Cutty Sark & Hercules Linton
John (White Hat) Willis, a Scotsman who owned a shipping business in London, commissioned Hercules Linton from Inverbervie to design and build a clipper called Cutty Sark, for the China tea trade.
The Cutty Sark was built at the shipyard of Scott and Linton in Dumbarton, and was launched on the 22nd November 1869.
The boat was of wood and iron construction, which meant that a larger hold space for cargo was available, and after fitting out, left Scotland on 13th January 1870 to become one of the most famous clippers of the time.
Hercules Linton was born and lived in the Market Square Inverbervie, and today a memorial plaque marks the house where he was born.
He was educated at a private school in Arbuthnott, and completed his education at Arbroath High School, before serving his apprenticeship with the shipbuilding firm of Alexander Hall and Sons in Aberdeen, which was amongst the leading builders of clippers. Hercules Linton also commissioned and supervised the building of two boats by James (Jeems) Mowatt - the builder of the Maggie Law - in his yard at Gourdon.
The name Cutty Sark comes from the poem 'Tam o’ Shanter' by Robert Burns, and describes the garment worn by Nannie the witch in Tam’s meeting in Auld Alloway kirkyard:
“…Tam tint his reason a’ thegither,
And roars out “Weel done Cutty-sark!”
And in an instant all was dark…”
The Mearns area is known as the Fatherland of Burns, as Burns' father was born only a few miles from here in the Parish of Glenbervie.
A memorial to Hercules Linton, in the shape of the figurehead of Cutty Sark, was unveiled in Inverbervie by Sir Francis Chichester in 1969, and is now in the Burgh Hall. Today, another memorial statue and plaque to the memory of Hercules Linton can be seen as you enter Inverbervie from the North. Hercules Linton died in 1900 and is buried in the Old Church Yard in Bervie
Model of the Cutty Sark
This beautiful model of Cutty Sark was kindly loaned to the Museum by Mr. Martin Woodgett of Abingdon. Mr Woodgett is the great-grandson of Captain Richard Woodget, master of Cutty Sark between 1885 and 1895.
Captain Woodget (1845-1928) was the longest serving master of the Cutty Sark and completed the last ten voyages as master before she was sold to a Portuguese company in 1895.
His son, Richard J. Woodget, was an apprentice on Cutty Sark and went on to become Second Mate then First Mate. He received his Master’s Certificate in 1896, and subsequently became a Captain with the Blue Funnel Line, a steamship Company trading out of Liverpool. Richard was presented with this model in Sydney, Australia, in 1929, possibly on the occasion of his last voyage to Australia.
The committee would like to give our sincerest thanks to Mr. Woodgett for letting our museum be home to his model and for making it available for viewing by our visitors.
Wooden piece from Cutty Sark from her early 1950's refit
This small piece of Cutty Sark was kindly donated to the Museum by Mr. Scott Hepburn and family, Kirkcaldy, Scotland.
At Greenhithe, Cutty Sark acted as an auxiliary vessel to HMS Worcester for sail training drill, but by 1950 she had become surplus to requirements. From February to October 1951 she was temporarily moved first for a refit and then to take part in the Festival of Britain at Deptford.
On 30 January 1952, the 800-ton tanker MV Aqueity collided with Cutty Sark's bow in the Thames. The two ships were locked together after the collision which forced Cutty Sark's jib boom into HMS Worcester's fo'cs'le rails, snapping the boom before scraping along Worcester's starboard side. Cutty Sark's figurehead lost an arm in the process.
Cutty Sark was anchored and towed to the Shadwell Basin where repairs were carried out by Green & Silley Weir Ltd. The damaged arm was recovered at Grays Thurrock and the figurehead was repaired.
(Source: Wikipedia)
Further information
For more information go to:
- Cutty Sark Virtual Museum: www.cuttysarkvirtualmuseum.com
- Cutty Sark Exhibition, Greenwich: www.rmg.co.uk
- Glenbervie Burns Memorials Association: www.glenbervieburns.org.uk
