The early years of the application of steam-power to coastal navigation on the river and firth of Clyde remain an intriguing area of study. A good deal has been uncovered by careful research, but the lack of surviving documentation has meant that an understanding of much important information relies on scant newspaper accounts and advertisements, and anecdotes drawn from memories of a dim and distant past. The subject of this essay is the “Castle Company,” one of the most successful of the early steamboat concerns; one that reorganized on at least two occasions; one that had rivals on several fronts that attempted to topple its prominence; and one that eventually succumbed to a take-over by Messrs G. & J. Burns in June 1846, though it effectively carried on for a few years afterwards. Surprisingly little has been written about this important company, and as far as I am aware, there...

ABOUT CLYDE STEAMERS AND CLYDE SKIPPERS. Fifty years random reminiscences of passenger steamboat traffic on the River and Firth of Clyde.—by Senex Afloat.—With an introductory chapter embodying some earlier details of interest.—Glasgow: Gillespie Brothers, Ltd., 253 Argyle Street.—1886 Dedication—In recognition of that life-long enterprise so well known to his fellow-citizens, and his position as owner and moving power of the foremost fleet of passenger steamers in the British Islands, to David MacBrayne, Esq., of the “West Highland Line”: this little brochure is (by permission) respectfully inscribed. Preparatory Note—Anything like a formal “Preface” to the following “Reminiscences” would I feel be uncalled for. Out of proportion to the subject matter it introduced, it would necessarily be out of place. It may well be as well, however, to advise anyone proposing perusal of these pages...

The Guardships of the Royal Navy, lying off the Tail-of-the-Bank and Greenock, were a constant reminder of Britannia’s role in ruling the waves. These Guardships, found in most ports and important estuaries, were generally part of the reserve fleet, but maintained with a crew, and able to join the Home Fleet on a few hours’ notice. They participated in exercises and gunnery practice, and underwent a regular schedule of refitting and maintenance. The ships that served on the Clyde became the object of interest of the local populace, and their comings and goings were followed in the newspapers. In the early 1870s, H.M.S. Aurora was the Guardship. She was a wooden screw frigate, and was replaced about 1875 by the Ironclad, HMS Iron Duke. Boys from the C.T.S. Cumberland on H.M.S Aurora The ironclads, H.M.S Hercules, H.M.S Warrior, and H.M.S. Shannon, followed, into the early 1880s. H.M.S...

When the gaiety of the summer season wanes, and the autumn gales begin, some of the Clyde steamers began to slip into their winter quarters, while others batten down the hatches to prepare for a winter providing a vital lifeline for the islands and coast communities. Most of the steamers that are laid up, at first looking rather down at the heel from their hard summer work, were slowly and surely transformed over the following months as they were repaired and reconditioned for the new season. However, there were some vessels, facing an uncertain future, that gradually became more rust streaked and forlorn until they were removed by sale to new owners, or the breaker’s yard. For many years, Bowling harbour was a favourite winter sanctuary for steamers. It was generally a safe shelter from gales and storms, although there was one notable event in February 1856 when a hurricane combined...

Lamlash owes its name to Molaise, the sixth century Celtic Saint who dwelt on the island that shelters the bay and the surrounding coast where the village is situated. Like Campbeltown to the south-west, the bay has provided a safe anchorage and refuge from storms for centuries. It was the base for the Viking King Hakon before the battle of Largs, and in both world war I and world war II was a protected anchorage vital to the defence of Great Britain. Of the early times, there are few reminders in the area. There are the ruins of the Kilbride chapel in the graveyard off the road to Brodick and there is a record of a castle, though its location is uncertain. Until the coming of the steamboat, the population of this sheltered spot was sparse and lived off the crops they could grow and the fish they could catch. In Duchess Anna’s time in the seventeenth century, a small fishing harbour,...