The construction of the Great Canal between the Forth and Clyde was begun at its eastern end on the Carron in 1769. The enterprise had authorized capital of £150,000. By the time excavations reached Stockingfield, then on the outskirts of Glasgow, in 1775 the project was £40,000 in debt. However, the Glasgow branch to bring the canal closer to the center of the city was begun the following year and completed to the basin at Hamiltonhill in 1777.
A loan of £50,000 from the fund created by the estates forfeited after the ’45 rebellion, allowed the extension to Bowling on the Clyde to begin. At that time also, the new harbour at Port Dundas, near the center of the city was built and the proprietors of the Monkland Canal agreed to provide a link to that waterway.
Port Dundas
The Forth and Clyde Canal was opened throughout in 1790 with a depth of 8 feet and locks roughly 70 feet long and 20 feet broad, capable of handling vessels 66 feet long with a breadth of 19.7 feet. The following year, Port Dundas basin was completed, and in 1793, the locks at Blackhill were opened, finishing the link with the Monkland Canal. The economic boost to Scotland was immediate. By 1800, the loans had been repaid and the Canal Company declared a dividend of ten percent.
Early traffic on the canal was mostly limited to the transportation of timber and minerals using slow horse-drawn barges although sailing ships of appropriate dimensions found passage safer than sailing found the northern coast. However, as a link between Edinburgh and Glasgow, the Canal had drawbacks. Track boats from Port Dundas to Grangemouth provided limited accommodation for passengers, a trip that could take seven or eight hours with a further journey on to Edinburgh. The alternative was the quicker but uncomfortable bone-shaking coach between Glasgow and Edinburgh.
At the eastern end, most of the locks to the summit lay between the Forth and Lock 16 at Camelon in Falkirk, while at the western end the locks lay between the Clyde at Bowling and Stockingfield, so that the stretch between Port Dundas and Lock 16 afforded a relatively rapid transit with just four locks, Lock 20 at Wynford and Locks 19-17 around Castlecary.
A passenger service was provided by the Canal Company from 1809 with passage boats built by Messrs Hugh and Robert Baird at the boatyard in Falkirk. The Margaret and Charlotte were wooden boats that were 66 feet in length by 11 feet in the beam. The saloon was divided into three compartments, a first cabin for 40 passengers aft, a second cabin for 60 passengers forward and between them a cabin with a cooking stove. Both cabins had a water-closet for the convenience of the passengers. Above the saloon there was a railed promenade deck with a mast forward and the towing post was near the bow. Two horses provided the traction from the bank.
Caledonian Mercury November 16, 1812
Caledonian Mercury, February 16, 1814
The trip of 24 miles between Port Dundas took around 5 hours for a fare of 4s. in the best cabin and 2s. in the second cabin. Passengers could join or leave the vessel at various points with calls at Auchinstarry, Kirkintilloch, and Cadder.
The poet, William Harriston, sings the praises of the Margaret in a poem composed around 1818.
The following year, a smaller track-boat, Shamrock, was introduced and Harriston describes the journey from Port Dundas on board this vessel. It seems likely that Harriston’s poems were available for sale on the boats.
Caledonian Mercury, March 28, 1818
That year also saw the introduction of the Vulcan, the first iron-hulled passage-boat. Built by Thomas Wilson at Faskine on the Monkland Canal, she was a remarkable vessel and set the trend for further passage boats of increasing speed.
“Iron Boats.— We are informed that the hull a boat, entirely built of malleable iron, and intended to be fitted up in an elegant style, to ply as a passage-boat on the great canal, was launched on Friday last from the bank of the Monkland canal, at Faskine, and named the Vulcan, in the presence, and amidst the acclamations of a great concourse of spectators. The extreme length of the boat is 65 feet, the width 12½ feet, weighs only 12 tons 15 cwt. and draws more than 21 inches of water. We believe this is the first iron boat built in Scotland; and from the account received of it, we have no doubt will be the means of introducing the construction of many others of the same materials.”—Glasgow Herald, May 17, 1819.
