A pocket watch that was once owned by the Scottish captain of the Cutty Sark is currently on show to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his death.
Built on the River Leven in Dumbarton in 1869, the legendary ship originally sailed between the UK and China to transport tea. Among one of the fastest ships in the world at the time, it spent only a few years in the tea trade before transporting wool between Sydney and London.
A silver pocket watch that belonged to Cutty Sark captain George Moodie is now being exhibited in Kirkcaldy, Fife, where the Scot's career began. Alongside the timepiece at Kirkcaldy Galleries is a 1979 colour screen print by Ivan Polley and a model of the tea clipper made by William Thomson of Kirkcaldy in the 1960s.
His watch, which he came into possession of later in life, was donated to Dunfermline District Museums by the seaman’s Canadian grandson in the 1980s. According to hallmarks on the timepiece, which was last displayed publicly 10 years ago, it was made in Switzerland sometime between 1888 and 1914.
Born in the village of West Wemyss in Fife, Moodie started a four-year apprenticeship in 1849 on board The Maria, which was owned by Kirkcaldy Provost and shipbuilder Patrick Don Swan. After receiving his Master’s certificate in 1861, he moved south and began an association with London ship owner John Willis.
Moodie oversaw the build of the Cutty Sark in West Dunbartonshire, and was captain for its delivery to London before captaining its initial voyages. The third of these, which occurred in 1872, was famously a race against rival clipper Thermopylae — during which the captain refused to stop for repairs even after the ship's rudder was lost.
This resulted in an argument between Moodie and Robert Willis, who was the brother of the ship’s owner. In the end, Moodie resigned and moved back to Scotland.
For the remainder of his career, Moodie sailed steam ships across the Atlantic, before retiring to the Fife town of Methil in 1891. There, he founded the local bowling club before dying in September 1923.
Kirke Kook, a curator with cultural charity OnFife, which runs Kirkcaldy Galleries, commented: "Cutty Sark still attracts thousands of visitors to Greenwich every year – its legend lives on.
"It is a privilege to commemorate its Fife-born first captain with our display."
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