Maritime Scotland

Maritime Scotland (Historic Scotland S.) Maritime history has played a large part in shaping Scotland. Scots have always been close to the sea, it forms most of their boundaries, and provides food, livelihoods and transport. Two maritime themes, the oil industry and nuclear submarine bases, are still at the forefront of Scottish politics. Maritime Scotland.

The Last Wanderer The story of several generations of a Scottish West Coast fishing community, taking us from the last century when fishermen went off to sea in rowing boats through to the present day, where fishing vessels are now electronic masterpieces. Echo sounders have now taken over from instinct, but the old traditions and superstitions still apply, and family links are still strong, the same fishermens’ names appearing generation after generation. And the women still play their part, but no longer follow the boats from harbour to harbour to gut the fish; instead they stay at home, listening to the weather forecast on the radio, anxious about the terrors of crowded shipping lanes and the dangers of iced-up fishing gear. Maritime Scotland.

Echoes of the Sea: Scotland and the Sea... From the curraghs of Celtic monks to the longships of the Vikings, the sea has been central to the Scots. Weaving poetry and prose, reportage and travel writing, the editors have tried to reflect the full range and power of the sea and its influence on Scotland. Maritime Scotland.

Scots and the Sea The sea has shaped Scotland and Scots have helped to shape maritime history, trade and communications. "Scots and the Sea" is an account of this continuing interaction. It takes a look at some of the personalities involved; at the courage and endurance of fishermen and their families; the individual brilliance of Admiral Cochrane, who helped establish free nations across the globe; at the self-serving activities of pirates like Captain Kidd; and the bravery of lifeboat volunteers. It visits ports, harbours and shipyards and looks at Scotland's role in ship construction and marine engineering from the galleys and longships of early history to clippers, steamships, ocean liners, hovercraft and oilrigs - and research into wave and tidal power. The book details the origins of Scotland's maritime traditions, the founding of a Scottish navy, the pressures towards Union, development of trade, ports, harbours, shipbuilding and marine engineering and acts of courage at sea. It also recounts the exploits and achievements of Scots in all these fields from Sir Andrew Wood to Sir Andrew Cunningham and takes a look into the future.

The Voyage of the "Scotia": The Story of... Scotland's Forgotten Polar Heroes. In 1902 the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition set out under the command of William Speirs Bruce to explore the southern polar regions. Their ship was the `Scotia' and its voyage through uncharted waters was to last two years, with a winter camp being established in the remote South Orkney Islands. Surrounded by a wilderness of pack ice, and utterly cut off from contact with the outside world, Bruce and his team carried out pioneering research into Antarctic botany, biology, geology and meteorology. They lived on a diet of seal and penguin, and survived unimaginably harsh weather conditions. After two gruelling years, they returned to a heroes' welcome in the Clyde. The specimens, maps and information they brought back with them made a major contribution to the progress of polar exploration which later culminated in the expeditions of Scott and Amundsen to the South Pole. The fact that the Scottish expedition was so successful, compared to the dramatic tragedy of Captain Scott's doomed trek, has ironically meant that its achievement has been neglected in recent years. This timely re-issue of the story of the expedition, on the centenary of the `Scotia's' voyage, makes enthralling reading, and will restore Scotland's polar heroes to their rightful place in history. Maritime Scotland.

The East Neuk, or corner, is one of the main attractions of Fife. It is a stretch of coastline dotted with a series of delightful fishing villages, each clustered around its harbour. The villages are a joy to discover with their wealth of vernacular architecture.

The Scottish Fisheries Museum. Spectacularly situated on the harbour front in Anstruther, in the heart of the Fife fishing community, the Scottish Fisheries Museum tells the story of fishing in Scotland and its people from earliest times to the present. Maritime Scotland.

Aberdeen Maritime Museum. Situated on the historic Shiprow and incorporating Provost Ross's House - built in 1593 - Aberdeen Maritime Museum tells the story of the city's long relationship with the Sea.

H.M. Frigate Unicorn. Dundee, Scotland. The World's most original Wooden Warship. Maritime Scotland.

Signal Tower Museum. Beside Arbroath's picturesque harbour, high on the sea front, stands an elegant complex of regency buildings. These now house Arbroath Museum but were originally built in 1813 as the shore station and family living quarters for the famous Bell Rock Lighthouse. Maritime Scotland.

Discovery Point, Dundee.Follow in the footsteps of Captain Scott and Ernest Shackleton aboard the Royal Research Ship Discovery and experience one of the greatest stories ever told. Maritime Scotland.

North East Coastal Trail. The coastline of the north-east of Scotland is one of the most fascinating, unspoilt and varied stretches of any in Britain. Many of the communities which have grown up by the edge of the sea have at one time earned their living from it. Today their heritage is the tiny fishing harbours, now mostly given over to recreation, as well as the traditions of colourful paintwork which protects their dwellings from the salty winds. Maritime Scotland.

Scottish Maritime Museum. Scotland's influence on the maritime history of the world from the eighteenth century to the modern day has been enormous and out of all proportion to the size of the Country. The three sites operated by the Scottish Maritime Museum contain the exhibitions and collections that tell the story of that great maritime tradition. On two of the sites the buildings themselves are important parts of that story. The sites are complemented by the collection of vessels that represent 150 years of the working vessels of Scotland.

The Northern Lighthouse Board's principal concern is with safety: the safety of the mariner at sea; the safety of our own people employed in or around some of the world's most dangerous coastlines; and the safety of environment in which we, and those who come after us, must live and work. Maritime Scotland.

Salt Herring on Saturday: The Fishertown... Nairn in the 1920s and 1930s was a town of about 4500 people divided between the Fishertown and the Uptown. The author remembers life in the Fishertown, where the fishing provided work and support for as many as 250 Nairn men and their 1500 or so dependants. Before World War I, 75 locally owned boats were engaged in either line or drift-net fishing, and in 1920, when the European market for salt herring was shrinking fast, the Mariner's Almanac for that year showed there were still 30 steam drifters and 42 fishing boats powered by sail belonging to Nairn fishermen. Even in 1931 there were still 210 men employed in the industry, notwithstanding a degree of emigration. By 1951 the census enumerated only 80 fishermen and today there is but a handful, none of them based in the town. The fisher folk had a distinctive way of life, being to some extent detached from the rest of the townspeople by the nature of their exacting trade. They lived like a large family, observing a code of behaviour and set of customs and values prescribed by their seagoing forebears and handed down through generations. Their traditions were nurtured and sustained by a united and unswerving devotion to the ceaseless demands of the fishing industry. A stable pattern of life was established through close working partnerships and strong family ties, as boats were operated by groups of relatives who spent all their working lives together. The women shared equally in this solidarity in their closely packed Fishertown houses, communicating daily with each other over the men's work and their own connected duties. Maritime Scotland.

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