Burra (
Old Norse
Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
: ''Barrey'') is the collective name for two of the
Shetland Islands,
West (pop. 753) and
East Burra (pop. 66), which are connected by bridge to one another, and to the
Shetland Mainland via
Trondra.
In addition, Burra was an ancient
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
that included smaller additional islands such as
South Havra,
Little Havra,
Papa and the tidal island
West Head of Papa. The civil parish of Burra was merged into the civil parish of Lerwick, along with
Quarff and
Gulberwick, in 1891. It continues to exist as
Quoad sacra parish of the
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...
.
The form used in the ''
Orkneyinga saga'' is "Barrey". ''Collins Encyclopedia of Scotland'' suggests that the name is a corruption of ''Borgarey'' meaning "island of the
broch
In archaeology, a broch is an British Iron Age, Iron Age drystone hollow-walled structure found in Scotland. Brochs belong to the classification "complex Atlantic roundhouse" devised by Scottish archaeologists in the 1980s.
Brochs are round ...
".
[Keay, J. & Keay, J. (1994) ''Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland''. London. HarperCollins.] The place name Brough, on West Burra lends some support to this case and a nearby hillock may have been a broch from which stones were removed to build the pier at
Scalloway.
"West Burra, Brough"
Canmore. Retrieved 1 June 2024
References
Islands of Shetland
Scalloway Islands
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