“Steamboat Traffic on the Clyde

“Article VIII

“After much desultory talk, and not a little gossip, by devious and hitherto unfrequented ways, we have reached the concluding paper of this series. Before bidding a final adieu to our public, we may as well disburden our memories of a few stray facts which we did not mention in their natural place, as they have only recently come to our knowledge. Not the least interesting of these relates to the first comet and may be accepted as authentic:—Among the passengers who were bold enough to embark on board Bell’s little steamer on her first regular trio was a certain Glasgow merchant, Mr Bryce, formerly of Parkhall, the estate now possessed, we believe, by Mr Michael Connal, of this city. Mr Bryce would hardly have ventured on board if he had not been almost forced to do so by Henry Bell, an intimate friend of his. The first station which the steamer called at was Bowling, at which place, Mr Bryce, probably afraid to go further, insisted on being put ashore. It then came to be a question how much he should be by way of fare, and although Mr Bell would prefer to let him pass free, Mr Bryce was too overjoyed at having got so quickly and so safely down, that he emptied all the loose silver which he had in his pockets into Bell’s hands. As this was the first fare Bell had ever received, the successful inventor and his passenger adjourned together to the inn at Bowling, to spend the money in drinking success to the comet, so that the first passenger who paid a steamboat fare in Europe was Mr Bryce of Parkhall. Talking of the Comet, we are reminded that its engine, after lying in the sea for years off Craignish Point, where the vessel had grounded and gone to pieces, was recovered and exhibited at the meeting of the British Association in Glasgow in 1840. In attaching so much importance to Bell’s steamer, however, it should never be forgotten that, even in this country, the comet was not the first vessel which was successfully propelled by means of steam. Eleven years before the launching of the comet, Mr Symington’s steam-tug the Charlotte Dundas, for which he took out letters-patent on the 14th of October, 1801, was placed on the Forth and Clyde Canal, where it ran with complete success, until the directors of that concern interdicted it from running, fearing that it might damage the banks.

Charlotte Dundas on the Forth and Clyde canal

Longitudinal section of theCharlotte Dundas

“This vessel, when not towing, attained a speed of six miles an hour, and is entitled to be called the first practical steamboat, as the comet was the first successful passenger boat of the same kind. It may not be amiss in this connection to quote the testimony of a poetical Kirkintilloch saddler in favour of the Charlotte Dundas, on his seeing that steamer tow two vessels along the canal:—

