Fàilte! (Welcome!)

Fàilte! (Welcome!)
This blog is the result of my ongoing research into the people, places and events that have shaped the Western Isles of Scotland and, in particular, the 'Siamese-twins' of Harris and Lewis.
My interest stems from the fact that my Grandfather was a Stornowegian and, until about four years ago, that was the sum total of my knowledge, both of him and of the land of his birth.
I cannot guarantee the accuracy of everything that I have written (not least because parts are, perhaps, pioneering) but I have done my best to check for any errors.
My family mainly lived along the shore of the Sound of Harris, from An-t-Ob and Srannda to Roghadal, but one family 'moved' to Direcleit in the Baighs...

©Copyright 2011 Peter Kerr All rights reserved

Wednesday 18 August 2010

'Welcome Home' - Topsail Schooner of Stornoway

This vessel gets a mention in my previous piece on Seafarers From Harris for, in 1891, she was in Leith North where her Master was the 35 year-old Hearach Kenneth Macleod.

I have today received a copy of Robert Simper's 'Scottish Sail - The Forgotten Era' and on p60 is a picture, almost a silhouette, of her approaching harbour in the Dornoch firth. Apparently this topsail schooner was built in 1881 in Stornoway so a quick perusal of the Ship Builders of Stornoway reveals the most likely builder to have been young Donald Mackay Mackenzie.

She is a truly beautiful ship with a sensuous, sinuous clipper-bow and a slender bowsprit that curls like the bill of a Curlew. Her octet of sails hint at the power and speed of this most attractive vessel.

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