The celebrated three-master Loch Garry under full sail at sea

Loch Garry was not only one of the largest vessels in the sizeable fleet of iron wool clippers built for the Glasgow Shipping Company by J. & G. Thomson on the Clyde, she was also - in Basil Lubbock's opinion - "Thomson's masterpiece". In fact, many experts considered her "to be the finest sailing ship in the world at the date of her launch" and her best-remembered skipper, Captain Horne, said of her that "it was a pleasure to sail such a ship which might be described as a 1,500-ton yacht". Undoubtedly a magnificent ship, she was registered at 1,565 tons gross (1,493 net) and measured 250½ feet in length with a 38½ foot beam. Completed in 1875, her best-ever daily run was 334 miles recorded on Boxing Day 1892, whilst her fastest passage was probably her 74 days from Port Philip (Australia) to the Lizard in 1903. In 1887-8 she ran home in 85 days against Cutty Sark's 71 confirming that, whilst no record-breaker, she was no dawdler either. During her long life, she only had two serious mishaps, the worse in August 1889 when she was dismasted and nearly lost off the Cape of Good Hope in a furious gale, yet still made it to Mauritius 2,600 miles away. After thirty-six years of good service to her owners, she was sold to Italian ship-breakers in March 1911 for a paltry £1,800 when she was found to be beyond economic repair.