Lerwick
The
capital of Shetland is Lerwick (ON Leir Vik - muddy bay) which
developed here due to the excellent harbour formed by Bressay Sound
with shelter from all directions and two entrances. Large numbers
of Dutch Herring busses fished from here for hundreds of years, and
in the late 18th and 19th centuries the town developed rapidly from
a group of huts. It is clustered round the shores below the rocky
Staneyhill.