Burns' new mail steamer "Mastiff" lying off Reykjavik in June 1878

Lord Inverclyde's Yachts

On the evening of Saturday, June 22, 1878, Mr John Burns and his wife, along with sixteen
guests, left the private jetty below Castle Wemyss to board Burns' new mail steamer "Mastiff"
for a sixteen day cruise to Iceland, the story of their cruise recorded by Anthony Trollope in a
96-page book, "How The Mastiffs Went to Iceland".

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 The "Mastiff" at Ardrossan
The 230-foot long, 871 ton, "Mastiff" was built by by J. & G. Thompson of Clydebank for
Messrs. G. & J. Burns' Irish mail service and was fitted with a two cylinder steam compound
engine - In 1906, she was bought by Gibralter's Bland Line who, renaming her the "Gibel
Dersa", ran her on the ferry service to Tangier until 1923, when she was withdrawn and
scrapped at Genoa.

The party returned to Wemyss Bay around 3 pm on Monday July 8, 1878 and, after
strawberries and cream at Castle Wemyss, Burns' guests went their separate ways, "in
melancholy humour" says Trollope.

The success of the expedition on the "Mastiff" seems to have enthused Burns to build himself
a yacht and, as fortune would have it, Burns was able to employ one Alexander Wilson,
formerly yachtmaster to James 'Paraffin' Young of Kelly House, Wemyss Bay, Young retiring
from from yachting and disposing of his schooner 'Nyanza', she built by Robert Steele & Co. of
Greenock in 1867 and, along with the 'Oimara', one of the first Clyde-built 'composite' yachts.

In all, the successive members of the Inverclyde family would own eight yachts over the
course of the next forty years, these all fairly typical of their time and some indeed having
quite interesting stories to tell.

Matador 220 tons John Burns 1879 - 1880

The 'Matador', rigged as an auxiliary 'steam schooner', was sold to a Col. Campbell of
Glasgow in 1881 and then to one R. C. T. Blunt of Glasgow who had her until 1885, her
tonnage increased under his ownership to 233 tons - She then disappears from The Royal
Yacht Squadron list until 1888 when owned by one Capt. J. H. Bainbridge, R.N., he seemingly
disposing of her in 1900.

Jacamar 451 tons John Burns 1882 - 1883

Capercailzie (I) 522 tons Sir John Burns Bart 1891 1883 -
1890

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Emily Burns, in hat, the 1st Lady Inverclyde, she the daughter of George Arbuthnot
who had built
Skelmorlie's 'Beach House' in 1844, the photograph taken on the after deck of the
1892-built "Capercailze (II)"

Capercailzie (II) 722 tons Sir John Burns Bt. and 1st Lord Inverclyde 1898 - 1900
1892 - 1897
2nd Lord Inverclyde 1901 -
1905

The steel screw schooner Capercailzie (II) was designed and built by Barclay, Curle & Co. at
Glasgow in 1892, she was registered at 566 tons gross, 308 net tons and 772 Thames tons,
measured 229 feet in length with a 27 foot beam and, engined by her builders, was given a
pair of steam compound engines.

Inherited by the 2nd Lord Inverclyde upon his father's death in 1900, he kept her until 1904
when she was sold to Mr. Davison Dalziel of Grosvenor Place, London. He retained her name
and kept her until 1912 when she was sold to the Italian government who renamed her
"Archimede" and employed her in a variety of roles as an armed patrol vessel. Captured by
Austrian forces at Odessa in March 1918 but retaken by the Italians at Sevastopol that
November, she was subsequently rearmed with 2 - 3 inch guns and remained in service until
scrapped in 1928.

Note - Burns' Yachtmaster Alexander Wilson retired in 1896 due to a heart condition, he
finally expiring in 1906 at the age of 69.

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 Beryl (I) as the "Thessalia"

Beryl (I) 484 tons 3rd Lord Inverclyde, James Clelland Burns 1906 -
1910

This steam yacht, 168.5 feet long and 25.2 feet in breadth, Yard No 388, built to the order of
Wyndham Francis Cook of London, was launched on Wednesday August 31st 1904 by Scotts of
Greenock and, with twin triple-expansion steam engines, had a designed service speed of 13
knots, a detailed description of the ship noted in "Two Centuries of Shipbuilding by the Scotts
at Greenock" and her sister-ship, Lord Dunraven's "Grianaig" built at the same time - She
was sold on to Lord Inverclyde in 1906 and then to Lord Hollenden in 1911, her name then
changed to "Lorna" - Requisitioned by The Admiralty in 1914, for service as a patrol vessel
and, surplus to requirements in December 1919, she was sold to Sir Walter Preston M.P. -
She was again requisitioned in 1939 and, armed with one 12-pdr and one 6-pdr guns, serving
as an armed boarding vessel until May 1941, her later war service unknown.

