"Dave Wheeler" wrote
in message
...
The following from the 22 August 2003 edition of
The Shetland Times (25,
50 and 100years ago column)

Quote

100 YEARS AGO
Whalsay correspondent. - An old Shetland proverb
says "The longer we
live the more fairleys we see", and such surely
is the case when we get
snow on the 12th August. On Wednesday last week
the weather was close,
thick and warm, with but little or no wind. The
sky became clouded, and
the wind veered round to north, bringing at
first sleet, and then hail.
Indeed so heavy was the hail, that the island
lay white for some time,
just as we have seen it at times in the month of
March, the only
difference being that the air was very warm.
Even the oldest people
living in the island say that this is altogether
a new experience.
It is a pity that the dogs still continue to
torment our fishermen, as
the few erans occasionally landed here are of
excellent quality - in
fact we do not remember ever seeing better.
During the last seven days,
the total landed here is about 490 crans. The
Fishery Officer has again
been here and branded all up to date. Some 200
barrels were shipped per
ss. Alliance, of Aberdeen, on Saturday last
week.

Unquote

Not sure what a 'fairley' is - the unusual?
unexpected?

In Old English it was a distant medow, a clearing
in the woods, common land or a female and it's
also a boy or girls name, but somehow I don't
think that is what it means here.