HISTORY OF NEWPORT AND THE PARISH OF FORGAN ; AND RAMBLES ROUND THE DISTRICT, by J. S. Neish, 1890
PART V. STORMS AND DISASTERS ON THE TAY - SALMON FISHINGS - RIVAL HOTELS
The years 1828-29 proved a disastrous era in the history of the Tay Ferries. In December, 1828, a terrific gale raged on the coast, and, besides interrupting the traffic on the Ferry, the storm did considerable damage to the new piers. The waves, lashed by the wind, were dashed with such force against the pier at Newport that they rose in the air in great white masses to the height of thirty or forty feet. The scene on the river was sublimely appalling, and the breakers dashing against the Newport piers were distinctly visible from the Dundee side of the river. No lives were lost on that occasion. During the whole of the following year, 1829, the weather was exceedingly stormy. Gales of wind and storms of rain followed each other in rapid succession all spring and summer, and retarded the growth of the crops, while great damage was done by floods in various parts of the country. The Lammas floods of that year will long be remembered as one of the worst calamities that had befallen Scotland for centuries. A very interesting account of these floods has been recorded in a work on the subject by Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, to which we would refer the reader.
On the evening of the 3rd August of that memorable year, a lamentable accident occurred on the Tay during one of the storms. About six o'clock in the afternoon the Ferry steamer, with the coach and passengers from the South on board, left Newport to cross the river to Dundee. A gale from the North had been blowing all day, and a heavy sea was running in the Firth. The boat steaming against the wind was making little head-way, and when about mid-stream the axle of her paddle-wheel broke and completely disabled her. The anchor was immediately let go, and the crew prepared to ride out the storm ; but the passengers (ten in number) were anxious to reach Dundee, and a signal was hoisted for a boat. A pinnace, manned by four hardy boatmen, put off from Newport and reached the steamer, and the passengers and luggage were transferred to her. The little craft had a hard time of it beating against a head wind, but she was well handled by an experienced crew, and, after a perilous voyage, she made the shore at the Bottlework, near Roodyards, about seven o'clock in the evening. All would have been well if the voyage had ended here. The boat had made the land a mile to the East of the Craig Harbour, and the boatmen proposed to work her up to the Harbour to land the luggage there. The passengers, only too glad to find themselves safe on terra firma, preferred to walk to town rather than risk their lives again on the river in an open boat. The guard of the coach volunteered to go in the pinnace to take care of the luggage; but the passengers advised him not to do so, and at the last moment he yielded to their persuasions and came ashore again. The storm was still raging fiercely, and the boat-men were earnestly entreated to wait till the weather moderated, but they would not be dissuaded from their purpose. They were brave, resolute men, and were confident that they could work up to the Craig in about an hour. The boat accordingly put off, and began the fatal voyage. Many an anxious eye on shore watched the frail craft battling against the storm, and grave fears were entertained for her safety. When about one hundred yards or so from the Beacon Rocks a violent squall, with the force of a tornado, swept across the river, and, catching the sails of the pinnace, threw her on her side, and masts and sails touched the water. The next minute she righted again, but, having filled with water, she sank almost immediately. A boat was hastily manned and put off from the Harbour, but no trace of the pinnace or her crew could be seen. The storm was so violent that the rescue boat could not return to the Harbour, and was driven right across to Newport, but beyond that it met with no further mishap.
The names of the unfortunate men who perished with the pinnace were Alexander Allan, William Rait, Robert Mackie, and William Patrick. They all belonged to Newport, and left wives and families to mourn their loss. The pinnace was recovered on the following day, but none of the bodies nor a single article of the coach luggage was found in her. Three of the bodies were cast up on the beach near Tayport about a fortnight after the accident, but it was not till November, nearly three months after the disaster, that the last of the bodies was found on the coast near North Berwick. The corpse was much decomposed, and could only be identified by a watch, found on the deceased, to be the remains of William Patrick. Subscriptions were also raised for the relief of the sufferers by this disaster, the Rev. Dr. Maule of Forgan and Mr. Berry of Tayfield exerting themselves in this laudable work.