“Did space permit we should like to say something of steamboat navigation on the Cart—of the Gleniffer, the Gourock, and similar small craft that churned the murky waters of the Paisley stream from twenty to five and thirty years ago. The Gleniffer plyed between Largs and Paisley, running up the Cart to the Water Neb or Sneddon Quay. Sometime in or between 1836 and 1838 this vessel was purchased Messrs Thomson & M‘Dougal, to be employed by them as a tug, to tow coal barges form the coal wharf at the foot of Wellington Street to Tennent’s works at Dalmuir. The Gourockbelongs to a later era, having been launched in 1851, to run from the Sneddon Pier to Kilmun. It was built of iron for Mr Seath, the eminent shipbuilder, by Messrs Charles Scott & Co., of Greenock, and is doubly remarkable as being the first vessel that firm ever built, and the second steamer that ever ran on the Cart. Its dimensions were, and we suppose still are, 120 feet long by 15 feet in the beam. But the Cart is not the Clyde, and it is with the traffic of the latter river that we have more immediately to do. We have now as far as possible exhausted our stock of anecdote and story with reference to individual boats, and it only remains to say a word or two on the deepening and dredging of the Clyde. If it is a truism to say that Glasgow owes its prosperity to the energetic and far-seeing manner in which the Clyde has been deepened and improved, it is hardly less a truism to add that the Clyde itself owes its prosperity to the invention of the dredging machine. Down till some ten years ago, the deepening of the channel of the river, although prosecuted with a liberality and zeal as rare as they were admirable, was a slow, a laborious, and an expensive process, compared with what it is now, through the employment of dredging machines and hopper barges. In a former article we referred briefly to the extreme shallowness of the channel in the early part of this century, and not long since, Mr Duncan of Benmore, in the course of a short speech made by him at a public dinner got up in his honour at Strone, gave a curious instance in point. Referring to the improvements which had been made in the Clyde, Mr Duncan said that a gentleman still alive had told him that he remembered of a schooner grounding on a sand-bank near Port-Glasgow, on its way up to the Broomielaw, at the season of the year when the fields along the banks were being sown with corn, and before the vessel was got off again, the corn was being sheared. It was not until 1861 that steps were taken by the Clyde Trustees to procure hopper barges for the river. In the July of that year a deputation went from the Clyde, by appointment, to St Nazare, a seaport on the west coast of France, to examine some new hopper barges, or pumping machines, which were in use there, and of which they had heard the most favourable reports. The examination proved so satisfactory that in the following year, namely, 1862, two steam hopper barges were introduced into the Clyde, the first of which commenced work on 30th August, 1862. Barges had, of course, been in operation before this at various ports in Britain and Ireland, as, for instance, at Newcastle, Sunderland, and Dublin; but in these cases they were towed out into deep water by an ordinary steam-tug, and not propelled, as in the case of the Clyde boats, by their own machinery. Each of these barges is constructed to carry 300 tons dredged material, and, when the dredger is working in sand occupies rather more than three and a half hours in loading. The material, when dredged, is conveyed to Lochlong, where it is deposited—the trip to which place and back to Garvel Point is performed in three hours, including the time occupied in dropping the cargo. Each barge is loaded twice daily, making in all 1200 tons—being equal to 120 punt-loads. Each barge crew consists of seven men, being the master, the engineer, the mate, the foreman, two deck hands, and the cook, and the expense of working is calculated to be £3 1s 4d each day. One great disadvantage which has accompanied the increase of the Clyde traffic has been the increasing impurity of the river. In the first decade of this century youths used to fish from a jetty within half-a-mile of Jamaica Street, from five o’clock a.m. till five o’clock p.m., in which time, no vessel passed, except a boat or a wherry laden with herring, and local poets sang rapturous strains in praise of the “limpid waters of the crystal Clyde.” On its degeneracy in this respect we should rather be silent, the more so that such of our readers as travel daily down the river during the present month are too often and too painfully reminded of its muddy impurity. But if the water be less limpid than in former years, the time occupied on the journey is shorter, and all inconvenience arising from putrid and unpleasant odours may be avoided by taking the train. The Comet, as we have seen, went 6½ miles an hour, and the Caledonia about 10, while a crack river steamer now-a-days can do its 18 or 20 miles an hour easily in open sea, 15 in the river at high tide, and 10 or 11 when the water is low. There are many more subjects in connection with Clyde steamboats in which we might delve and the annals of the traffic within the last ten years are replete with interest; but besides that we have already exceeded the limits originally assigned to these papers, we were indeed more anxious to rescue from oblivion as many as we could of these traits, incidents, and stories which throw light on the manners of our early Clyde skippers and passengers, and on the construction and character of early steamboats, than to dwell at length on recent historical details which must be fresh in the recollection of the public. In getting up material for these articles we had to trust in a large measure to oral testimony, which is often inaccurate, and in this way have doubtless allowed not a few errors and inaccuracies to creep into our narrative; but the general outlines and main points in the story will be found to be correct; and at any rate an attempt has been made, which, whether successful or not, was very much needed, to narrate the origin, growth, and character of that magnificent fleet of steamships which have made the Clyde shipowners known and admired from Baffin’s Bay to Cape Horn, and from San Francisco to Japan.”

This early history of the Clyde steamers is now concluded but I will make a few remarks that may be of interest. I first came across one of these articles when I spent a week of glorious weather secluded in the bowels of Dumbarton Library looking up poetry in the Dumbarton Herald. Copies of the original articles were eventually secured from the Glasgow Herald. The reference to the “Steamboat Miscellany,” now attributed to William Harriston, was most fruitful as he lived for a time in the Vale of Leven, and contributed to the early poetry I had been looking for.

The author of these eight articles is not known. While the history is not well researched, relying mostly on anecdotes and remembrances, it does have some merit in bringing to the fore some information dismissed or neglected by later authors. In particular, the “Steamboat Miscellany,” only recently referenced in Andrew Clark’s “Pleasures of the Firth,” and the brief references to owners such as the “Four Jocks,” who took over some of the Castle steamboats in 1851. Information on the early iron steamboat, Queen of Scots, and her propensity for sinking is also something overlooked by others. Much of the remainder is repeated in later histories, whether this was a primary source, it is difficult to tell. I amended the text only by correcting two errors; the Fairy Queen is referred to as the Fairie Queen, and the Dumbuck as the Dumbreck, that sank off Napier’s Dock in early April, 1851, after being holed by a tug towing mud-punts.

As always with a series of articles on a topic of popular interest, one can look to the contemporary “Letters to the Editor,” to gauge public reaction. In this instance, the Glasgow Herald withheld much of the comments, claiming lack of space in the paper, but did allow one letter and a short article summarizing the numerous comments.

“Steamboat Traffic on the Clyde.—Glasgow, June 21, 1872. Sir,—I have read with much pleasure your articles on “Steamboat Traffic on the Clyde,” re-calling many reminiscences of early life; and I should think that before you close the series it would be of much value to all interested in our river if you were able to give an extended list of all the steamboats from the Comet down to say ten years ago, or even to the present time, in the order of their launch, especially, the river and Highland boats, and all the better if the Liverpool, Belfast, Derry, and Dublin were added, and if possible their subsequent history—sent to England, abroad, or broken up; something in this form:—

“Remarks. Name. Tons. H.P. Launched. Station. Remarks. Broken up.

