"Beaucoup de bruit pour une aumelette": Skerjingin í rættinum at ganga í hjúnalag í Føroyum eftir fyriskipanini frá 21. 5. 1777

Abstract

By a decree of 21.5.1777 poor people in the Faroe Islands were forbidden to marry, unless they had a certain amount of land, or both partners had served four years with farmers on crown land. This provision is, by its nature, almost unique in Danish legislation, and was justifiably felt by the Faroese to be very oppressive.

Behind the introduction of this provision lay the suspicion that the cultivation of corn in the Faroes was on the decrease, in that constantly increasing quantities of corn were being imported. The large import was costly for the trader, the state.

The article points out that the cultivation of corn was not, in fact, decreasing, but the fixed rate paid for commodities since 1691 had resulted in a great increase in the production of hosiery, and the consequent increase in purchasing power had lead to a higher consumption of corn. Another result of the trade policy was that it was possible for poorer people to earn a living by knitting hose instead of working for the farmers. The decree of 1777 forced them back into the service of the farmers.

The matter was raised by the Danish government officials in the Faroe Islands, who, in a letter to the Exchequer (which was also responsible for agriculture) complained about poor people who wandered about begging wool. An inquiry carried out the Exchequer did not clearly reveal a decrease in the cultivation of corn, but the chief administrator's report to the inquiry establishes the decrease. The chief administrator also recommended a proposal from the government officials, a proposal which was almost identical with the provision which was finally laid down. The Exchequer's recommendation met strong opposition in the eqally powerful Chancery (administration of the interior and of justice). In the case, uncharacteristically,
the Exchequer was the stronger, and the provision was put into force.

The way in which the matter was dealt with shows the powerful position of the government officials; it is, in fact, they who force the provision through. It is also the officials (the chairman of the Faroese Representative Council, the bailiff, the judge, and the church officials) whose advice is sought. In a similar situation in 1723—24 this was not the case. At that time the Exchequer negotiated with two men whose authority stemmed from a meeting of the Faroese Representative Council.