Transcript The ferryman’s tale: - Transport and Society

The ferryman’s tale:
the use of Scottish ferries as
cultural heritage venues
Margaret Grieco, Professor of
Transport and Society, TRI-Napier
Oh, isle of my childhood, I'm dreaming of thee,
As the steamer leaves Oban and passes Tiree
Soon I'll capture the magic that lingers for me
When I'm back once more upon - The Dark
Island
@http://www.rampantscotland.com/songs/blso
ngs_dark.htm
The ferryman’s tale
 the ferryman’s tale is the tale of crossings,
connections and culture
 the ferryman’s tale recorded, recounted and
shared provides us with an important key to
the travel history, experience and
organisation of Scotland
 the oral tradition of Scotland is replete with
tales and songs of travel on water, travel
across water and travel along the water
The ferryman’s tale
 Some of these forms are relatively modern
attempts to recreate and reconstruct the past.
 The Mingulay Boat Song and the Dark Island
provide two examples of cultural atmospherics
which appear as if traditional but are in fact of
recent authorship.
 Nevertheless, the chorus of the Dark Island
provides a rhythm and tone on the experience of
water based travel so embedded in the ‘peripheral’
areas of Scotland with its naming of places left
and passed.
The ferryman’s tale
 Yet despite a cultural wealth of materials, the
planning, professional and academic register of
Scotland’s sea and loch journeys is relatively
undeveloped. Today, I invite you to sail with me as
‘the steamer leaves Oban and passes Tiree’ and
to think about the ways in which the magic of past
journeys can be recorded and used to enhance
the quality of present journeys in the context of the
cultural rediscovery which is part of the new
Highland and Islands renaissance.
The ferryman’s tale: recorded history
(Kessock Ferry 1)
The ferryman’s tale: recorded history
(Kessock Ferry 2)
The ferryman’s tale: recorded history
(the Queensferry)
The ferryman’s tale: recorded history
(the Ballachulish ferry)
The ferryman’s tale: recorded history
(the Woolwich Free Ferry)
The ferryman’s tale: journeys as
cultural experiences
 Ferries for me have always been a cultural
experience, a cultural treat – short journeys into
very different places as a child, longer journeys
into places of difference and cultural richness as
an adult. The first ferry journey to Shetland on a
summer’s night without a berth booked and
fiddlers playing on deck
(http://www.scotlandgroupsguide.com/sh/14Shetla
nd.pdf ), the first ferry journey to Orkney struck by
the scale of the horizon – these were magical
journeys.
The ferryman’s tale: the vessel as a
venue
 And then last year, I made the ferry journey from Mallaig to
Skye on board with a tour group of Americans ready to
have a cultural adventure and nothing on the ferry boat
whatsoever to help them start that interpretation whilst on
board.
 As I waited and watched for the ferry to sail, I realised that
Scottish ferries are neglected as major Scottish cultural
heritage venues.
 The ferry is defined over-simply as a means of transport
when in fact it provides a cultural venue in its own right and
can be used as a major opportunity to amplify both the
tourist and the local experience.
The ferryman’s tale: furthering the
public understanding of history
 This paper begins to sketch the issues around the
incorporation of ferries in the public understanding
of history by using the ferry journey itself as an
anchor on regional tourism.
 Ferries provide ideal locations for the furtherance
of the public understanding of history: displays
and soundtracks can be readily provided and
updated if ferry companies operate in association
with local associations, museums and educational
institutions.
The ferryman’s tale: time to travel,
time to reflect
 The journey time from Mallaig to Armadale on
Skye could so easily be filled with information on
the history of the area through which the vessel
passes:
 new information communication technologies can
be so easily be used to maintain the vibrance of
materials and displays.
 The journey time itself provides a resource that
can be used in the capturing of travellers’ interest
in the culture, history and economy of the region.
The ferryman’s tale: today’s
transport, history’s vessel
The ferryman’s tale: michinoeki, the
Japanese road based counterpart
 Rapid journeys across bridges offer lesser opportunities
than ferries for the cultural introduction of the traveller to
the region though even here better presentation of both the
history and economy of the region could be accomplished.
 The creation of rest areas on road systems which provide
cultural information is a well developed feature of
Japanese travel (michinoeki)
 and indeed even along the State of New York very modern
thruway such facilities are to be found. Scottish tourist
facilities – or public history facilities – could be improved in
the direction of these state of the art facilities.
The ferryman’s tale: a bridge to
history
The ferryman’s tale: on board and on
line information partnerships
 For the Mallaig to Skye crossing, the history of the ferry, the history of
the locality and the history of the Highland Clearances could all have
added understanding to this journey through outstanding landscape.

