From The Clyde to St Kilda

The Ships and Services of Martin Orme and John McCallum 

The steamships Dunara Castle and Hebrides, initially owned by Martin Orme and John McCallum respectively, have a particularly emotive connection with the famous archipelago of St Kilda, on the edge of the Hebrides. From 1877 until the community was evacuated in 1930, they provided a very popular summer-only service from Glasgow to Village Bay, and continued to take tourists and islanders to and from the deserted village until 1939. However, thoughout the year the same ships served most of the other Hebridean islands on ‘round trips’ from Glasgow, carrying esential freight, passengers, and tourists. They called at harbours which are still in use, but also at numerous others which are now largely forgotten, except in local memory. Their contribution to the making of the modern Hebrides was immense.

For the first time, this book reconstructs the full history of the companies of McCallum and Orme from their beginnings as rivals in the 1860s and 1870s to their merging as a single company in 1929, and finally their absorption into the MacBrayne empire in 1948. It describes the ships and their adventures, but, even more significantly, it takes the reader on a ‘round trip’ to the islands in words and pictures. Through extensive use of contemporary newspaper articles and travellers’ accounts, it lets us experience for ourselves what it was like to be a passenger or tourist – or even an animal! – on board these old steamships. The legendary Dunara Castle and Hebrides and their fleet-mates, their Captains, crews and customers, live again in the pages of this book.

Softback 210mm x 297mm. 256 pages.