Johnnie Notions Böd

Shetlopedia - The Shetland Encyclopaedia

Johnny Notion's Camping Böd, Hamnavoe, Eshaness

John Williamson, (circa 1730 - circa 1796), of Hamnavoe Eshaness, became known as Johnny Notions, perhaps because he was a man with ideas (notions) ahead of his time. He was an uneducated but self-taught local man who became known after developing a highly successful method of inoculation against smallpox in the late 18th century, similar to the Suttonian method practised in England (which he may have heard about). He is said to have spent years travelling around Shetland fighting the scourge, sometimes employed by landlords to treat their tenants. According to one observer he inoculated 3,000 people, and lost none.

His former home in Hamnavoe, Eshaness, now serves as one of Shetland's Camping Böds.

The böd provides a "basic" comfort (beds, table, benches, candle light, shower and WC) but it is an ideal place where to stay when walking the coastline of Eshaness.