Black and white photograph of the `Alice Roberts`, one of Hector MacPhail`s fishing boats.
Hector MacPhail of Ruaig standing on the deck of his fishing boat `Alice Roberts` in the Sound of Mull.
2006.160.1
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Tag Archives: boats and water travel
2006.161.2
Colour photograph of Hector MacPhail`s fishing boat `Harbour Maid` in Milton harbour in 1972.
Hector MacPhail’s fishing boat, the `Harbour Maid`, in Milton harbour in 1972. She was built by MacKays of Stromness in Orkney.
2006.161.3
Colour photograph of Hector MacPhail`s skiff `Rising Sun` at Milton harbour.
Hector MacPhail’s skiff `Rising Sun` in Milton harbour. Built by Stewarts of North Uist, Hector bought her in 1968 and sold her in 1972.
2006.164.3
Black and white photograph of two men fishing in a skiff.
Two unknown men out fishing in a skiff.
2006.164.4
Black & white photograph of the ferryboat approaching the steamer off Scarinish in the late 19th or early 20th centuries.
Courtesy of Mrs Mary Cameron
Before Gott Bay pier was completed in 1913, passengers, livestock and cargo had to be ferried by rowboat between Scarinish harbour and the steamer anchored offshore in deeper water, a somewhat hazardous journey in bad weather.
This photograph of the tender approaching the steamer was taken on a calm day in the late 19th or early 20th centuries. The service was operated for many years by Archibald MacKinnon (Èardsaidh ’ic Eòghainn) without serious accident.
The substantial building in the centre background is the store at Scarinish; the one on the left is the school. Between the two lay the Reading Room, now An Iodhlann, where passengers awaited the arrival of the steamer.
2006.151.1
The herring drifter ‘Eriskay’
Photograph of the herring drifter ‘Eriskay’.
Courtesy of Mr Iain MacDonald
The east coast herring drifter, ‘Eriskay’, was bought by Donald Archie MacDonald of Skipinnish, Ruaig. During the Tiree herring boom of 1914-1921, it was used to take catches of herring to the Broomielaw in Glasgow, returning with city goods.
The boiler was below the wheelhouse and kept the man at the wheel warm in the winter and too hot in the summer. The boat went on fire around 1930 in Milton harbour where its boiler can still be seen at low tide.
Donald Archie went on to build the ‘Deirdre’, a 26 foot long motor boat powered by a converted car engine, which took passengers from Tiree on day trips to Iona and Fingal’s Cave.
Photograph of the herring drifter `Eriksay`.
The herring drifter `Eriskay` owned by Donald Archie MacDonald of Skipinnish in Ruaig. It was used to take catches of herring to the Broomielaw in Glasgow during the Tiree herring boom of 1814-1821, returning with city goods. It went on fire around 1830 in Milton harbour where its boiler can still be seen at low tide.
2006.142.1
HMS ‘Tiree’
Photograph of Isles class trawler HMS ‘Tiree’.
HMS ‘Tiree’ was an ‘Isles’ class armed trawler that saw service during World War II. Built in 1941 in Goole, Yorkshire, the boat was 164 feet long and weighed 545 tons. She carried 184 tons of coal and was capable of a top speed of 12 knots.
Fitted with minesweeping and ASDIC (sonar) U-boat detection equipment, she was crewed by four officers and thirty-six men. In 1942 she was deployed in the North Sea, and from 1943 to 1945 in the Atlantic. She was decommissioned in 1960
The ship’s bell was presented to the people of Tiree at a ceremony in 1995 at Tiree High School where it now hangs outside the dining room.
Black and white photograph of H.M.S. `Tiree`.
The Isles class trawler H.M.S. `Tiree` photographed by Right & Logan of Portsea, Portsmouth. She carried minesweeping and ASDIC U-boat detection equipment and a crew of forty officers and men. In 1942 she was deployed in the North Sea and from 1943 to 1945 in the Atlantic. She was decommissioned in 1960. The ship`s bell was presented to the people of Tiree in 1995 at a ceremony at the school where it hangs outside the dining room.. (Original photo in Filing Cabinet 7 drawer 4)
2006.110.2
Colour photograph of the currach `Brendan` at Tiree pier in 1976.
The currach `Brendan` at Tiree pier in 1976.
2006.110.1
The curragh ‘Brendan’ at Gott Bay pier in 1976
Photograph of the curragh ‘Brendan’ at Gott Bay pier in 1976.
Courtesy of Mr Simon Latham
In 1976 Tim Severin and four companions set sail in a wood and leather curragh from the west coast of Ireland in a re-creation of the 6th century voyage of St Brendan the Navigator across the Atlantic via the Hebrides, Faroes and Iceland.
St Brendan is credited as the builder of a church and village ‘in the region of Heth’. ‘Heth regio’ and ‘terra Ethica’ are Latin translations of the Old Irish ‘tir Iath’ from which the modern name of Tiree is most probably derived.
In ‘Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae’ it is recorded that ‘in the sixth century St Breandan [sic] built a church at Kirkapol…’ The saint may have preached from a rock at Vaul named ‘Creag O Briundainn’, which overlooks a small natural amphitheatre called ‘Glac nan Salm’ (Hollow of the Psalms).
Colour photograph of the currach `Brendan` at Tiree pier in 1976.
The currach `Brendan` at Tiree pier photographed by Simon Latham in 1976. (For more information see `The Brendan Voyage`, 2000.185.3)
2006.88.1
Black and white photograph of the mine-sweeper `Tiree` in 1953.
The coal-fired anti-submarine trawler M.S. `Tiree` heading for the Fleet Review at Spithead in 1953.