As a consequence of the destruction of the Greek coastal and inter-island ferry fleet during
WWII, she was sold to Kavounides Bros. of Piraeus in 1947, they re-naming her to "Thessalia"
converting her to a passenger ship.

Quite a number of decommissioned yachts, formerly belonging to the British aristocracy were
sold on to the Greek ferry operators, small, compact and relatively fast steamers to carry
passengers and cargo in The Ionian Sea.

Easily distinguished by their often highly decorated and guilded clipper bows, the former
yachts were sometimes referred to as 'The Lords' or 'The Seagulls', a feature often being the
painting of a seagull below each ship's name, on the bows and, as in the case of the newly
acquired "Thessalia", the yachts were painted white, a large blue 'K' on their funnels
indicating ownership by the Kavounides Brothers, they one of the pioneers of the soon to
develop post-war Greek cruise lines.

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 Beryl (I) as the "Thessalia"

Following her conversion, the "Thessalia" began operating from Piraeus to Kythira
Peloponnese and later ran from Patras Piraeus to Lobster, Mytikas, Zaverda, Lefkada,
Preveza, Parga, Paxos, Corfu and Igoumenitsa, it taking her a full day to run from Pireaus to
Preveza.

In 1960, her masts were removed and she was fitted with diesel engines and a new funnel
and re-named "Glaros", her overnight accommodation increased to provide 120 berths ! Little
surprisingly, the majority of passengers preferred to make the trip to the deck, the mixed-age
passengers packing every free corner of space.

With few proper piers or landing facilities, just as in many places in The West Highlands,
passengers and cargo were ferried between ship and shore in large 'flit' boats manned by local
men. Some landing places, like Lobster, were remote and, with perhaps only a couple of
buses a week to bigger towns, the ferries were thus the main means of transport opening
doors in the outside world for the young people nursing dreams of another life, better and
more interesting, ferry journeys acquiring a nearly mythical dimension, the ports the
beginnings of life.

As in the old days of the Clyde Steamers, people would gather around waving white
handkerchiefs to the various arrivals and departures of friends and relatives.

Too, as on Scotland's west coast, the animals were transported by boat between ship and
shore, a ship's derrick slinging the unenthusaistic animals over the side and, should the hoist
wires break and an animal fall into the sea and swim back to shore, then quarrels would break
out between all concerned.

A story too is told of one trip on the ship when four friends, travelling to a wedding, decided
to play a trick on the ship's purser - Four 'cow' tickets were duly purchased and when a ticket
inspection ensued, the four friends comfortably ensconced in a cabin, the ticket inspector
demanded, "Where are the cows ?" "Can't you see ? They're in front of you !"

Decommissioned, the "Glaros" was laid up alongside others in Ambelakia of Salamis in the
mid-1960's and then, on the evening of December 14, 1966, when the area was hit by strong
winds, she was struck by the "Rita" and, her waterline portholes broken, she began to flood
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and then sank in the shallow waters in the early hours of the next morning. She was raised
and scrapped in Perama in 1968.

Beryl (II) as Emerald on the Skelmorlie Measured Mile in 1903

Beryl (II) ex-Emerald 797 tons 3rd Lord Inverclyde, James Clelland Burns
1913

Designed and built by Alexander Stephens on the Clyde in 1903 as Yard No. 397, Emerald
was owned by Sir Christopher (later Lord) Furness, a scion of one of northeast England's
wealthiest industrial families.

Registered at 694 tons gross, 472 net tons and 797 Thames tons, she measured 212 feet in
length with a 29 foot beam and sported a classic schooner rig with sails by Lapthorn & Ratsey.
Constructed with two decks, the upper one of teak and lit by electricity throughout, no
expense was spared to fit her out and she was the epitome of luxury. Her excellent speed was
the result of triple screws driven, most unusually at this early date, by three powerful
Parsons' steam turbines; in every sense the acme of modernity, she was undoubtedly one of
the finest yachts of her day.

