One hundred and
ninety-five Pilot Whales captured near Flotta, Orkneys, realised $ool. 12s. 6d?
Mr. Moodie-Heddle says: ' They breed at all seasons. I have taken full-grown
young and a feetus o f : a few inches long out of Whales in the same school in
July. When many have to calve they seek sheltered waters for the purpose.
I -once saw Scalpa Flow full on such an occasion— many thousands, extending
fór miles. : .. . They, séèm to see well in the air, as I have, noticed them rise up
as if “ treading water," and take a prolonged . and steady look at a boat when
fifteen or twenty yards off only.’ 8 The full-grown young at date of birth is
about six feet long.
1 At Weisdale Voe a hundred Whales were driven ashore on February 7, 1903, an unusual date, which proves that this
species at times frequents the Shetlands in the winter.
* A Fauna o f the Orkney Islands, by Harvie-Brown and Buckley, p. 76. * Ibid. p. 77.