The Hollanders' Graves - Ronas Voe

Shetlopedia - The Shetland Encyclopaedia

The tale I heard as a young chap (many years ago) was that some Dutch sailors were killed in a sea battle off Shetland, and their shipmates landed at Ronas Voe to bury the dead at a spot known as the Dutchman's Knowe. It is quite close to the fish factory on Ronas Voe and is marked with a cairn and plaque.

The History

The cairn

- Some time in the late autumn of the year 1673, a Dutch ship, the "Het Wapen van Rotterdam" left its home port, bound for the Dutch East Indies. It was an "East Indiaman", an armed merchant ship, and would have been loaded with supplies for the Dutch colonies, and no doubt, trade goods of various sorts for bartering with the natives of Java, Sumatra and the adjacent region. East Indiamen were heavy, lumbering, bluff-bowed ships, which could sail reasonably well "with the wind", but were quite inefficient at sailing "into the wind" and were thus at a disadvantage in adverse wind conditions. - - At that time, Britain was at war with Holland, so the Dutch captain could not risk sailing south through the Straits of Dover, in case his ship was spotted and intercepted by British naval vessels. He therefore headed up the North Sea, intending to turn west, either through the Pentland Firth, or the Fair Isle Channel between Orkney and Shetland, then to lay a course southwards, down the Atlantic, giving the coast of Britain a wide berth. Unfortunately for the him and his crew, their voyage coincided with one of those long spells of persistent storms from the south-east, and they were unable to turn to the west, until they were north of Shetland. They eventually managed, with some difficulty, to limp into Ronas Voe, for shelter and repairs, and to await a more favourable wind. The south-east gales persisting however, there they lay, over the winter, sheltering at the head of the voe. Had the wind changed to a northerly direction, no doubt their stay would have been brief, but in the prevailing conditions, they were unable to proceed. - - The enforced idleness no doubt had its compensations, for they were relatively safe in the calm waters, and it would seem they were trading with the local people. As the winter progressed, and the southeast gales continued, their provisions would have been running low, and doubtless they would have welcomed supplies of fresh or reestit mutton, potatoes, meal, and whatever vegetables the local folk could spare. The locals, in turn, would no doubt have been glad enough of "free" Hollands gin, tobacco, and perhaps some of the cargo of trade goods originally destined for the far east. The local folk certainly would not have regarded the Dutch crew as "the enemy", even had they been aware of the hostilities between their distant Government and that of Holland, which they almost certainly were not. However, somebody, most probably a laird, merchant, minister, or other such local dignitary, was aware of the political implications of the Dutch ship's presence, and alerted the relevant authorities, informing them of the whereabouts of the Dutch ship. This message may well have been sent soon after the ship appeared, since in those days, news would have travelled very slowly, compared with the almost instant communications of today. - - Three navy frigates were eventually dispatched to deal with the situation and to capture the Dutch vessel; they arrived in Ronas Voe, in February, 1674, to find the East Indiaman still anchored at the head of the voe. A rather one-sided battle ensued, as was to be expected, with three crack naval vessels, against a single merchant ship. Although it was armed, it was trapped, with little room and scant capacity for effective manoeuvre. Many of the Dutch crewmen were killed, and the survivors captured. The bodies of the dead were buried on the knoll since known as "Hollanders' Grave". The Dutch ship, although presumably battle damaged, was still considered seaworthy, and was taken away by a prize-crew to England, as a prize of war.

The three British Navy ships were the frigates : The "Newcastle" with 54 guns, the "Cambridge" with 74 guns, and the "Crown" with 48 guns.