Roup is a word not commonly used in Shetland any more, although the Shetland Times in 1962 advertised a house in Scalloway “for sale by public roup.” A roup is an auction. The word derives from old Scots and old English terms meaning to shout or cry out. There may even be a connection to an Icelandic word meaning to brag or boast. Some roups, like sales of stock could be fine social occasions, meeting places for the like-minded. Some other roups were sadder – business ventures gone awry...
