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,...

Captain James Williamson’s classic, “The Clyde Passenger Steamer: Its Rise and Progress during the Nineteenth Century,” was published by Messrs James MacLehose & Sons, Glasgow, to great interest and acclaim in 1904. It is one of my favourite books. “The Clyde Passenger Steamer.—Rise and Progress during the Nineteenth Century.—We have received a copy of a book entitled “The Clyde Passenger Steamer: Its Rise and Progress during the Nineteenth Century, from the Comet of 1812 to the King Edward of 1901,” by Captain James Williamson, the well-known marine superintendent the Caledonian Steam Packet Company. No one can rise from perusal of the volume without being conscious of the fact that it is the work of man who has not only had lifelong connection with his subject but thorough acquaintance with and a feeling akin to love for all things pertaining to the steamboat passenger service on...

I’m working on an article on Lamlash and was reflecting on the last time I was in the village with my family, many years ago now. At the time my son had just entered his teens, and the visit to Arran with his grandfather had an impact. A year or so later, he submitted an essay to a Scottish-American magazine and won $100. I thought it might be worthwhile to post it on this Remembrance Day.      My heritage means a lot to me. I was born in Scotland, though I moved to the United States when I was less than a year old. I know a little about my heritage because of the stories that my father occasionally tells me about growing up in Scotland and about my family history. I have visited Scotland on four occasions and enjoy Scottish music and culture. I have also strengthened my heritage by learning to play the bagpipes.      My grandfather was in the 11th (Scottish) Commando during...