A Lump of Rock, an Otter and a Secessionist

[elleng]

SANDNESS, Shetland Islands — With gray clouds building and rain slanting in over the Atlantic, Stuart Hill pointed to a small lump of land inhabited by an otter, a few seals and a variety of seabirds.

To the rest of the world, this barren, inhospitable and largely inaccessible rock off the coastline of the Shetland Islands is a part of Scotland, on the northernmost tip of Britain. To Mr. Hill, it is the sovereign state of Forvik, whose independence he proclaimed in 2008, arguing that it — along with the oil-rich Shetland Islands themselves — is legally neither part of Scotland nor Britain.

Needless to say, the authorities here do not agree. The police have confiscated three vehicles from Mr. Hill after he drove in Shetland with Forvik license plates he designed, and he has spent 28 days in prison (including a brief hunger strike) for challenging the authority of the courts.

Yet, while many Shetlanders regard Mr. Hill as an eccentric, a growing number are being drawn to calls for more independence for their remote and scenic isles.'>>>

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/19/world/europe/a-lump-of-rock-an-otter-and-a-secessionist.html?

[OxQQme]

1. Thought it was a 'walked into a bar' gag.

Andrea Manson, a member of the Shetland Islands Council, says that Shetlanders “don’t think of ourselves as Scottish,” adding, with a laugh, that the islands are “too windy for kilts.”

"Mr. Hill (who comes from England) would argue that is because the Shetlands aren’t Scottish at all. The islands were pawned to King James III of Scotland in 1469 by Christian I of Denmark and Norway in exchange for a wedding dowry for his daughter."

Arguing for self determination seems admirable.