The Picts and their Brochs
Regarding Finnister in Nesting, the name is applied to one of the numerous punds or enclosures found in the Shetland scattalds. The ground inside the old Finnister dyke had evidently been a toon, and had been occupied as a croft. It is traditionally said that the last family all died or mysteriously disappeared by some enchantment, and although the ground is the richest spot in the pasture, no animal was said to remain on it after sundown.
In the parish of Delting there is a green hillock called “Finnister Knowe,” probably a burial mound. Also at Brettabister, in the parish of Nesting, near a large Pictish ruin, there is a place called the “Finnie Knowe,” i.e., the Finns’ Knoll; and the same name is applied to a green hillock near the burn of Grunafirth. And further, there is in a remote glen between the hill of Boofell and the Lang Kame two little hillocks called Finnister Hadds. The word hadd is applied particularly to the hole made by a burrowing animal.
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