“You mention that the Warrior was the first two-funnelled boat, but forget to state that the Luna was rendered still more odd by the funnel being forward, and was the first with what is now the prevailing practice in single-funnelled boats. Captain Chalmers always endeavoured to calm the fears of his lady passengers by the assurance—“We go very fast;” but I do not remember if she was particularly so. The fastest boat for long was the Petrel. It strikes me also that the Northern Yacht (or a similar name) was the first with open rayed paddle-boxes. There was also a very odd boat, the Segar, and either it or another about the same period had a single paddle-wheel.

“The City of Glasgow, an old consort or predecessor of the Commodore, was still going some years, ago, I understand, on the Hong Kong and Shanghai station as the Peninsular and Oriental Lady Mary Wood. With regard to disasters, I think that the Eclipse was run on the Gantocks, or wrecked there; and there was a collision off the Cloch, by the Duke of Cornwall(?) running into another, and becoming firmly wedged therein. Excuse these remarks from one not connected with, but who has always taken an interest in, the success of the river boats. With thanks for what you have written, I am, &c., B.N.O.”—Glasgow Herald, June 25, 1872

The explanatory article was published after the series had run, and some of the reader’s questions were posed.

“Steamboat Traffic on the Clyde.—We have received a large number of communications with reference to the series of article lately published in these columns on “Steamboat Traffic on the Clyde, many of them containing valuable hints and suggestions which might have proved of service if received earlier. As we cannot afford space for the insertion of all these letters (several of which are, almost identical in substance), and have no wish even to seem to treat our correspondents with discourtesy, we have noted in this paragraph one or two of the main points referred to by them. One writer objects to more than one of the statements in Article VI., and particularly those a contained in the following passage:—“The steamer Ruby—the first of the three boats of that name—was the first steamboat which was successfully fitted with the new patent or feathering floats. It was built by Messrs Henderson, Coulborn & Co., Renfrew. The second boat to have these floats successfully was the Rothesay Castle, built by Messrs Caird & Co., and after it the Mountaineer and others. These floats, which are movable and worked by an axis, came into general use between 1858 and 1860. They had been tried previously, &c.” To this our correspondent objects, that “patent floats were successfully used before 1858, and that the Plover and Merlin had them in constant and successful use before that date.” In the absence of specific information as to the date of the launching of the Ruby, it is difficult to say whether this is right or not; but this much is certain, that the Merlin, in its original form as Mr Kibble’s Queen of Beauty, was not fitted with patent floats. If our correspondent had supplemented his information with dates, his statement could easily be tested; but as the writer of the articles has full confidence in his authority for giving the Ruby the first place in the matter, he will continue to believe in its authenticity until the opposite is proved. The same critic also objects to our remarks on the steamer Savannah, because, after expressly stating that the Sirius was the first British steamer to cross the Atlantic, we went on to say that eighteen years before, in 1819, an American steamship, the Savannah, “crossed from New-York to Liverpool in twenty-six days.” To this it is objected that the Savannah did actually “cross” the Atlantic as stated, but that, although a steamer, it only steamed part of the way and sailed the rest. As this, although a comparatively unimportant fact, is yet somewhat curious, and as it has not, so far as we know, been previously made public, we should like to have it authenticated. Can our informant, or any other of our steam traffic correspondents, do so? The other points on which information has been asked of us, which the writer of the articles cannot furnish, are these”—(1) The date of the bursting of the Argyll at Renfrew, “about thlrty-six or thirty-seven years ago,” to the loss of some ten or eleven lives; (2) description of the Colin Campbell, and date of launching, &c.; (3) the name of the first steamer, and date of its first passage to Ardrishaig and Inveraray; (4) date of the wreck of the Eclipse. Since the publication of “R.N.O.’s” letter, advising us to publish a complete list and brief history of all the steamers which have plied on the Clyde from the days of the Comet till now, we have received other letters to the same purport. These and other suggestions of a like nature will receive attention, and, if possible, be noted upon, in the event of the articles being published, in a revised and enlarged form, at an early date.”—Glasgow Herald, July 2, 1872

Of the questions arising, one, the name and date of the first steamboat to Loch Fyne, garnered two responses that are worthy of reproduction.

