Model, of Shetland sixern Sprightly

A sixern was a widely-used Shetland fishing boat. It had six oars and was a direct descendant of the Viking longship. This wooden model represents the sixern 'Sprightly', a long-line fishing boat built in 1889. It was built to a scale of 1:12 by Mr J Shewan of Lerwick in Shetland.

During the great storm of 1881, 10 sixerns were lost at sea, taking the lives of 58 men. After this disaster, the Shetlanders turned to herring fishing with nets, using larger boats from Aberdeenshire.

The name sixern is derived from the Old Norse word 'sexaeringer' which means six-oared boat. A smaller version with four oars was known as a 'fourern'. Both these boats were widely used in the Shetland Islands and until 1860 they were imported from Norway in marked pieces, ready for assembly. Later they were built locally but, because of the lack of trees in Shetland, the pine continued to be imported from Norway.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-180-002-066-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland Part 2
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  T.1936.40
• Date: Model: Between 1889 and 1936; Original: 1889
  
• Material: Inscription: L.K. 2615, SPRIGHTLY
  Boat / sixern / model
  
• Dimensions:
• What: Boat / sixern / model
  
• Subject: 23. SHIPPING, Fishing Boats (Departmental Classification)
  
• Who: Sprightly (boat)
  
• Where:
• Event:
• Description: Model of a sixern fitted with mast, sail, oars and bailer to a scale of 1 inch to 1 foot, marked L.K. 2615 on sail and SPRIGHTLY
  
• References:
  • Storer, J D. Ship Models in the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh: A catalogue of models representing the history of shipping from 1500 BC to the present day. Edinburgh: Royal Scottish Museum Information Series, 1985, pp 51-2. 
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