A birlinn like this - currently being restored at Dunollie - was a boat of war, bearing with it hopes of conquest, fears of death, injury, separation from home. In 1249, Alexander II raised a fleet of birlinns to seize the Western isles from Norway, but died unexpectedly on the Isle of Kerrera. Margaret, Maid of Norway, and successor to the Scottish Crown, was probably travelling in a ship like this when she became sick, and then died, near Orkney in 1290, sparking off a vicious war of succession. So many hopes, fears, disappointments.....
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| Warship at Kilcreggan by Thomas Cook via Flickr |
This warship is probably the modern successor of the birlinn. It, too, is a metaphor for power and threat. Where was a battleship going in peacable Scotland? What were the crew thinking? How long had they been away from home? Were they apprehensive or scared?
These ferries represent journeys of a more peaceful kind. Some passengers may be going on holiday, others may be visiting relatives, going to hospital, delivering goods to the islands, starting a new job, or emigrating. In fact, each ferries carries a cargo of individual adventures, individual secrets.
The Easdale ferry represents not only a journey, but also remoteness and separation. The journey from Ellenabeich (mainland) to Easdale Island only takes 5 minutes, but it could be a world away if you've run out of milk, or need urgent medical attention.
Ellenabeich from the Easdale ferry; the mainland - so near, and yet so far.
The 'Reaper' is a Fifie herring drifter, built in 1902. It, too, carries the metaphor of a journey, but of quite a different kind. The Reaper carries a message of hard, cold, dangerous work in rough seas; of worried wives, chapped hands, dark nights of of wind and rain; of the 'silver darlings' she hunted and the herring girls who gutted them back at port. The blue sky of a lovely day in Oban is misleading - herring boats are hard work and dangerous.
The Reaper's mast from an interesting angle - another photo which has worked well. The height is dizzying; you can feel the fear when asked to climb the tall structure - either to act as a watch-out for shoals of herring, or to fix a broken rope. It's cold, slippery, dangerous work, and the mast sways billiously on the rough sea whilst chapped fingers struggle to undo recalcitrant knots.
I found this photo of the Reaper in full sail on the Scottish Fish Museum website - she looks a good deal more powerful and less peaceful here.
http://www.scotfishmuseum.org/reaper
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| Oban Lifeboat - from obantimes.co.uk |
Lifeboats also carry the metaphor of a dangerous journey - here Oban lifeboat, 'Mora Edith MacDonald' - on a journey to save lives. This photo also highlights something else very important about boats. It may be stating the obvious, but boats sail on the sea. For centuries, the sea has been Scotland's highway - particularly in the west. Before roads were created inland for cattle droving and the subjection of rebellious and feuding clansmen, the sea was the only way of journeying from one place to another. So boats, by their very existence, emphasise the importance of the sea in the life of our nation. A lifeboat, possibly more than any other type of boat, underlines the power of the sea and the respect which must be accorded to it. A boat can only sail if its crew will accept the laws of the sea - and if there is conflict, the sea will inevitably win. So as well as being a metaphor for a journey, a boat is also a metaphor for the overarching authority of the sea, and the role of the sea in the life of western Scotland.
