Shetland

One of the Scottish counties in the far north-west of Scotland, which covers the Shetland Isles. Chief towns are Lerwick, Scalloway, and Baltasound.
Situated approximately 150 miles north-east of mainland Scotland in the North Atlantic, and consisting of a mainland and some 100 other smaller islands including Yell, Unst, Fetlar, Bressay, and Fair Isle, home of the woolly jumper.
The Shetland isles have some of Britain's most spectacular scenery and are also widely regarded as one of Europe's most varied seabird and wildlife sites. Grey seals and whales can be seen off the coast. On the downside, it's an isolated, quiet place with a large elderly population, and can be dull if you grow up there. I had a friend there, who was a brilliant guitarist: he said it was because there was nothing else to do..

Interestingly enough, the Shetland Islands were under Norwegian rule until Norway succumbed to Denmark in the fifteenth century. The new rulers didn't hold the islands in such high regard as the Norweigans, so when the daughter of King Christian I of Norway and Denmark married the Scottish King James III in 1468, the Shetland Islands were offered as part of her dowry, with the remainder to be paid in cash. King Christian soon realised was unable to scrape together enough money to pay the balance of the dowry, so he turned the Orkney Islands over to Scotland in the following year.

On a legal note, the transaction of these islands was never formally completed, so, technically, they still belong to Norway. The question of ownership was last reviewed in 1667, without resolution.