Linga

Linga is a small, uninhabited island of around 111 acres in Bluemull Sound, Shetland, off the east coast of Yell near the village of Gutcher. It is one of many Shetland islands called Linga, a name that comes from the Old Norse for “heather island”, and it has one of the strangest stories in Shetland: it is said to have once been home to a bear.

Landscape

Linga is made of coarse mica-schist and gneiss and rises to 26 metres. It is separated from Yell by Linga Sound, with Unst to the north-east, Sound Gruney and Urie Lingey to the south-east and Hascosay to the south. There is little fresh water on the island, and it is covered in rough grass and heather.

History

Linga has an abandoned chapel. Legend tells that Jan Tait of Fetlar kept a bear here, remembered in the place name “Bear’s Bait”. The story goes that Tait was taken to Norway to stand trial for murder, but was pardoned after he captured a bear that had been causing trouble there, and he brought it home to Shetland. Much later, a duke is said to have planned a large house on the island, but abandoned the idea when doctors and other services refused to serve such a small, remote place.

Bluemull Sound, between Yell and Unst, is crossed many times a day by the ferry from Gutcher to Belmont, and its strong tides make it lively water.

More about Linga

On 19 July 1923, the steamer Jane, an 840-ton ship carrying herring from Baltasound on Unst to Lerwick, ran aground on Linga and later sank in about 20 metres of water just offshore. Bluemull Sound, between Yell and Unst, is crossed many times a day by the ferry from Gutcher to Belmont, and its strong tides make it lively water.

Visiting

There is no ferry to Linga. It can be seen from Gutcher and from the ferry crossing Bluemull Sound between Yell and Unst. You can collect Linga as a landing or a sighting in your Island Passport.

Wildlife and area

Bluemull Sound is good for Eurasian Otter, Grey Seal and Harbour Seal, and for Black Guillemot, Arctic Tern and Shag. Look out for great skuas and Arctic skuas in summer, and Orca passing through. Other islands nearby include Sound Gruney, Uyea, Urie Lingey and Hascosay.