We have been learning about a man called Arthur Anderson who is a significant individual from Shetland’s nautical past.
He was born in the Bod of Gremista in Lerwick on the 19th of February 1792. His father was the manager of a fish curing station and he came from Unst. Arthur was captured by the Press Gang at the age of 15 who tried to force him to join the Royal Navy but he promised to join the next year so they let him go. He kept his word and joined when he was 16. He fought in the Napoleonic Wars and he survived. In 1833 he was living in London and he was a co-founder of the Peninsular Steam Navigation Company which became P&O in 1837. He introduced the idea of cruising for pleasure rather than just a way of transportation. He was a Member of Parliament for Orkney and Shetland from 1847-1852 and he also helped to build the Anderson Educational Institute which opened on the 4th of August 1862. He gave the institute a statue with the words ‘Doe Weel and Persevere’ which the Anderson High School now use as their school motto. Arthur Anderson also built the Anderson’s homes in Lerwick and they were intended for women who had lost their husbands at sea. Arthur died on the 27th of February 1868 at the age of 76.
Shetland used to belong to Norway many years ago and it was gifted to Scotland as a dowry by King Christian I. Even to this day, Shetland still has many links to Scandinavia and the Vikings. Even some of our place names come from Viking times! Did you know that Lerwick means muddy bay? And in Unst, there have been approximately 60 Viking longhouses discovered along with different artefacts from Viking times. It’s incredible!
We made Viking longships as part of a technology task and we wrote Viking poems using adjectives and alliteration. Here’s an example:
Mad, menacing, murderous Vikings!
Fierce, furious, ferocious Vikings!
Vicious, violent, victorious Vikings!
Gruesome, ghastly, gigantic Vikings!
Tiresome, terrifying, treacherous Vikings!
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