Materials could be provided on the on line timetable itself through
better hyperlinking to prepare tourists for the fullness of the journey.
 Partnerships between local communities and ferry companies could
provide rich on-line guides to cultural heritage of very local regions: the
maritime history of Highland and Island migration could provide rich
materials for display on ferry journeys.
 At present, the tool-kit available to the tourist interested in following the
Highland and Island heritage trail is relatively limited and this is very
clearly demonstrated by the flatness or lack of historical detail provided
in the current showcasing of island hopping ferry route information.
The ferryman’s tale: a dearth of
cultural detail
 The map displayed
here is taken from the
public transport
operator’s web site – it
is rapidly apparent that
there is no layering of
historical detail here
nor is there access to
such detail through
hyper linking.
The ferryman’s tale: the opportunity
for cultural strategies
 Twinning an on-line strategy of high quality
contextualised public transport information
with an on-board strategy of audio and
visual exhibits could add much to the
modern ferryman’s tale.
The ferryman’s tale: institutional
issues and funding possibilities
 The suggestions made in this short presentation are practical ones: the
designing of transport operator web sites and the use of transport
operator vessels to lead in to the cultural experience of the highlands
and islands of Scotland is a project worth investigating both from the
perspective of the public understanding of history and the development
of robust tourist markets.
 Investigating funding and institutional partners for such a project is a
necessary step but it is a project which could reasonably be put in front
of the Scottish Executive and HIE.
 The details of what on board displays and partnering web sites would
look like will be an outcome of the quality of materials that can be
readily mustered but the evidence from my recent researches into the
ferryman’s tale is that there is sufficient migration, maritime and
cultural materials available to mount such displays and populate the
partnering web sites.
The ferryman’s tale: image banks,
panoramas and community history

To start the water flowing let us return to the images of the Kessock Ferry
provided at the beginning of the presentation. These first two images provided
of the Kessock Ferry give an indication of the ability to use simple image banks
to provide the traveller with the feel of a location through history.

Using the current panorama from a vessel as a benchmark to provide through
image the backview from history could greatly enrich the tourist experience.
Providing the traveller with visual indications of the historic density of maritime
traffic on now relatively uncongested local waters is another step that can be
taken to develop interest in local and regional transport details and assist in the
better anchoring of the tourist industry.

Similarly, providing information on the new communities developed by migrants
from the region and localities around the ferries in Canada and elsewhere can
be used to expand the public understanding of the history of the area with
benefits for tourism - making use of the Canadian Boat Song might provide
one useful step in the developing of relevant audio exhibits.
The ferryman’s tale: family albums
on line, communities on board
 The audio and visual presentation of Scottish culture on
board the transport life lines of Scotland’s island and
water-side communities is an obvious step to take but one
that has not yet been taken.
 The development of public history aligned to transport is a
project for our time of domestically available information
communication technologies and the potential for the
sharing of the photographic history of household and
communities.
 Organising community resources into social capital for
tourism on existing but under-utilised venues – the ferry
boats – is a practical and do-able exercise. The ferryman’s
tale stands ready to be expanded.
The ferryman’s tale: a closing chorus
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When I've done my work of day,
And I row my boat away,
Doon the waters of Loch Tay,
As the evening light is fading
And I look upon Ben Lawers
Where the after glory glows;
And I think on two bright eyes
And the melting mouth below.
She's my beauteous nighean ruadh,
She's my joy and sorrow too;
And although she is untrue,
Well I cannot live without her,
For my heart's a boat in tow,
And I'd give the world to know
Why she means to let me go,
As I sing horee horo.
Loch Tay Boat Song @
http://www.rampantscotland.com/songs/blsongs_lochtay.htm
The ferryman’s tale: useful on line
excursions
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http://heritage.scotsman.com/people.cfm?id=737752007
http://heritage.scotsman.com/places.cfm?id=976652007
http://www.culturehebrides.com/todo/package/
http://heritage.scotsman.com/people.cfm?id=456852006
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/committees/enterprise/inqui
ries/bg/04-Andrews.htm
http://www.calmac.co.uk/
http://www.islayinfo.com/islay_ferry_history.html
http://www.calmac.co.uk/summer-skye-timetable.html
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/orkney/pentlandferries/index.ht
ml
http://www.calmac.co.uk/islands.html
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/tramways/ClydeCompanies.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/history/scotlandonfilm/media_clips/index
_topic.shtml?topic=transport&subtopic=sea
The ferryman’s tale
Thank you for your attention