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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

VOE, n. Also vo. An inlet of the sea, a deep bay or long creek, a fjord, specif. on the coasts of Sh. and Ork. (Sh. 1700 J. Brand Descr. Zetland 105; Ork. 1805 G. Barry Hist. Ork. 39; I.Sc. 1825 Jam., I.Sc. 1973). Freq. in place-names, in various forms as Voe, Waa, -wall, etc. Combs. voe-head, voe-side. [vo:]Sh. 1733 T. Gifford Hist. Descr. (1879) 10:
A little to the south thereof, the Voe of Sara, and a little to the west thereof is Sarla Voe.Sh. 1771 Old-Lore Misc. III. iii. 162:
Down on the Ness side of the dyke to the voe called Snarravoe.Sh. 1795 Stat. Acc.¹ I. 407:
In the different voes on the south part of the parish, there is often caught great quantities of herrings.Sc. 1821 Scott Pirate i.:
The house situated on the side of an inland voe.Sh. 1871 R. Cowie Shetland 1:
Being much intersected by voes, or arms of the sea.Sh. 1898 J. Nicolson Aithstin' Hedder 25:
He was not long in walking round the voe-head.Sh. 1932 J. M. E. Saxby Trad. Lore 197:
This lovely seabird haunts the voes in spring.Sh. 1968 New Shetlander No. 85. 13:
The drab peat-covered hills sloping gently to the quiet voe-side.Sh. 1986 Robert Alan Jamieson Thin Wealth 13:
His boat put into a sheltered voe in the north of the islands in view of a gale warning on the wireless. Sh. 1994 Laureen Johnson in James Robertson A Tongue in Yer Heid 169:
I raise an lookit oot da window. Dey wir a pirr o wind apo da voe, makkin a shadow on da sea. Sh. 1997 Shetland Times 8 Nov 8:
James Johnson of East Burrafirth had claimed Kevin Henry's plans for a farm would obstruct safe passage and anchorage in the voe and believed it could also have a detrimental affect on the scenic quality of the area. Sh. 1999 James R. Nicolson Shetland Fishermen 3:
Most of them fished for only three or four months, then spent the rest of the year swinging at their anchors in some sheltered voe. Sh. 2002 Joe Bindloss and Clay Lucas Scotland's Highlands and Islands 347:
The landscape in Shetland is far bleaker than in Orkney, but also grander, with sweeping glens, desolate peat bogs and fjord-like voes (sea inlets). Sh. 2003 Scots Magazine Feb 132:
Even newer than the oil installations at Sullom Voe are the salmon farm platforms which dot the wave-sheltered voes between the islands.