Cygnet: Camas Na Gualainn, Loch Ailort
Paddle Steamer (19th Century)
Site Name Cygnet: Camas Na Gualainn, Loch Ailort
Classification Paddle Steamer (19th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Ben Nevis; Roshven Estate; Loch Aylort; Sound Of Arisaig; Cygnet (Ex. Ben Nevis)
Canmore ID 119356
Site Number NM77NW 8001
NGR NM 723 787
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/119356
- Council Highland
- Parish Maritime - Highland
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Maritime
- Former County Not Applicable
NM77NW 8001 723 787
N56 50.6 W5 44.1
NLO: Loch Ailort [name centred NM 73 79].
Formerly entered as NM68SE 14 and NM68SE 8001 at NM 6986 8025 [N56 51 W5 46.5], and also as Unlocated.
18 September 1882, CYGNET, 34 yrs old, of Glasgow, iron S.S., 62 tons, 9 crew, Master H. McLachlan, Owner D. McBrayne, Glasgow, departed Glasgow for various places in the Western Highlands, carrying sheep smearing (sic) material, wind calm, stranded, total loss, Loch Aylort [Loch Ailort], Inverness.
Source: PP Abstracts Returns of Wrecks and Casualties on Coasts of the UK 1882-83 (1884 [C.4154] LXXI.621).
CYGNET, of Glasgow, Official No. 3,161.
Table III: List of the 184 Steamers totally lost included in Table 1 of this Appendix, with the Builder's Name and Address in each case if known.
Source: PP Abstracts Returns of Wrecks and Casualties on Coasts of the UK 1882-83 (1884 [C.4154] LXXI.621).
CYGNET (s), of Mac Bragne's Royal Highland Line, which left Tobermory, Sept. 18, for the north, and was delivering tar and butter, and collecting wool along the coast, struck on a sunken rock in Loch Moidart [Ailort], Sept. 19, and sank immediately. The crew are safe. The cargo, consisting of tar, butter, wool, &c., is being washed ashore. (Glasgow, Sept. 21). [Record received incomplete].
NMRS, MS/829/69 (no. 3307).
(Classified as iron paddle steamship, with cargo of shearing equipment: former name cited as Ben Nevis, and date of loss as 18 September 1882). Cygnet: this vessel stranded in Loch Aylort [Ailort]. Capt. McLachlan. (Never sailed as Ben Nevis).
Registration: Glasgow. Built 1848. 101grt. Length: 23m. Beam: 4m.
(Location of loss cited as N56 51.00 W5 44.00).
I G Whittaker 1998.
The map sheet assigned to this record is arbitrary, being derived from the unverified location of loss that is cited by Whittaker.
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 15 March 2002.
(Location cited as NM 723 787 [N56 50.9 W5 43.8]). Wreck, Camas na Gualainn, Loch Ailort. A broken-up wreck lies partly-buried in the foreshore of the beach at Camas na Gualainn, on the eastern shore of Loch Ailort, at NM 723 787 (hand held GPS and OS 1:25000 map positioning).
The wreck is that of the paddle-steamer Cygnet, owned by David MacBrayne, which stranded in Loch Ailort on 18th September 1882. She was carrying equipment and materials for sheep-smearing; the location of the wreckage has not been previously recorded.
A dangerous drying reef in the middle of the bay at NM 726 791 (hand held GPS and OS 1:25000 map positioning), about 500m north-east of the wreckage and nowadays marked with a perch, is known locally as Cygnet Rock and has long been described as the site of the stranding, and a painting , dated 1883, by the Victorian water-colourist Jemima Blackburn, who lived on the surrounding Roshven estate, shows a diver preparing to visit the wreck, which was then brought ashore at Camas na Gualainn for salvage (pers. comm. Alan Blackburn, August 2010).
The wreckage on the beach consists partly of curved gunwales of steel, one of which is at least ten metres long, with hardwood inwales, still in good condition, attached in places. Other wreckage, including substantial riveted plates, is scattered nearby. The plates are encrusted in places with coal slack and pieces of coal are present in the wreck. Metal detection indicates a substantial amount of buried metal under the surrounding area of sand and pebbles: trial trenches repeatedly reveal rusted plates. The wreckage is not always visible, being subject to shifting sand, but the gunwale parts can be 30 cm or more proud of the beach on occasions, such as in September 2010.
The base of a broken glass bottle found in the wreckage carries an embossed stag emblem within the words ‘Trade Mark’, and, below, ‘Oban, Established 1846’: around the back is the bottle-manufacturer’s name, ‘Carrington Shaw & Co. Ltd., St. Helens’. This has been identified (BBR Auctions)(Powys County Records) as coming from Alex. Robertson, a chemist’s business in Oban which later became the Argyle Chemical Company (SCRAN) and specialised in sheep-dip chemicals to the extent that they exported them to New Zealand (Timaru Herald) and Argentina. As previously mentioned, the Cygnet was carrying equipment and materials for sheep-smearing when she stranded.
[References cited in archive MS].
Information from Ken and Jean Bowker, Lochailort, 24 December 2010.