“On the malleable iron passage-boat. (From the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal.) The following is an account of the malleable iron passage boat, now plying on the Forth and Clyde canal, communicated in a letter from John Robinson; Esq. F.R.S.E. to Dr Brewster:—
“The hull was built of iron, in order to avoid the often recurring and expensive repairs to which the wooden vessels had been found liable. Considerable opposition to the plan was made by the persons connected with the navigation of the boats, who said it would be found inconvenient and unfit for the service; but experience has proved it otherwise, and the Vulcan has been found to be the most agreeable and manageable of the passage vessels in every variety of weather, while, though carrying more passengers than any on the old plan, it is as easily tracked as the smallest of them; and from the lowness of the centre of gravity it admits of a large cabin and awning on deck, where the passengers are better accommodated than in the former way below.
“The dimensions are—Extreme length 63 feet, Bream, 13 feet, Depth including five inches keel) 5 feet. Forwards. Draft of water of the iron hull when launched 22 inches abaft, 19 inches. When fitted up with cabins, &c 37 inches abaft, 25 inches forwards. When fitted up with cabins, &c, with 200 passengers and their luggage, under 48 inches on an even level. Weight of iron employed: Keel, stem and stern-posts. 1 ton 13 cwt., Ribs, rivets, &c. 4 tons, Plates for the, body 5 tons, Gunwale plates 1 ton, 2 cwt., Rudder, bilge plates, &c., 11 cwt. 3 lb., Total, 12 tons 11 cwt. 3 lb. at 54 per cwt. or little more than twelve and a half tons, which is rather less than that of a wooden vessel of the same external and smaller internal dimensions. An unforeseen advantage has been experienced in the use of this vessel, the cause of which is not very apparent. When any of the other boats have been laid alongside of the canal bank, to take in or discharge passengers, they continue, on being again put in motion, to rub on the bank, until they acquire head-way enough to bring them under the command of the rudder, but the Vulcan immediately springs off the bank, and takes into the middle of the canal—Pumps for clearing away leakage or bilge water were put into her, but I believe they have hardly been required to be used. It has been under contemplation to cause the horses to track the boats through the intervention of a spring, in order to equalize their exertions, which vary, in very minute portions of time, from 100 lbs. to l000 lbs. while the average strain on the line is between 250 lbs. and 300 lbs. It has been found impracticable, however, to procure springs combining sufficient power of extension and strength, and I believe we must have recourse to one whose temper will not be found liable to fail—I mean that of air acted on by a piston in a barrel of adequate dimensions. Perhaps some of your readers will have the goodness to suggest a convenient form. The points to be observed are, that the apparatus do not incommode the passengers, and that it be adapted to the use of such boats as are employed in navigating the vessels.”—Caledonian Mercury June 5, 1820.
The poet William Harriston also welcomed the Vulcan.
“* The hull of the Vulcan Passage-boat, ingeniously built by the junction of large sheets of iron, contains 12¾ tons of that metal, exclusive of the substantial bolts and screws, by which the ribs of wood are fixed to the hull, at a distance of two feet asunder, throughout the whole length of the vessel, at measures 67 by 13½ feet. The windows are so well placed, that the passengers can have a view of the ever-changing scenery without leaving their seats. The inside lining of the cabins, which is fixed to the ribs, is tastefully painted. The fine soft seats of the first cabin are made after the manner of sofas, and the seats of the second cabin and dining rooms are highly ornamented: where the passengers may be cheered by conversation; they may be employed in writing, amused or instructed by reading, and refreshed by eating and drinking, while briskly proceeding on their journey.”
“‡In addition to the cabins below, there is an elegant cabin built on deck, which makes a part of the floating castle two full stories high. The accommodations are so ample, along with the choice of the open air, or the cabin fire-side when the inclemency of the weather requires it; that some consider the confinement of the coach as a state of intolerable suffering, when compared with the pleasant freedom of a passage-boat.”
The popularity of the Great Canal passenger service was heightened in 1822 with the opening of the Union Canal linking Port Downie at Lock 16 with the center of the Capital City so that the whole journey could be completed by passage boat. That year also saw the visit of the King to Edinburgh and greatly increased traffic.
The next few years were spent in attempts to speed up the service. Steam propulsion had been banned on the Canal after the early experiments with Charlotte Dundas, but experiments by Thomas Graeme with David Napier’s little steam-boat, Cupid, were tried in 1828 with some apparent success. The iron hull of the Cyclops, a narrow passage boat built in 1825 but found unsatisfactory, was converted to steam propulsion by Messrs John Neilson in 1829 but failed to find success. However, the idea of a narrow hull was a positive one and Graeme put together a boat of light construction with twin narrow wooden hulls that had a trough between them. She was 60 feet in length and 8½ feet in the beam and the accommodation for 60 was provided on the decked platform built on top of the hulls. The Swift completed the through journey from Port Dundas in Glasgow to Port Hopeton in Edinburgh along both the Forth and Clyde and Union Canals in around 7¼ hours, and the return in just 6¾ hours.
