Shetland Pony
a very small variety of the horse, with flowing maner and tails, peculiar to Shetland.
SHIBBOLETH (properly Shibboleth, Hebrew, "ear or corn," or "stream"), the test word used by the Gileadites under Jephthah after their victory over the Ephraimites, recorded in Judges xii. 6.
The latter could not pronounce the sh, and, by saying sibboleth, betrayed themselves, and were slaughtered at the ford. All those Hebrew names in the Old Testament which commence with the sh have now, through the inability of the Septuagint to render this sound in Greek, become familiar to us, through the versions that flowed from it, as beginning with the is fishing. Cod, ling, tusk, saithe or coal simple s-e. g., Simon, Samaria, Solomon, fish, and herring are caught in great numbers. The bottle-nosed whale and seal are also hunted. Most of the fishermen possess also small crofts of land, on which they raise oats, bere, turnips, and potatoes. The group produces peculiar diminutive breeds of horses, cattle, and sheep. The ponies, called "shelties," are remarkably sure-footed. They were formerly regarded as common property and ran wild on the moors. Many are exported for use in coal mines. The women spend much of their time in knitting, and Shetland hosiery has long been famous.
Though a variety of minerals are found in small quantities, chromate of iron is the only one obtainable in quantities worth exporting. The chief town is Lerwick, 100 miles N. of Kirkwall. The only other towns are Hillswick and Scalloway.
The chief antiquities are the ruins of Scalloway Castle and of numerous socalled "Pictish" towers, the chief being Mousa, 12 miles from Lerwick.
The Shetland Islands were early peopled by Northmen, and along with the Orkneys were attached to the kingdom of Denmark. Robert St. Clair, Earl of Orkney, held them under the kings of Denmark. In 1469 they were attached Saul, etc. The word shibboleth is still used to mean a test of opinions and manners.
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