Skerries

   SKERRIES, islands, forming part of the parish of Nesting, Lunnasting, and Whalsay, in the county of Shetland; and containing 122 inhabitants. These are three small isles, sometimes called the Out Skerries, in contradistinction to the Pentland Skerries, and named respectively Bruray, Grunay, and Housay. They lie about fifteen miles north-east from Whalsay, and twenty miles distant from the Mainland: on the western side are several detached rocks, and ten miles north-west of the group is the islet of Muckle Skerry. Each of the three islands is about a mile in extent, and in all are beds of primitive limestone associated with gneiss. The population consists of fishermen and their families. A lighthouse on the low rocks here would materially contribute to the security of the whole of the eastern coast, and in war time would be particularly advantageous, as naval vessels are then almost constantly cruising between the Naze of Norway and the Isles of Shetland.