Funzie Girt (; "Finns' dyke") is an ancient dividing wall that was erected from north to south across the island of Fetlar in Shetland, Scotland. Some sources describe it as having been built in the Neolithic, but the date of construction is not certainly known. The line of the wall, which ran for over , once divided the island in two almost equal sections. Also known as the Finnigirt Dyke, it has vanished in places at the southern end, although the ruins are clearly visible along much of the uninhabited north of the island, where it is a conspicuous feature of the landscape. The dyke's original purpose is not known, nor is its relationship to other archaeological sites of a similar age nearby. There are various folk tales about its construction, and it is the subject of various pieces of Shetland folk music.
Etymology
The name "Funzie Girt" means "Finns' dyke", the Finns being the legendary pre-Norse inhabitants of the islands who were said to possess magical powers. (The later Iron Age inhabitants of the Northern Isles were actually Pictish, although the historical record is fairly sparse.) The variation between Finn and Funzie is due to widespread confusion of the letter ȝ (yogh) with the cursive form of the letter z. An earlier name for the dyke was simply "Finnigord" and Finnigirt dyke is thus tautologous as gord already means "dyke".
The dyke could have had a role in the naming of Fetlar itself. The division of the island by the dyke was so marked that the Norse seemed to treat Fetlar as two distinct islands—which they called "Est Isle" and "Wast Isle". Haswell-Smith (2004) suggests that the derivation of the name is from fetill, the Old Norse for a "strap" or a "tie", and that Fetlar could therefore mean "two islands tied together" by the dyke. Gammeltoft (2010) however, argues that fetlar actually means "shoulder-straps", that this description is hardly an obvious one for an island name and Fetlar is thus most probably a Norse adaptation of a precursor language. This was probably the Pictish language although there is no unequivocal evidence for this.
Geography
Originally wide it begins at the north shore by the cliffs of Muckle Funziegord Geo ("big Finns' dyke gully"), crosses an RSPB reserve to the west of Vord Hill, then vanishes near the enclosure of Whilsa Pund. It reappears at the southern shore of Skutes Water, and is particularly well-preserved between Riggin of Setter and Rivs Dale, but its line is then lost again as it skirts the settlement of Houbie. It may have crossed an area known as Vallahamars by the ruins of a later broch reaching the south coast of Fetlar near Stack of Billaclett, although local tradition asserts that it ended at the edge of the cliffs of Clemmels Geos (). The total length would therefore originally have been or more.
Whilsa Pund is constructed using a similar technique and was probably built at a similar time to Funzie Girt. Its stone-built perimeter is oblong in shape and measures roughly from north to south and transversely. The remains of various structures lie within it and on the west side there is a shallow bay that forms an enclosure approximately in area.
There are various other prehistoric ruins near the line of the wall, including the Bronze Age Hjaltadans stone circle north of Skutes Water, which is only from the dyke, and the three stone circles of Fiddler's Crus to the north-west. There are also two Neolithic heel-shaped cairns, a style of chambered cairn unique to Shetland, near the summit of Vord Hill.
The hamlet of Funzie and the nearby Bay of Funzie and Loch of Funzie are some east of Houbie and appear to have no direct connection with the dyke itself.
Construction
The date of construction is unknown. Haswell-Smith (2004) speculatively implies a Mesolithic provenance and a Bronze Age date has also been mentioned although the Neolithic is quoted by some authoritative sources. However the distinction between the Neolithic and Bronze Ages is not especially marked in Shetland and a date prior to the 1st millennium BC is likely.