The great number of persons in Orkney and Shetland bearing the names of Tulloch and Sinclair appears to indicate that the ancestors of some of them may have been tenants of the bishopric and earldom who, in accordance with Gaelic custom, assumed the names of their lords of that ilk. The Tulloch bishops ruled, 1418-1477, and the Sinclair earls and lessees, 1379-1542, the period during which patronymics were giving place to hereditary surnames in Orkney. Tulloch and Sinclair may also have been Christian names which became stereotyped as patronymics and the “son” termination afterwards dropped, as in the case of Omondson, > Omond. Shetlanders pride themselves in their geographic detachment from Orkney with its Scottish people and customs, and claim to be regarded as purer Norsemen as compared with the Scots of Orkney. Perhaps it is owing to this qualified humdrum purity that the Shetlanders did not achieve any deeds of sufficient interest to be recorded in the Saga. However, from an anthropological point of view, the Pictish and small dark strain is as much in evidence in Shetland as in Orkney, and perhaps more so. In the twelfth century even an ordinary Shetland _bóndi_, farmer, had his thrall, and _manfrelsi_, giving a thrall his freedom, is mentioned as an ordinary transaction. The thrall element must therefore have formed a large proportion of the population, and intermarriage must have taken place between the Norse and the thralls. We find the earls had children by thralls, and intermarriage between the bœndr and thralls, especially the freed thralls, must also have taken place. Persons of mixed racial descent are usually very loud in an exaggerated appreciation of the heroic line of their ancestry, especially when it is on the distaff side, usually coupled with an inverse depreciation of the other ascent which is represented by an inappropriate and inconvenient surname. There would be no necessity for a genuine Norse islander to crow himself hoarse on his native rock; and, to do so, would indicate that there were grave doubts as to the purity of his strain. Hitherto the Norse traditions of Orkney and Shetland have been solely espoused by outlanders and by natives bearing surnames which leave no doubt as to their foreign origin. The most voluminous history of Shetland was written by an English tourist, Dr. Hibbert, afterwards Dr. Hibbert Ware. But then, the English are noted for their greater interest in the history and antiquities of countries other than their own, which may be accounted for by the exceptional variety of races which they represent. But after all the land makes the man. If it had not been for these northern islands there would have been no _Orkneyinga Saga_ with its verses and narratives of stirring events.