HISTORY & HERITAGE
The Daisy, BF1016
G. Melvyn Wood
The great days of the Zulu sail fishing boat were coming to an end with the turn of the 20th century. Sailing boats were restricted in how often they could get out of port by wind direction and stormy weather. The advent of steam power heralded a new age. Some fishermen installed petrol-paraffin motors in their sailing vessels, but those engines, while considered reliable for their day, were of limited power, and the design of the Zulu was not well adapted to the installation of a steam engine.
These challenges were overcome with the advent of the steam drifter. While the earliest engines were small single cylinder designs, and known as ‘Simple’ engines, the technology soon evolved to Compound (two cylinder) engines with a longer piston stroke of sixteen to eighteen inches, and then Triple Expansion engines with three cylinders, which made the most efficient use of the steam.
The Daisy, BF 1016, was built in steel at Montrose in 1907, by the Montrose Shipbuilding Company. She was owned jointly by Joseph Mair (Shavie) of Schoolhendry Street (my great grandfather) and his brother-in-law William Sutherland, husband of Ann Mair, Church Street, Portsoy.
The Daisy was Portsoy’s first steam drifter.
In a crowded Portsoy New Harbour, the Daisy is easily spotted.
Her funnel has a daisy emblem.
The Arrival of the Daisy
The Daisy's arrival in Portsoy in October 1907, after what the Banffshire Reporter described as a “splendid run of twelve hours,” was an event of great local interest. She was easily distinguished in a busy harbour by a white daisy emblem on her funnel.
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The Reporter continues its story thus:
“The Daisy is a handsome and smart looking craft of 84 feet keel and 28 tons register, with splendid accommodation, and equipped with the latest appliances – everything, in fact, that makes for comfort and convenience, including the patent steam capstan of Messrs Macdonald Brothers, engineers, Portsoy. The vessel was boarded and inspected by a large number of townspeople, and has been much admired and praised.
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“The trial trip was undertaken on Saturday afternoon, when the drifter had her compasses adjusted. There were on board a large number of people, young and old, to enjoy the run. The vessel first sailed up and down the bay, afterwards going the length of Cullen and back. Daisy behaved splendidly, and is credited with being able to attain 10 knots easily. Six fishermen compose the crew, with cook, engineer and stoker. The Daisy left for Lowestoft shortly after undergoing her trial trip.
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“The drifter is undoubtedly the fishing boat of the future, and the public are now interested to know who is to provide drifter No. 2 for Portsoy. Although there is a possibility of such craft getting too numerous, apparently that crisis has not yet arrived, and the following, taken from the prospectus of a company about to be formed, will show that there is “money in it”:-
“The official report of the Scottish Fishery Board for 1906, issued on 10th May of this year, contains the following striking passage:- “For the first time it has been found necessary to distinguish in the Board’s statistics between the herring catches of sailing drifters and steam drifters. This has been necessitated by the remarkable success, and the consequent rapid increase in the number of steam-propelled vessels engaged in herring fishing.””
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The Daisy was powered by a 16 inch compound engine by Shanks of Arbroath, developing 25 hp. She was requisitioned during the First World War from 1915 to 1919 (renamed Daisy IV) as a minesweeper and anti-submarine net vessel, and fitted with a six pounder gun on her foredeck. She continued to be captained by Joe Mair, who like so many other drifter men was drafted into the Royal Naval Reserve, to the RNR rank of Temporary Skipper. In a 1915 local Roll of Honour, all those from Portsoy were named. As well as Joseph Mair of 16 Schoolhendry Street there were: William Sutherland, 46 Church Street, listed as Mate. John Sutherland, 3 Chapel Street, was Chief Engineer; Joseph Mair, Barbank, 2nd Engineer; Andrew Findlay, 54 Church Street, Fireman; John Mair Jun., Barbank, Deckhand; James Reid Jun., 84 Church Street, Deckhand; George Wood, 3 Wood Street, Deckhand.
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The Daisy was sold in 1938 to Messrs Simon and George Flett of Ianstown, Buckie, and re-registered as BCK154. Sold on again to Buckie owners in 1945, the Daisy was disposed of and scrapped in 1951.