“Early steamboat advertisement.—A correspondent favours us with the following copy of the only steamboat advertisement in Glasgow Herald of June, 1815:—The proprietors of the Britannia steamboat beg leave to inform the is public that she, according to advertisement, performed her voyage to Largs, Rothesay, and Campbeltown, and returned in such a short time, and gave so great satisfaction, that, owing in to an agreement with the public of Campbeltown, they will be under the necessity of abandoning the voyage to Inveraray, as advertised for tomorrow, but will upon Monday first, at ten o’clock, sail for Greenock, Gourock, Rothesay, and Campbeltown, and return on Wednesday. As the voyage is far, the passengers will be accommodated with refreshments suitable and agreeable for them.”—Glasgow Herald, May 6, 1872

“The first steamboat past Rothesay—242 St Vincent Street, Glasgow, 4th July, 1872.—Sir,—I have noticed the recent articles in your paper regarding the early steamboat traffic on the Clyde, and also a short paragraph in Tuesday’s paper containing some queries on the subject. One of these is—“The name of the first steamer, and date of its first passage to Ardrishaig and Inveraray?” The enclosed portion of a letter written by my father, which I have lately found in my bookcase, of date 7th July, 1815, shows that the Dumbarton Castle was the first steamboat that went so far, and the date of the voyage was 1st July, 1815. From no mention being made of Ardrishaig, it would appear they did not stop there, and it is most likely they sailed round by the mouth of Loch Fyne, and not through the Kyles of Bute, as they sometimes do now.

“When on this subject, I may mention that I am old enough to have sailed to Greenock in the first Comet in the month of November, 1811, or 1812. We reached Greenock in four hours, with, I presume, the tide favourable. We took seven hours to return, having lain aground at least two hours near Bowling. The fare then was 4s cabin, 2s 6d steerage. I also sailed in the Rob Roy as far as Rothesay on her first trip to Belfast, which, as you mention in one of your articles, was in 1820 or 1821. I enclose my card.—I am, &c., W.

“Glasgow, July 7, 1815.—We started from the Broomielaw, in the Dumbarton Castle steamboat, at 6 a.m., on Saturday (1st July?), and from Port-Glasgow at 9, Greenock at 10, Gourock at 11, Rothesay at 2, Otter Ferry at half-past 8, and were landed at Inverary at 12 o’clock at night, having sailed 107 miles or more. It was very pleasant, being fine weather, and all the way so near land, and the scenery so beautiful, that although it was a long day’s sail, the attention was always kept alive with something new, either from the novelty of the high mountains and rugged rocks we were continually passing, or the terror and flight of the highland fishermen in their boats when we came near them or attempted to hail them when we passed. They took us for some King’s vessel come out to impress men for the Navy; they took the windows for gun ports; and then the great numbers on deck made them conclude we were most certainly on that service. No steamboat had ever gone farther than Rothesay until that day, and I suppose the Glasgow also arrived at Ayr that evening. There was a terrible scramble for beds at Inverary, there being only one inn; about 40 or 50 had to be accommodated. I slept with a gentleman as big as myself in a room with four beds, three and two in each bed, and a few remained in the boat. On Sunday, we all went through the Duke of Argyll’s Castle, and saw all the apartments, furniture, pictures, &c., and also had full liberty to walk through the whole of the pleasure grounds and gardens. It was delightful. We left Inverary on Monday morning, at half-past four a.m., arriving at Rothesay at half-past one. The boat stopped only for half-an-hour and went for Glasgow, where she arrived that night, but I and several others waited at Rothesay to return by the same boat on Thursday, as she was to be back again on Wednesday night. She came, and sailed again for Largs at half-past five, and after touching at all the ports on our way back we arrived in Glasgow before three, in time for dinner. We had breakfast and tea in the boat, as also ham and cheese for dinner. Upon the whole we were well pleased. The passage is cheap—21s back and forward. Our other expenses were high enough.”—Glasgow Herald, July 5, 1872

And so, the question is answered.

There are two other early histories that I have to hand. One is in book form: “About Clyde Steamers and Clyde Skippers,” by Senex Afloat (Robert Reid), published by Gillespie Brothers, Ltd., Glasgow, in 1886, and relatively well known. The other by an unidentified author, was serialized in the following year, and illustrated by a few drawings. Both accounts rely on anecdotes and personal reminiscences and both are in a format that discusses the different routes that are, or were, popular for steamboat travel. I would be happy to reproduce one or both of these on the website if there is any interest. The latter account comes with reader comments, that also provide some interest.

As for the other request, to have a complete list of steamers from the Comet onwards with dates, tonnage and horse-power; it was not until the summer of 1897 that suggestions for inclusion were provided in the Letters to the Editor of the “Glasgow Herald,” and in 1904, Captain James Williamson produced his list in the definitive book, “The Clyde Passenger Steamer,” now brought up to date by Alister Deayton in his “Directory of Clyde Paddle Steamers,” published by Amberley in 2013, and Andrew Clark in “Pleasures of the Firth,” published by Stenlake in 2012.