Bully Martin was a great personality amongst sailing ship skippers. He
was a driver of the old type, and stories referring to Bully Forbes are
often mixed up with those referring to Bully Martin. He nevertheless
was such a consummate seaman that in 45 years’ service as master he
never cost the underwriters a penny, and only lost a couple of men,
one through a fall from aloft and one from being washed overboard.
He is said to have hated passengers. He served his time in Allan’s
beautiful little Transatlantic sailing ships—his first ship being
the _Caledonia_, a full-rigged ship carrying royals and stunsails
though only of 390 tons. She was commanded by Captain Wylie, who was
afterwards marine superintendent of the Allan Line. After passing for
mate, he obtained the berth in the 900-ton iron ship _Shandon_, which
was fitted with patent reefing gear for topgallant sails, topsails
and courses. She made three voyages a season to Montreal and in the
winter ran to the Southern States for cotton. After four years as mate,
he obtained command of the _Edendale_, belonging to the same owners,
Messrs. W. Kidston & Son, of Glasgow. His next command was the _Lord
Clyde_, which he left for the _Clan Ranald_. He commanded her for two
or three voyages and then went to Watson Bros., commanding the _Ben
Venue_, _Ben Voirlich_ and _Ben Cruachan_ in turn, after which he
returned to the Loch Line, and after having the _Loch Ness_ and _Loch
Long_, commanded the _Loch Broom_ until he retired from the sea in
1907, the very year, curiously enough, that Messrs. Aitken & Lilburn
sold his first ship in their employ.
On 22nd February, 1907, the _Loch Rannoch_ left Melbourne under Captain
Morrison with the usual cargo of wool, hides and tallow for Hull, at
which port she arrived on 8th June, 106 days out. After discharging she
returned to Glasgow, and was then sold to the Norwegians. In November,
1910, she was again sold to the Germans, and has since been broken up.
The _Ben Nevis_ after making her maiden voyage under charter to Aitken
& Lilburn became one of Watson’s passenger ships to Australia. On
14th July, 1897, when bound to Dunedin from Glasgow, she unexpectedly
appeared in Hobson’s Bay, having put in to repair damages which had
taken place 12 days before in the Southern Ocean. It appeared that she
had been swept from stem to stern by a tremendous wave; two of the crew
had been taken overboard along with everything movable on the main
deck; besides which the break of the poop had been burst in and the
interior so gutted that her officers had nothing but the clothes they
stood up in. The repairs cost £3000.
In 1898 the _Ben Nevis_ was sold to the Norwegians and renamed
_Astoria_. On 24th January, 1912, she was abandoned, dismasted, in the
Atlantic, after being set on fire, her crew being taken off by the
steamer Dungeness and landed at Penzance.
The _Loch Awe_ is known for her record passage to Auckland, New
Zealand, under Captain Weir.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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