Canadian Gardening: United Kingdom, 1 by Lilypon

Lilypon wrote:
Moored by their lodgings.......Cutty Sark



The Cutty Sark

The Cutty Sark is the most famous tea clipper built, and is the only one to survive. She is now in dry dock at Greenwich.

She was launched at Dumbarton on the River Clyde, Scotland, in 1869. The name comes from Robert Burns' poem, Tam O'Shanter; Tam meets a group of witches, most of whom are ugly, but for Nannie, who is young and beautiful and is described as wearing only a "cutty sark", i.e., a short chemise or shirt. The ship's figurehead is a representation of this witch.

The Cutty Sark's sleek lines and enormous area of sail made her the fastest ship in the race via the Cape of Good Hope for the then particularly money-spinning tea trade with China. Unluckily for her owners, the Suez Canal was opened in the same year as her launch, which is not navigable by sailing ships. Her last cargo of tea was carried in 1877.
http://www.greenwich-guide.org.uk/cutty.htm

This message was edited Apr 25, 2006 8:30 PM