Another of her claims to fame was that she was the first turbine-powered vessel to cross The
Atlantic when she was chartered by Jay Gould, the well-known American yachtsman, to use
as his temporary home from which to watch the 1903 America's Cup races. After nine years'
usage by Lord Furness, she was offered for sale after his death in November 1912 and
purchased by Lord Inverclyde of Castle Wemyss who renamed her Beryl. Sadly, her new
owner enjoyed her for only about a year as in December 1913, whilst lying at her mooring in
the Gareloch, the yacht was boarded and set on fire by militant suffragettes and totally
destroyed, the newspaper reports at the time valued the loss at £40,000.

Beryl (III) 1393 tons 3rd Lord Inverclyde 1914 - 1918

Built as a yacht and oceanographic research vessel for Prince Albert of Monaco, the 1,368 ton
"Princess Alice (II)", length 251.0 feet, breadth 34.8 feet and depth 18.7 feet, was launched
on November 11, 1897 and completed in April 1898 by Laird Brothers of Birkenhead as Yard
No. 631 and given a single triple-expansion steam engine and had a service speed of 12 knots.

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 Beryl (III) as The Prince of Monaco's "Princess Alice (II)"

She was sold to Lord Inverclyde, James Cleland Burns, in 1914 and renamed "Beryl", a
replacement for the "Emerald" which supposedly had been set on fire by suffragetes who, by
some, were suspected of also having destroyed Alexander Stephen’s Kelly House at Wemyss
Bay by setting it alight. The lovely "Emerald", beyond economic repair, finished her days as a
coal hulk in The Gareloch !

Requisitioned in January 1915 and armed with one 3 inch and one 12 pounder, she was on
loan to The Director of The Naval Auxiliary Division until October 1915 - Later, she was based
at Queenstown with 'The Auxiliary Yacht Patrol' and stayed there until early 1918, she then
based at Portsmouth, Kirkwall and was at Dundee when the war ended.

[Sources : Ian Dear's "History of the Royal Yacht Squadron 1815 - 1985", Appendix 1
'Members' Yachts and Their Use in The First World War' (Stanley Paul & Co., 1985 ISBN 0 09
162590 4 ), the origins of 'The Yacht Patrol' etc. explained on pages 91 - 94 and from The
Admiralty's Naval Historical Branch's extracts from the logs of some yachts and also the 'Red
Lists' which record in which Auxiliary Patrol area each yacht was operating at any particular
time].

Beryl (III) as the "Alice" (right)

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Following James Burns' death in 1919, the "Beryl" was sold to The Commercial Cable Company
in 1921 and renamed
"George Ward", after an early Vice President and General Manager of the company. Used for
repair work on the Atlantic cables owned by the company, she was withdrawn in 1923 and, in
1925, sold to one A. Gatti, her name then changed to the "Ardita (II)" ( ? ) - Two years later,
in 1927, she was sold to one T. Campanella and re-named the "Alice".

Though nothing more is really known of her, it is suggested that she may have been scuttled
in the Toulon area in August 1944.

Beryl (IV) in The Mediterranean

Beryl (IV) 342 tons 4th Lord Inverclyde, John Alan Burns 1926 - 1930

In her autobiography, Lord Inverclyde's second wife, June Tripp, tells us that Inverclyde's
fourth 'Beryl' was built by Hepple and Co. Ltd. at South Shields 'in 1921' but, the 342-ton
"Beryl", with her uncommonly-shaped 'spoon' bow, was of earlier build and, built for one N.
C. Neill, had been launched as the "Adventuress" at the South Shields yard, as Yard No. 626,
on December 10, 1912 and completed in February 1913.

Records assert that she was 135 feet and 2 inches in length, 'between perpendiculars', her
'overall length' probably in excess of 150 feet, 30 feet in breadth and was fitted with but a
single steam triple-expansion engine, details of her design speed unrecorded.

Nothing is known of her service in WWI but, in 1921, she was bought by one William Kissam
Vanderbilt II, great-grandson of the wealthy and famed 'Commodore' Cornelius Vanderbilt.

Vanderbilt's "Eagle" ex-'Adventuress' (left) and Inverclyde's "Beryl (IV)

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At this point in her life, the "Adventuress" appears to have been returned to her South Shields
builders, Hepple and Co. and given a thorough overhaul and upgrade for, now renamed the
"Eagle", she would take part in a number of research expeditions and, it is most likely that
Lord Inverclyde's second wife, June Tripp, assumes this 1921 date as the year of the yacht's
building, perhaps seeing a builder's plate with that 'overhaul' date somewhere on the ship or
even being somewhat 'mis-informed' by one of the yacht's crew.

