Shetland sheep

The Shetland sheep is a small, wool-producing breed of sheep originating in the Shetland Isles, but is now also kept in many other parts of the world. It is part of the Northern European short-tailed sheep group, and it is closely related to the extinct Scottish Dunface. Shetlands are classified as a landrace or "unimproved" breed. This breed is kept for its very fine wool, for meat, and for conservation grazing.

Although Shetlands are small and slow-growing compared to commercial breeds, they are hardy, thrifty, easy lambers, adaptable and long-lived. The Shetland breed has survived for centuries in difficult conditions and on a poor diet, but they thrive in better conditions. Shetlands retain many of their primitive survival instincts, so they are easier to care for than many modern breeds.

History

Up to the Iron Age, the sheep of the British Isles and other parts of northern and western Europe were small, short-tailed, horned only in the male and variable in colour. Short-tailed sheep were gradually displaced by long-tailed types, leaving short-tailed sheep restricted to the less accessible areas. These included the Scottish Dunface, which until the late eighteenth century was the main sheep type throughout the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, including Orkney and Shetland. The Dunface died out on the mainland, Scotland, in the late nineteenth century, leaving its descendants limited to a few islands, including the Shetlands. The Shetland type of the Dunface has been regarded as distinct since the early nineteenth century or before.

Shetland

Shetland (/ˈʃɛtlənd/; Scottish Gaelic: Sealtainn [ˈʃal̪ˠt̪ʰɪɲ]) (Norn: Hjaltland), also called the Shetland Islands, is a subarctic archipelago of Scotland that lies northeast of the island of Great Britain and forms part of the United Kingdom.

The islands lie some 80 km (50 mi) to the northeast of Orkney and 280 km (170 mi) southeast of the Faroe Islands and form part of the division between the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the North Sea to the east. The total area is 1,466 km² (566 sq mi) and the population totalled 23,210 in 2012. Comprising the Shetland constituency of the Scottish Parliament, Shetland is also one of the 32 council areas of Scotland; the islands' administrative centre and only burgh is Lerwick. Also the capital of Shetland since 1708 taking over from Scalloway.

The largest island, known simply as "Mainland", has an area of 967 km² (373 sq mi), making it the third-largest Scottish island and the fifth-largest of the British Isles. There are an additional 15 inhabited islands. The archipelago has an oceanic climate, a complex geology, a rugged coastline and many low, rolling hills.

Shetland (TV series)

Shetland is a BBC Scotland crime drama television series starring Douglas Henshall as Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez. The story takes place on the Scottish archipelago of Shetland, though much of the filming was done on the Scottish mainland, with some on location in Shetland.

Production History

The first series consists of two episodes as a pilot -- a single two-part story based on the novel Red Bones by Ann Cleeves. It was broadcast on 10 and 11 March 2013. Subsequently, a full second series was commissioned by the BBC. Series two contains six episodes, filmed in 2013 and screened in 2014. It features three two-part stories based on Ann Cleeves' novels Raven Black, Dead Water and Blue Lightning. Filming began in April 2015 for a third series which began screening on 15 January 2016.

Cast and characters

Shetland (disambiguation)

Shetland is an archipelago in Scotland.

Shetland may also refer to:

See also