Swift (Fairbairn)
However, the push for speed was focused on steam propulsion. The Swift was fitted with a steam engine and paddle wheel but this was not a success. A new steamboat on similar principles was ordered. The Lord Dundas was built in Manchester and made her way to the Canal in April 1831.
“Canal Steam Navigation. The Twin passage-boat, Lord Dundas, built for the Forth and Clyde Canal Company, by Messrs Fairbairn and Lillie of Manchester, was launched last week on the Irwell, for trial, previous to being sent to Scotland. The dimensions of this boat are as follows:—Whole length, 68 feet; Breadth 11 feet 6 inches; Depth, 4 feet 6 inches; Width of tunnel or wheel-trough, 3 feet 10 inches; Diameter of paddle-wheel, 8 feet 6 inches, propelled by an engine on the locomotive principle, of ten horses’ power. The entire weight of the hull of the boat is under 2 tons 15 cwt., while the weight of the boiler, (which for security was made nearly double the strength of those used in similar engines on the railway) with the engine, wheel, fittings, water in boiler, &c., is upwards of six tons, making a total weight of from nine to ten tons. When floating without the engine and machinery, the average draught of water was eight and a half inches; with the boiler filled, and the engine, coals, and machinery, the average draught was increased to nineteen inches and a half. There is no doubt that the Lord Dundas will realize the intentions of the builders, and fully answer the purpose for which she was intended by the Forth and Clyde Canal Company. The first trial with the Lord Dundas gave every satisfaction, as she sailed through the narrowest parts of the cuts on the line of the Mersey and Irwell Navigation, at a rate of seven miles an hour, without any sensible surge, or the least wash on the bank. In fact the Lord Dundas is admirably calculated for navigating canals, as the whole action of her engine is in the middle or deep part of the canal, and the water is perfectly free from agitation at the banks on either side. Another remarkable fact is, the great economy of the consumption of fuel: during a period of six hours and upwards constant work on Saturday, the total quantity of coal and coke consumed by the Lord Dundas did not amount to 8 cwt . and coal was found to answer better than coke. In the course of eight or ten days, after several proposed alterations are effected, the Lord Dundas will again make a few experimental voyages on the Irwell, and the canal; when it is expected she will perform the full amount of her acquired speed, and fully realise the expectations of the projectors, by a force that will send her through the water at a rate of nine or ten miles an hour.—Glasgow Chronicle.” Scotsman March 5, 1831
Lord Dundas (Fairbairn)
“Canal Steam Navigation (From the Manchester Guardian.) A few weeks ago, we mentioned that the twin passage-boat, Lord Dundas, built for the Forth and Clyde Company, by Messrs Fairbairn and Lillie, of this town had been launched on the Irwell, for the purpose of trying her powers, and ascertaining the rate of speed at which a boat of this description having a locomotive engine, could be propelled on a canal without injury to the banks. In the account of these experiments which we gave at the time, it was stated that some alterations in the position of the machinery were found necessary, in order that the boat might be properly trimmed, and a a better application of the power adopted. The following is a correct account of the last experiments made during the present week, on the Irwell, below Barton Bridge in a measured mile with and against the current:—
“First Experiment; with the current, 7m. 28s. against the current, 8m. 40s. Mean time 8m. 4s. in performing 1 mile in still water.
“Second Experiment; with the current, 7m. 36s. against the current, 8m. 19s. Mean time 8m. 2s. in performing 1 mile.
“Third Experiment; with the current, 7m. 15s. against the current, 8m. 40s. Mean time 7m. 47s. in performing 1 mile.
“Fourth Experiment; with the current, 6m. 40s. against the current, 7m. 26s. Mean time 7m. 3s. in performing 1 mile.
