Reviews / It’s a gold mine
Drew Ratter reviews Chris Nicolson’s history of the Brethren movement in Shetland, which will be launched in Lerwick on Saturday
WHEN I was a bairn, we were Nort Kirk folk, Church of Scotland. That was a position of long standing on my mother’s side, the Sharps a Blythoid. I have a bible which my Great Grandfather, Andrew Sharp, was presented with, when he retired as a church officer in 1932.
Looking at the date he was born, and when the Nort Kirk in Ollaberry was built, I would think he started out in the Sunday school, along with my great grandmother. A whole lifetime.
The other side of the family, the Ratters o d Heog were less orthodox in their churchgoing, at one stage attending the Sooth Kirk; that was the United Free Church of Scotland, founded after the schismatic assembly of 1843. That’s a matter for another day, but by the 1950s, and my first memories, the Sooth Kirk was closed, and the Manse empty.
By that stage, my own Heog aunts, and quite a few other beloved friends in Ollaberry were Brethren, specifically attached to the Needed Truth. They met in the hall, and I remember my aunt and her son coming along us at the Hillhead on their way home from the meeting. It goes without saying that they walked. My aunts were of the last generation which did not drive.
This all seems, to me at least, not very long ago. I remember my mother telling me that Henry Ratter a Kinglad had said to my grandfather: “Gideon, imm no lattin dis brethren use my barn. Doo’ll shörly no latt dim use dyan edded?”
Yet to anyone much younger than me all this is not so much ancient history, as totally forgotten. Not necessarily in some other parts of Shetland, of course, where Brethren presence is still strong.
For me though, it is thinking about those days 50 or 60 years ago that makes Chris Nicolson’s book both fascinating and timely. I find much in it that I did not know.
Of course, I was well acquainted with the great 19th century Christian revival powered by the Wesleyan crusade and the spread of Methodism. At the same time, I was hazy about the timetable, and slightly surprised that the wave only reached Shetland quite late, and after Orkney had been proselytised with all the speed and thoroughness of a heather fire.
I also have learned a great deal about the complex of reasons why the questing evangelicals had to split so often and so finely. Most of them were autodidacts driven by faith and only then giving consideration to theology. Plus they clove to their understanding of the early church, and hence eschewed ritual.
A splendid example of the early evangelists was William Gibson Sloan, born and brought up in Dalry in Ayrshire. Born in 1838, he converted in 1861. He left his employment and was engaged by the Religious Tract Society. He was then a colporteur, an itinerant seller of religious book, and soon he set sail from Leith to Shetland.
The herring fishery and the Haaf were in full spate at that time, and he preached in local churches as well as herring stations and Haaf stations. In a year or two his beliefs grew towards baptism, and breaking of bread. In no way sectarian, his feeling was towards the model of the early church.
He spent 10 years preaching and evangelising all over Shetland. And then for some reason, he decided to go to Faroe. When he got there, he received, at first, little encouragement. The population was Lutheran, and to his mind ritualistic and resistant to the simple gospel message. Further they spoke a form of the Scandinavian tongue.
He had no notion how to give up, though, and ultimately secured a strong Brethren presence in Faroe with over 30 churches founded. This form of the faith is still strong in Faroe, and there are powerful links between the Faroese and Shetland brethren. I have attended two funerals in Sandness, where a Faroese father and daughter sang most beautifully.
Sloan spent the rest of his life there. He married and raised a family, and his descendants still live there.
In Chris’ book there are accounts of Shetland converts, and family names like Moar, Pole, and Spence abound. It is not within the scope of this review to mention all.
There is much more I have learned and could say from reading this little book. It is about an important aspect of Shetland history which has not, to my knowledge, received much attention.
I commend On the Rolling Tide to future researchers, and to anyone with an interest in Shetland’s past, and how we became what we are. It’s a gold mine.
On the Rolling Tide. The story of the Shetland Brethren by Chris Nicolson, £12, will be launched on Saturday (13 December) at the Ebenezer Hall, Navy Lane, Lerwick, at 10am.
Become a member of Shetland News
Shetland News is asking its readers to consider paying for membership to get additional perks:
- Removal of third-party ads;
- Bookmark posts to read later;
- Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
- Hide membership messages;
- Comments open for discussion.
If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a member of Shetland News by either making a single payment, or setting up a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription.
Already a member? Sign in to hide this message.