In December of this fatal year another violent storm occurred, when a large portion of the sea wall at the Craig Harbour was thrown down by the fury of the waves. Scarcely a winter passes without the occurrence of hurricanes on the Tay. The most disastrous storm on record was the gale on the last Sabbath of 1879, when the Tay Bridge was blown down, of which we shall have something to say in a future chapter. In severe winters the upper waters of the Tay are often frozen over to a considerable distance above and below Perth. On such occasions, when a thaw sets in, huge masses of ice are carried down the river with the tides, and obstruct the navigation of the Ferries. The river at such times presents all the appearance of an Arctic sea. Large floes of ice are seen floating about and crushing against each other in mid channel, or, borne shoreward with the tide, are piled around the piers and on the beach, rendering it both difficult and dangerous for the ferryboats to force a passage across the river. Such scenes were frequently witnessed during the winter of 1880-81.
The Tay has always been famous for its salmon, and the fisheries have from time immemorial been one of the great industries along the shores of the Firth. Salmon were once so plentiful in the district that the ploughmen in the Carse of Gowrie would not accept engagements with the farmers unless on the express condition that they were not to get salmon for dinner oftener than twice a week. What a change since the good old days of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries! Salmon fishing was at one time largely prosecuted on the coast of Forgan, but it has now been abandoned altogether. The principal salmon fishing stations were at Craighead and Woodhaven. The fishing was long carried on by coble and rope nets, but in the year 1797, stake nets were introduced in the Firth, and proved very successful. In one season about 7000 salmon were caught on the Forgan coast with one net. This was equal to a fourth of a year's produce of the whole fishings on the river and firth. The proprietors on the upper waters took the alarm at such a wholesale destruction of the fish; and well they might, since it threatened to intercept all the fish as they entered the river, and, consequently, their fishings would be utterly worthless. An action was accordingly raised in the Court of Session by the upper proprietors to put a stop to salmon fishing by stake nets in tidal firths. After years of litigation it was decided in their favour, in 1812. The Supreme Court declared that the use of stake nets in firths and estuaries was prohibited by certain Scottish statutes. About the beginning of the present century a large shoal of herrings appeared in the Firth opposite Newport, which gave employment to a large number of boats and other vessels.
Agriculture and the working of a few whinstone quarries formed the only other occupations of the inhabitants of the parish. The soil of the parish is generally of a rich loam, and very fertile, though in some parts it is light and gravelly. The rent of arable land ranges from £1 to £4 per acre, the highest rent being paid for land near the shores of the Tay.
During the first century of its existence the growth of Newport was very slow. At the time that the Ferries were taken under the charge of Trustees there were somewhere about one hundred inhabitants in the village. The improved condition of the Ferries, however, gave an impetus to the growth of the village, and twenty years after - viz., 1838, the population had increased to about six hundred. The greatest proportion of the inhabitants at that time were engaged in agricultural pursuits, and as yet the elite of 'Juteopolis' had not begun to settle on its salubrious braes. Newport was always a favourite resort of the Dundonians, and when the steamboats began to ply on the Ferries it was more and more resorted to, especially during the summer months. The advantages offered by cheap fares and return tickets attracted great numbers on the summer afternoons. Many of the well-to-do citizens began to take summer lodgings in Newport, and, as their number increased year by year, new houses were built to meet the increasing demand for accommodation. Mr. Dalgleish, proprietor of Scotscraig, then owned a portion of the lands on which East Newport is built, and he conceived the idea of founding a village there as a rival to Newport Accordingly he feued a large area of land to the east of the Cupar Road, and many of the lots being taken up and cottages built thereon, he named the new village Maryton, in honour, it is said, of his wife, whose Christian name was Mary. Mr. Berry of Tayfield followed suit, and feued about five acres on Craighead, further east. Part of this ground was taken up by a Mr. Wilson, said to have been an ex-Bailie of Cupar Fife. Shortly afterwards Mr. Wilson got involved in financial difficulties, and the feus fell into the hands of the Directors of the Clydesdale Banking Company. The lands of Craighead, on which many elegant villas have since been built, is still known as the 'Bank' property, the first house built there being that presently occupied by Mr. D. Sidey, of the Clydesdale Bank, Dundee.
