Scotland and the Sea. Nick Robins
Channel, and the Mersey, or at any other population centre, and these fine ships served Glasgow and the Clyde towns and villages with an unparalleled service. Indeed, steamers such as the first Lord of the Isles, replaced on the Clyde by a new steamer of the same name, was ‘retired’ to the Thames to take over the prestigious tourist routes there, and went on to become the darling of Londoners, at the mature age of thirteen. Meanwhile, the Craigendoran fleet of paddle steamers, the former LNER, is remembered happily to this day in the form of the Waverley, which plies as a seasonal excursion ship round the coasts of Britain. Likewise on the Forth, the fleet of the Galloway Saloon Steam Packet took excursionists out of Leith and Newhaven to sleepy havens in Fife or down to New Berwick for a visit to the seaside.
The very foundation of Clyde and Forth excursions is based on a Scottish devotion to the sea. Sailings ‘Doon the watter’ from the Broomielaw, and away to Fife from Leith and Newhaven, became institutions, the Sabbath excepted, that Lowlanders enjoyed for generations. Although a trip from the pier round the bay ‘weather and other circumstances permitting’ was very much also an English day out, the Scottish version was accompanied by a piper, an accordion and any amount of drink, but above all by magnificent scenery! Galloway on the Forth, and the numerous competing companies on the Clyde, produced some majestic steamers to attract patronage, while Clyde steamers also maintained daily contact with otherwise remote communities. Trips further afield were offered in the west to the Hebrides, and in the east from Leith to Aberdeen and north to the Orkney and Shetland Islands. The excursionist was spoiled for choice. Bearing in mind that the Columba serving on the Clyde offered a post office, a barber, electric lighting and various other accoutrements, these ships were indeed the nation’s market leaders.
David MacBrayne’s Columba (1878) approaching Dunoon Pier on the Firth of Clyde. (Linda Gowans collection)
Shipbuilding was synonymous with the Clyde, Forth, Aberdeen and Dundee. Scotland’s shipbuilding industry produced some of the great ships, some still afloat today, as well as numerous types of coastal vessels. Survivors include two small Isle of Wight car ferries, built at Henry Robb’s former Yard at Leith, the last-serving passenger cargo liner, St Helena, which was constructed at Aberdeen in 1990, Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth 2, now languishing at Dubai, and the Pride of York which serves P&O Ferries’ Hull to Zeebrugge overnight route. Although shipbuilding is largely a thing of the past in Scotland, due to competitive international labour costs in the global market, the legacy of ‘Clyde-built’ lives on. The tremendous skills base that the industry generated and sustained has been absorbed in other directions; the rivet squads, platers and other trades have now gone, as have the boilermakers in Paisley, and elsewhere, the engine manufacturers, large and small, and all the many and diverse industries throughout Britain that supplied the shipbuilder have ceased trading or diversified to other markets.
The North Sea ferry Pride of York (1987), originally named Norsea, was the last major passenger unit to be built on the Clyde. (Author)
Although shipbuilding was essentially a British industry for much of the early nineteenth century, the label ‘Clyde-built’ evoked a prestige that has not been equalled. The ‘Queens’ were Clyde-built, while Clydeside craftsmen were renowned across the globe, notwithstanding the excellence of the yards along the Lagan and the Mersey, in northeast England and, at a later stage, at Barrow-in Furness.
Training was also very important. Leith Nautical College and other centres, such as James Watt College at Greenock, have been responsible for many a cadet’s apprenticeship in navies across the world. Scottish-based shipping companies trained and promoted cadets for examinations towards engineering and deck officer appointments aboard their own ships, with many progressing to merchant fleets both at home and abroad. The distinction between cadet and apprentice was realised and many a shipping company preferred the apprentice who paid his own way to offer a form of cheap labour at sea.
By the Edwardian era almost every family in Scotland had at least one seaman in deep-sea trading. These men were not only working for Scottish-owned companies, but also supporting the many English shipowning companies, and providing officers and men for fleets flying the flags of diverse nations across the world. A disproportionate number of sailors were from the Hebrides and Shetlands, where frugal family incomes were commonly supplemented by money brought home from lengthy tours of duty back and forth across the Indian Ocean or trading between Australia and the Far East.
Others, of course, preferred the home and coastal trades, and were able to submit their pay packets to their wives on a more regular basis. Potential employers included Hutcheson/MacBrayne, Clyde Shipping, Carron, Dundee Perth & London, Aberdeen Steam Navigation, and London & Edinburgh in the passenger coasting trade, and Leith Hull & Hamburg, Gibson and Rankine with cargo and passengers within the Home Trade Limits – Brest to the Elbe. Even in the 1950s and early 1960s, during the twilight years of the Thames excursion steamers, the soft, gentle Hebridean brogue could be heard from the fo’c’sle of the Queen of the Channel, alongside the brash tones of cockney seamen, who were in the majority. Many a canny deep-sea Scot realised that working the Home Trade, and even on the Thames pleasure steamers of GSN, allowed a sight of their wives and children on at least a monthly basis. Experience with Shell Tankers and the like had shown them that home leave was at best yearly, and at worst much longer, with Dad meeting the baby for the first time on a second birthday!
The role of the Scots, however, lay in supporting the development and industry of the British Empire. As the badge of the greatest merchant fleet of all time, the Red Ensign dominated the waterfront of all major ports. It reminded any would-be tyrant that Britain ruled the waves, and that Britain was indeed in charge of the world.
Kathryn Moore, in a study on maritime Scotland in the period 1800 to 1914, summarised the influence of Scottish maritime enterprise on the Scottish people as follows:
For those of us living at the beginning of the twenty-first century, the critical role played by maritime Scotland within the country’s economy in the period from 1800 to 1914 is not easily understood. Nevertheless, the importance of the sea and ships to the lives of a large proportion of the population was, at that time, generally accepted. Most communities of any size were located on the coast or on rivers making the arrival and departure of vessels a common occurrence. The sea provided jobs not only for those employed in manning ships but also for a wide range of allied trades and businesses on shore. For those with skill and ability, shipping and trade provided opportunities for advancement and prosperity. In many towns and villages investing in a vessel was a common occurrence even for people with relatively little finance at their disposal. It was a means of contributing to the economic life of their communities. To such people any loss at sea had not merely financial repercussions but meant that family members or friends frequently did not return.
The ports were critical to the rapid industrial and economic expansion of Scotland as most industries were export led. Even when the railway network was in place the shipping industry played a vital role in moving goods between maritime communities at home and abroad. And, without the essential food supplies brought in by sea it would have been impossible to meet the requirements of the expanding urban population. New technology transformed the shipbuilding industry and had an important part to play in port expansion. Economic success led to the construction of ever-larger harbours and docks at the main Scottish ports, in turn creating many jobs on shore. Maritime communities in the nineteenth century recognised the inter-dependence of the sea and land in a way that is far less common today but many of our present townscapes are a direct result of that relationship. The sea, and the shipping lines that were built up at this time, linked Scotland with the rest of Britain and with the world. Many chose to emigrate or to work abroad in order to make their own fortunes. But even for those at home, increased prosperity meant that by the early twentieth century the sea had also become a vehicle for recreation and holidays.
But where does Scotland stand today in terms of maritime dominance? The answer, sadly, is simply that it does not stand anywhere.