June Tripp also says of her that, presumably as a consequence of the 1921 overhaul and
upgrades, "The "Beryl" had five
state-cabins, three bathrooms, a dining-room and drawing-room, and carried twenty-three in
crew.

"The master state-room was charmingly furnished in Louis XVI style with a double bed, an
ivory and gilt dressing-table, flowered curtains, armchair, chaise-longue and a graceful little
escritoire.

"She was by no means the prettiest yacht afloat; her snub nose bereft her of that 'make-way-
for-Her-Majesty' air that some ships possess by sheer virtue of line; but she was strong, she
was luxurious, she had crossed The Atlantic many times and
weathered many a storm".

On the death of his father in 1920, 'Willie' Vanderbilt had inherited a multi-million dollar
fortune and, looking for a winter residence in the following years, he set his sights rather
strangely on a small 'articial barrier island' that had been begun in 1905 as part of a dredging
and land reclamation project some three miles offshore from Miami's beach.

Fisher Island, Miami

Construction of what became known as 'Fisher Island' began in 1919 when Carl G. Fisher, a
land developer, purchased the property from businessman and real estate developer Dana A.
Dorsey, southern Florida's first African-American millionaire.

Just as Vanderbilt, a frequent visitor to Key West and Miami, was desperate to acquire Fisher's
216-acre island in Biscayne Bay, so too he discovered that Fisher was equally anxious to own
Vanderbilt's "Eagle" - "My island for your boat ?" and the legendary deal was done.

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After Vanderbilt's death in 1944, ownership of Fisher Island passed to U.S. Steel heir Edward
Moore and, Moore dying in the early 1950s, the island was then bought by Gar Wood, the
millionaire inventor of hydraulic construction equipment. Wood, a speedboat enthusiast and
the first man to achieve 100 mph on water.

Though Fisher was one of the best known and active promoters of the Florida land boom of the
1920' and by 1926 was worth an estimated $100 million, the Florida real estate market
bubble began to burst almost as soon as he took over the "Eagle" and, for whatever reason,
Fisher sacrificed her and, in that year of 1926, Lord Inverclyde became her new owner and re-
named her "Beryl".

It may well have been that, amongst Fisher's only-just-beginning-problems, Fisher had ill-
judged affairs and either his or even Vanderbilt's yacht agents had unwittingly allowed the
"Eagle" to be chartered to bootleggers, the American prohibitions laws in force from 1919
until 1933 and any hint of scandal by association almost certainly detrimental to reputations !

Lord Inverclyde's second wife, June Tripp, has it that, "During the early days of Prohibition in
America, she ("Beryl")
had been chartered by liquor racketeers who had used her as a rum-runner between Canada
and United States. I rather relished the knowledge that she had been a shady lady before
becoming the property of an austere Scottish peer and entitled to fly the White Ensign, the
emblem to which all ships at sea must 'dip' their own ensigns".

Anyway, after Alan Burns' marriage to June Tripp, though it goes generally unmentioned, it
was "Beryl", with her then somewhat exceptional dark green painted hull, that brought the
couple to Castle Wemyss for the first time, the yacht's crew hitching a tow-line on to
Inverclyde's car at the castle's private jetty and towing the couple to the castle's front door.

In 1930, hard on the heels of the end of the couple's short 15-month marriage and almost
immediately at beginning their somewhat prolonged divorce proceedings, "Beryl" was sold to
one J. B. Allan, the Allans another famous Clyde-based shipping company family and the yacht
renamed "Scotia" until 1934, she sold to a Sir J. Humphrey and named "Anglia".

Following WWII, her war service undiscovered, she was sold to E. T. Stoforos in 1947 and
named "Itea", she presumably, like the 1904-built "Beryl", being purchased for conversion
and service as a Greek inter-island ferry ? In 1961 she was re-named the "Kapetan Stratis"
and though there is no note of any change of ownership or conversion from steam to diesel
power, her tonnage measurement is decreased from 342 tons to 247 tons. The last recording
of the ship was in 1963, her owners then A.& M. Diamantis and her name now the
"Polychronis".

A useful reference is "The Royal Yacht Squadron; Memorials of Its Members : 1815 -
1901" by Montague Guest and William B. Boulton (1902) which is "an enquiry into the history
of yachting and its development in The Solent" and contains a complete list of members with
their yachts from the foundation of the club to the present time from the official records and
can be downloaded from The Internet Archive at
http://www.archive.org/details/royalyachtsquadr00guesuoft and further ship and owner
internet searches were made using the http://www.miramarshipindex.org.nz/ databases.

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June, Lady Inverclyde

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