It used to be considered that a village could not be complete without an inn of some sort, and 'clachan inns' were at one time looked upon as a necessary institution for the benefit of the inhabitants and the public generally. Public opinion has changed considerably on these matters, but in former days no community was allowed to be without such places of entertainment. When the Guildry founded Newport on the southern banks of the Tay almost the first thing they did was to build an inn. When they sold out of Newport the inn came into the possession of the owners of Tayfield. At Woodhaven there was also an inn and horsehiring establishment, to which was attached a farm and a brewery. In the beginning of the present century Mr. Berry built a more commodious hotel - the present Newport Inn. The old inn was on the opposite side of the road from the new establishment, but it was demolished to make room for the new U.P. Church. The last tenant of the old inn - which was for many years occupied as the Post Office - was Mr. David Brand, afterwards tacksman of the 'Pack-house' or Ferry warehouse. Mr. Brand acted as general porter at the Newport Pier, and in the management of the 'Packhouse', a sort of left luggage office, he was ably assisted by his obliging wife. Mr. Brand died in the end of October, 1840, after serving the public at the Ferry Pier for twenty-eight years. His widow, Mrs. Annie Brand, died in the year 1863 in the 89th year of her age. She was one of the last relicts of the old race of boatmen at the West Water.
After the abolition of the Woodhaven Ferry the Newport Inn had for some time a monopoly of the trade in the locality. The Inn was the property of Mr. Berry of Tayfield, and, as the establishment of the Newport Ferry had improved its business, its value became greatly enhanced. When Mr Robert Dalgleish of Scotscraig resolved to found the village of Maryton, he also built an inn, and called it Maryton Inn. The first, and we believe the only tenant of the Maryton Inn, was a Mr. Thomas Honeyman, who did his best to entice custom to his establishment; but the inn, being a little way off the main road, failed to attract travellers, who continued to resort to the more convenient and older-established hostelry adjoining the Newport Pier. Honeyman fell deeply in arrears with his rent, and latterly he was served with a process of 'eviction'; but, on making a personal application to the laird, he was relieved from the payment of his arrears. The hotel thus proved a failure, and it was ultimately abandoned. The Inn and its stables and offices were then converted into dwelling houses, and are occupied as such to the present day. Maryton was afterwards purchased by the proprietor of Tayfield.
The first tenant of the present Newport Inn was a son of Mr. Gordon of Woodhaven. He was succeeded by Mr. John McGregor, who died during his occupancy, and his widow continued to carry on the business till November, 1840, when she sold off her stock and retired. She was succeeded by Mr. Mitchell, who came from Kinghorn. On 15th January, 1841, Mr. Mitchell was entertained to dinner in his own hotel by the principal inhabitants of the village, who thus met to welcome and encourage him in his new enterprise. With Mr. Mitchell ended the merry coaching days at the Newport Inn. Mr. Mitchell was succeeded by Mr. Bell, and afterwards by Mr. Brown and Mr. Dickson. In 1880 the Inn was leased by Mr. Fenwick, an ex-Dundee Town Councillor, and under his occupancy a new wing was added, and the house otherwise greatly improved. Further east, on the Tayport Road, there is a large and handsome hotel named the Royal, which was built only a few years ago. The Royal is .part of a fine block of buildings erected by Mr. Turnbull. The hotel was tenanted for some time by Mr. A. G. Keay, but the hotel licence was withdrawn some years ago, and the buildings are now rented as dwelling houses.
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