David Napier by David Napier and David Bell: Note 16
16. LOCH LOMOND STEAMERS
The first steamboat to ply upon Loch Lomond was the Marion, of 57 tons. She was the first owned by David Napier, and driven by his first marine engine. Launched in 1816, she ran for a year on the Clyde, and next year commenced to ply on the waters of this famous loch. Napier's connection with this service continued unbroken for the long period of thirty-three years. The Marion was succeeded about 1828 by the Euphrosyne, originally the Post Boy, of similar size. In 1825 an opposition steamer, Lady of the Lake, was placed on the loch by a joint-stock company, this boat being 76 feet long and 15 feet broad, with engines of 25 horse-power, supplied by David Napier's cousin Robert. The competition while it lasted was very keen, passengers being carried from Glasgow to the head of Loch Lomond at a nominal fare; but the opposition was soon withdrawn. Three years later this boat was purchased by a new company, who proposed an agreement with Napier for working the steamers jointly; but this he declined. In order the more effectively to maintain the position he had secured through ten or eleven years of pioneer work, he now arranged for the exclusive co-operation of the Dumbarton and Loch Long Steamboat Companies and of the coach proprietors on the route in the carrying out of his passenger service. This resulted in the competing company being obliged to provide special boats and vehicles for their traffic, entailing upon them a serious loss; so that, at the end of the year, their steamer was withdrawn and the company dissolved. The Euphrosyne appears to have remained on the loch till 1838, when she was replaced by the Loch Lomond, the first iron boat to ply there, and owned jointly by Napier and Mr. John McMurrich, of Stuckgown, Tarbet. Mr. Napier having gone to London the management of the loch service devolved on McMurrich for about three years, after which it was taken over by Francis Smith, McMurrich however retaining his interest in the business till his death in 1847. The following letter from Napier to his co-partner illustrates the nature of the competition with which they had to deal:
BLACKWALL, May 11, 1838.
JOHN McMURRICH, Esq., Stuckgown.
MY DEAR SIR,
You ask me what I would advise to be done if the Cigar should appear on Loch Lomond. [1] Oppose her as long as she will last in a decided, straightforward, honourable manner, always keeping in view that her receipts are two or three hundred pounds a year less than her outlay. I cannot agree with your reason for reducing the fares before opposition comes on. For anything that does not form a necessary of life I think the seller is entitled to charge what he pleases, provided the purchaser knows beforehand what he has to pay. I have always found that the public studied their own immediate interests, and paid no attention to the professions of sacrifices made at former periods in their favour, and I rather think in doing so they are not far wrong. Your other reason for reducing the fares I think infinitely better, that is, that it will increase our annual dividend. If you are sure of that do it by all means. I expect to be in Glasgow for an hour or two about ten days hence if I can possibly bring Stuckgown under my range I will do it.
I am, my dear Sir,
Yours truly,
DAVID NAPIER.
Another competitor appeared in the Queen of Scots, owned by Captain Lewis Maclellan, but she also ran but a short time. In 1844 the "New Loch Lomond Steamboat Company" placed their Water Witch on the Loch, and in the following year an agreement was made to amalgamate the interests of the proprietors concerned, Napier's steamer being valued at £1,332, and that of the company at £1,222. The new management also took over a contract that Napier had made for the Rob Roy, a small iron steamboat intended for Loch Katrine, to be built by Denny Brothers, and engined by Wingate. Napier's Loch Lomond was sold in 1846 to Mr. Ainslie, Fort-William, and another steamer, the Marchioness of Breadalbane, was ordered from Messrs. Denny. Napier about this time offered to sell his interest in the business for £1,000, but this not being accepted he retained his shares till 1850, when they were bought by George & James Burns for the sum of £1,600. This transaction closed David Napier's long connection with the Loch Lomond service. The company formed in 1845 carried on the service till 1889, when it was, by agreement, disposed of to the railway companies who now jointly manage the Loch Lomond traffic.
See Also
Foot Notes
- ↑ The Cigar steamboat referred to was designed and built about 1829 by Mr. Neil Snodgrass, cotton spinner, Glasgow. It consisted of two long iron tubes, each resembling a cigar in shape, connected together, with a space between them for the paddle-wheel. A wooden house or cabin was erected on the deck. This peculiar craft was tried on the Clyde for a short time but was found very difficult to manage. She ran into and sank a smack, and on another occasion "ran tilt against Port-Glasgow pier, the ends of the cigars being so driven into the wooden logs that a tug had to be applied to draw them out." Being found unsuitable for Clyde traffic, the idea appears to have been entertained that she could be employed on Loch Lomond. She was however laid aside, and, about 1840, was moored off Glasgow Green for the use of bathers, the saloon being converted into a refreshment room.