Loss (18 September 1882)
18 September 1882, CYGNET, 34 yrs old, of Glasgow, iron S.S., 62 tons, 9 crew, Master H. McLachlan, Owner D. McBrayne, Glasgow, departed Glasgow for various places in the Western Highlands, carrying sheep smearing (sic) material, wind calm, stranded, total loss, Loch Aylort [Loch Ailort], Inverness.
Source: PP Abstracts Returns of Wrecks and Casualties on Coasts of the UK 1882-83 (1884 [C.4154] LXXI.621).
CYGNET, of Glasgow, Official No. 3,161.
Table III: List of the 184 Steamers totally lost included in Table 1 of this Appendix, with the Builder's Name and Address in each case if known.
Source: PP Abstracts Returns of Wrecks and Casualties on Coasts of the UK 1882-83 (1884 [C.4154] LXXI.621).
CYGNET (s), of Mac Bragne's Royal Highland Line, which left Tobermory, Sept. 18, for the north, and was delivering tar and butter, and collecting wool along the coast, struck on a sunken rock in Loch Moidart [Ailort], Sept. 19, and sank immediately. The crew are safe. The cargo, consisting of tar, butter, wool, &c., is being washed ashore. (Glasgow, Sept. 21). [Record received incomplete].
NMRS, MS/829/69 (no. 3307).
(Classified as iron paddle steamship, with cargo of shearing equipment: former name cited as Ben Nevis, and date of loss as 18 September 1882). Cygnet: this vessel stranded in Loch Aylort [Ailort]. Capt. McLachlan. (Never sailed as Ben Nevis).
Registration: Glasgow. Built 1848. 101grt. Length: 23m. Beam: 4m.
(Location of loss cited as N56 51.00 W5 44.00).
I G Whittaker 1998.
Named Location (Nlo) (16 July 1997)
NLO: Loch Ailort [name centred NM 73 79].
Formerly entered as NM68SE 14 and NM68SE 8001 at NM 6986 8025 [N56 51 W5 46.5], and also as Unlocated.
Note (15 March 2002)
The map sheet assigned to this record is arbitrary, being derived from the unverified location of loss that is cited by Whittaker.
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 15 March 2002.
Evidence Of Loss (24 December 2010)
(Location cited as NM 723 787 [N56 50.9 W5 43.8]). Wreck, Camas na Gualainn, Loch Ailort. A broken-up wreck lies partly-buried in the foreshore of the beach at Camas na Gualainn, on the eastern shore of Loch Ailort, at NM 723 787 (hand held GPS and OS 1:25000 map positioning).
The wreck is that of the paddle-steamer Cygnet, owned by David MacBrayne, which stranded in Loch Ailort on 18th September 1882. She was carrying equipment and materials for sheep-smearing; the location of the wreckage has not been previously recorded.
A dangerous drying reef in the middle of the bay at NM 726 791 (hand held GPS and OS 1:25000 map positioning), about 500m north-east of the wreckage and nowadays marked with a perch, is known locally as Cygnet Rock and has long been described as the site of the stranding, and a painting , dated 1883, by the Victorian water-colourist Jemima Blackburn, who lived on the surrounding Roshven estate, shows a diver preparing to visit the wreck, which was then brought ashore at Camas na Gualainn for salvage (pers. comm. Alan Blackburn, August 2010).
The wreckage on the beach consists partly of curved gunwales of steel, one of which is at least ten metres long, with hardwood inwales, still in good condition, attached in places. Other wreckage, including substantial riveted plates, is scattered nearby. The plates are encrusted in places with coal slack and pieces of coal are present in the wreck. Metal detection indicates a substantial amount of buried metal under the surrounding area of sand and pebbles: trial trenches repeatedly reveal rusted plates. The wreckage is not always visible, being subject to shifting sand, but the gunwale parts can be 30 cm or more proud of the beach on occasions, such as in September 2010.
The base of a broken glass bottle found in the wreckage carries an embossed stag emblem within the words ‘Trade Mark’, and, below, ‘Oban, Established 1846’: around the back is the bottle-manufacturer’s name, ‘Carrington Shaw & Co. Ltd., St. Helens’. This has been identified (BBR Auctions)(Powys County Records) as coming from Alex. Robertson, a chemist’s business in Oban which later became the Argyle Chemical Company (SCRAN) and specialised in sheep-dip chemicals to the extent that they exported them to New Zealand (Timaru Herald) and Argentina. As previously mentioned, the Cygnet was carrying equipment and materials for sheep-smearing when she stranded.
[References cited in archive MS].
Information from Ken and Jean Bowker, Lochailort, 24 December 2010.
Reference (2011)
Whittaker ID : 991
Name : CYGNET (EX. BEN NEVIS)
Latitude : 565100
Longitude : 54400
Date Built : 1848
Registration : GLASGOW
Type : SS (IRON)(PADD)
Tonnage : 101
Tonnage Code : G
Length : 23
Beam : 4
Draught : 3m
Loss Day : 18
Loss Month : 9
Loss Year : 1882
Comment : Stranded in Loch Aylort. Capt. McLachlan. (Never sailed as BEN NEVIS)
Cargo : SHEARING EQUIP.
