Housay is from the Old Norse Húsey meaning "house island",[5][full citation needed] although this name is now little used by locals, who prefer "West Isle".

The derivation of Bound Skerry is more problematic, but may be from bønn, meaning "forerunner", a reference to this being the first land a ship encounters en route to Shetland from Bergen.

The name "Benelips" possibly originating from the Old Norse bon meaning "to pray" hints at the existence of an early Christian hermitage on these remote islets.

She states that the conquest by the Vikings sent the indigenous, dark-haired Picts into hiding and that "many stories exist in Shetland of these strange people, smaller and darker than the tall, blond Vikings who, having been driven off their land into sea caves, emerged at night to steal from the new land owners."

[13] The wrecks of the Kennemerland and the Danish warship Wrangles Palais (1687) lie within a Historic Marine Protected Area.

[15] Being so close to Norway, the islands were of strategic importance in World War II and were a regular landfall for Norwegian boats carrying escapees from the Nazi occupation.

The local coastguard were responsible for the refugees and at one point during the war were issued with a tommy gun, although initially no-one knew how to use it.

German planes frequently flew over at low altitudes, strafing the Grunay lighthouse shore station in 1941 and dropping a bomb in 1942.

The plaque ceremony was attended by the family of F/Sgt Jay Oliver, one of the two Canadian casualties and Peter Johnson, a local man who had witnessed the crash aged eight years.

[18] During the war an official letter was sent in secret to the local sub-postmistress with instructions that it be opened in the event of a German invasion.

[20] The soil in the islands is thin and infertile, but is heaped into riggs,[clarification needed] for better cultivation of potatoes, carrots and swedes.