“Some other experiments were made on narrow parts of the navigation, which gave nearly the same results. It will be seen from the above, that the greatest attainable velocity in still water, that is up and down the stream was more than eight miles an hour, when the paddle wheel, 9 ft. 3in. diameter, was making from 33 to 34 revolutions per minute. In this measured distance of one mile, there were several bends which materially retarded the progress of the boat, and as it was difficult, from a sudden curve at one end, and a short distance at the other, to get the boat up to full speed at the starling point, we deduct or allow the three seconds, and make her real performance, through still water, fully eight and a half miles per hour. This, however, may be conceived to be under her greatest speed, as the engines, at times, made 38 strokes per minute, when there was a straight reach, free from curves, and in the proportion of this increase in the number of strokes, would give a propulsive force equal to the speed of nine miles an hour. It is proper to be thus minute in the statements given, in order that a fair estimate may be made of the efficacy of this first application of the locomotive engine to the propelling of boats on canals.—During the various trials that have been made with the Lord Dundas, nothing could be more satisfactory than the performance of her engines. The smoothness of their motion, and the great nicety with which she can be regulated, exceed anything that could be attained by the condensing engine, and at once point out the advantage resulting from this extended application of steam power; besides which the speed of the Lord Dundas is much greater than whatever has been, or could be accomplished on canals by any other power than a locomotive engine. It is true that a still greater speed would be desirable; but the great friction of the water in the tunnel, and the principle of the twin boat, will, in the opinion of the projectors, prevent any considerable increase of what has already been attained. She will, however, on tile Forth and Clyde canal, at a rate of eight miles an hour, including stoppages, exceed anything that has yet been accomplished or even attempted in the way of steam as a moving power on canals. Before closing this account, it will be proper to observe that the must important and most satisfactory part of the experiments is the cheapness at which this new and novel mode of conveying passengers on canals can be effected. By it a number of passenger can be transported at about one fifth of the expense, and in one-half the time, that the same number can be conveyed the same distance, by animal power with the passage-boats now in use.”—Scotsman, March 5 1831
“New Passage Boat. —A new passage boat called the Rapid has been started on the Forth and Clyde Canal, which, for lightness, elegance, and quickness of despatch, surpasses any that has yet been attempted on that Canal. It plies between Port Dundas and Lock No. 16, and accomplishes the distance, 24½ miles, in little more than 3 hours, including stoppages being at the rate of 8 miles an hour. This boat, which is of the gig construction—the hull made of sheet iron—and drawn by two horses, is sixty-eight feet long, by about 6½ feet broad, and weighs about two tons, twelve hundred weight. There is accommodation for 50 passengers, and the interior is fitted up in a very neat and comfortable manner. At the forepart of the vessel it draws only nine inches of water, and at the stern twelve inches. When seen in the water it has a very light and elegant appearance. A steam-boat, the Lord Dundas, is expected next week from Manchester to ply on the Canal, and from the experiments that have already been made of the speed of this vessel, it is expected to prove successfully the practicability of sailing steamboats at a rapid rate on canals.—Glasgow Chronicle.”—Scotsman April 13, 1831.
The steam-powered Lord Dundas was a limited success but was not repeated. Instead, it was horse-drawn light iron craft, generically known as Swifts, such as the Rapid and her sister-craft Velocity that came to the fore for the following few years, completing the journey between Port Dundas and Lock 16 in as little as three hours on a regular basis. They were not twin-hulled but relied on a narrow light single hull for their improved performance.
To provide greater accommodation, longer track-boats that could not fit in the canal locks were brought into use in the summer of 1833. Built in Paisley and transported by road to the Canal, the Eagle and Hawk were 90 feet in length and could run only between Port Dundas and Wyndford. The canal was too narrow to turn at Wyndford and it seen likely that they either stopped or were drawn backwards to Craigmarloch where they could be turned in the basin. The smaller boats such as the Rapid completed the journey from Wyndford at Lock 20 to Lock 16.
Port Dundas with Eagle or Hawk around 1833 (Annan)
These boats carried on the trade for the next decade when the advent of the Railway in 1842 began to erode the passenger traffic. In 1848, the passenger service was wound up.
Jean Lindsay, The Canals of Scotland, David & Charles, Newton Abbot 1968
John Aitken, A Companion for Canal Passengers Betwixt Edinburgh and Glasgow, Edinburgh, 1823
William Fairbairn, Remarks on Canal Navigation, Longmans, London, 1831
Ian Bowman, Swifts and Queens, Strathkelvin District Libraries, Kirkintilloch, 1984
John Hume, The Forth and Clyde Canal, University of Strathclyde, ND