Hoyr tú illi Tara-Mortan: Rondirnar at menna taravinnu í Føroyum árini 1804-1807

The beginning of the 19th century was hard for the people of the Faroe Islands. The weather was unfavorable, and the consequenses were dire for the farmers. At the same time, price increases in Europe forced the Royal monopoly to increase its prices, which meant, that the price of grain increased by a quarter. That was the situation, when the kelp burner Mortan Reidt arrived in the Faroes in 1804. The pastor in Tórshavn, Begtrup, saw an opportunity to found a new industry that could provide an income for the poorest people in the city. Kelp was used in the glasindustry, so if the efforts were succesful the Faroes would have been closer to the growing industry in Great Britain and Norway. The aim of this paper is to tell the story of this attempt to start a new industry in the Faroe Islands, and to explore what the story can tell us about the early part of the 19th century.