Brigand was a very early iron screw streamer built in Glasgow for Potter & Co. (later Potter, Wilson & Co.) in 1848. First registered at 288 tons and fitted with a 60 h.p. engine, she traded between the Clyde and various Mediterranean ports, continuing this route after she was lengthened in 1852. Sold to sloan & Co. in 1855, she traded between Glasgow and Bristol thereafter, but was deleted from Lloyd's Register after 1862. It has been suggest that Brigand was the first screw-powered vessel to be built on the Clyde, but this is unconfirmed.
The top-sail schooner off Brigand's stern may be the Gipsy Queen of Guernsey, 83 tons and built in 1841. Apart form a large bargue of 766 tons, no other Gipsy Queen is listed in the Lloyd's Registers of 1848.