Cutty Sark

Yes, I watched it last night. Didn't realise that the final bill for restoration will be £50m. :eek:

I was there about 3 weeks ago as the third mast was being put into place and I'd quite forgotten just how big the ship is, not having seen it for about 12 years.

She's a real beauty and I hope that the public flock in to see her when she finally opens.

I'd also forgotten that a cutty sark is actually a piece of clothing, a short shirtlike outfit said to have been worn by a witch in a Tam O'Shanter story !! As said in the TV show, no-one has a clue why the owner named it after a shirt. :D
 
I took some pix of the first stages of the mast replacement early December, they're Here

I started watching the program but fell asleep :o I shall watch it later today.

I'm building a computer for one of the ladies who gives guided tours of Greenwich atm and on Wednesday she told me the story of how the boat was named the Cutty Sark.

It's from a poem by Robert Burns from the late 1700's about a character named Tam O' Shanter who gets sozzled in the pub and on the way home on his horse gets nightmarish visions. In his vision he sees witches dancing and shedding their clothing, part of which are shirts named Sarks. One witch is wearing a sark that's too small for her hence the name 'Cutty Sark', Tam talks to her then carries on riding home where the devil pursues him.

The devil makes a grab at him but succeeds only in pulling off the horse's tail.

Thus the figurehead of the Cutty Sark is a topless witch holding a horse's tail. The figurehead is meant to scour the waves ahead whilst the boat is sailing and ward off any harm. During the ship's restoration the figurehead was removed and plaved in a marquee type tent alongside the vessel thus leaving the ship open to harm. And that's the night the fire started.

That's more or less the story but I may not have got it 100% right, Rachel (the guide) told a more detailed version to me but I can't remember it all.
 
Back
Top