The island claims to be the "Otter Capital of Britain" and has a diverse bird life including breeding populations of great and Arctic skuas.

[9] Notable buildings on the island include the 17th-century Old Haa of Brough in Burravoe, a merchant's house now converted to a museum and visitor centre.

As Penrith's guide to Orkney and Shetland states: In addition to these large indentations, there are a number of tombolos connecting peninsulas to the island.

There are a few crofts along Whale Firth, including Windhouse (see notable buildings), and at Grimister there are the ruins of an old herring curing station, which closed just after World War II.

[15] In modern times, the non-porous nature of the bedrock, the presence of boulder clay and the cool and damp climate have conspired to create large expanses of peat.

"[7] There is also some dune habitat near West Sandwick, something pretty rare in the Shetland Islands; controversially, there has been some commercial extraction of the sand from this area, which may have had a significant environmental impact.

[19] This makes another possible explanation plausible, connected to the Norse words "hjalli" or "hjallr", terrace in a mountainside or a ledge, scaffolding, even the ones used for drying fish.

[3] A petrosomatoglyph or stone footprint at North Yell, up Hena, 12 by 4 in (30 by 10 cm)is known locally as the 'Wartie' and was used to wash in dew or rain-water and standing in it was supposed to get rid of warts.

[7] The Birrier was almost certainly in contact with another monastic settlement directly opposite, across Yell Sound, at the Kame of Isbister on the Northmavine Peninsula of Mainland.

[7] Yell Sound is mentioned in the Orkneyinga saga: "Earl Rögnvald... and the chiefs Sölmond and Jón with him... had a fine body of troops, though not too numerous, and five or six ships.

[7] In the 17th century, the Dutch East Indian Ship, Lastdrager was wrecked on Yell, and the survivor, Jan Camphuis wrote favorably of his experiences on the island.

Crutwell in the 18th century said of Yell that "the inhabitants have plenty of fuel, catch immense quantities of small fish, and live comfortably.

"[25] Johnnie Notions successfully carried out early smallpox inoculations on Yell in the 18th century, at a time when many other places remained sceptical.

[26] In the 1841 New Statistical Account the minister of Fetlar and North Yell noted that although smuggling had almost entirely disappeared the local population had "fallen into an abominable habit of smoking tobacco".

[27] In the same year the minister of Mid and South Yell observed a rise of 50% in the local price of black cattle due to the introduction of a fortnightly steamer service from Lerwick to Leith that had enabled exports of livestock to mainland Scotland.

[6] Just after the Second World War the old herring curing station at Grimister closed; this was to be one in a long line of economic difficulties including the loss of fishing.

[3] Between 1953 and 1964 Dr Robert Hope-Simpson, a GP, carried out painstaking research[29] establishing that shingles is the reactivation of previously acquired chickenpox (varicella) virus.

It was in 1965 that the Orcadian novelist Eric Linklater said that Yell was "the problem child of the archipelago"[31] due to its economic woes and burgeoning depopulation.

Some blamed this on the islanders' "social egalitarianism", which supposedly prevented anyone from becoming a "leader or entrepreneur"; Haswell-Smith disagrees but believes that "airing the matter seems to have helped"[3] It is certainly notable that the tiny remote Out Skerries seem to be wealthier[3] and that Whalsay is better at retaining its population.

Unlike neighbouring Fetlar, Yell never suffered large scale clearances, only some local ones, and has long had multiple ownership.

Hugh Miles' documentary The Track of the Wild Otter was shot on location at Burra Ness at the mouth of Busta Voe; it gained awards and was produced for the BBC.

[7] A population of Arctic terns, known locally as tirricks (stress on last syllable; an onomatopoeic word), migrates to Shetland from Antarctica during the summer.

"[32] Other birds that regularly visit Yell include great and Arctic skuas, various terns, eider, Eurasian whimbrel, red-throated diver, dunlin, golden plover, twite, lapwing and merlin.

[6] The Eigg, and Ern Stack in the north west of Yell, is the last known nesting site of Shetland sea eagles, which were recorded there in 1910.

For example, it is known that 40,000 years ago, before the advent of the last ice age, and probably any human habitation, that oak, Scots pine and Mediterranean heathers were growing here.

The remains of these plants have been preserved in layers of ancient peat, which were in turn buried by the boulder clay left by glacial moraines.

Facilities include a hot water heater, shower, crockery, basic cooking utensils, fridge, microwave, kettle, compact cooker with grill, oven and 2 hotplates.

[7] At Breckon it is said that when an eroding grave was excavated, a number of human skeletons were uncovered, one of which was not only at least seven-foot tall, but had small stumpy "horns" above the temples.

Bjorn grows up amongst "seals and clouds and birds and women" on the island, but this idyll is contrasted with his father's disappearance, and profession as a Viking pirate covered in scars and "harvesting" silver.

Crumley has said, "You could never argue with conviction that Yell is a beautiful place",[32] but some others such as Jill Blackadder rate the Sands of Breckon and the cliff scenery of Gloup Voe as some of the best in Shetland.