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LETTERS
LETTER OF THE MONTH SUPPORTED BY OLD PULTENEY WHISKY
Dragon head on the cove line
The feature on Lady Edith (CB 395) repeats the well-worn ‘origin’ backstory concerning the Fife dragon ‘arrowhead’ on the cove line or cavetta. In discussion with the late Theo Rye, back in the spring of 2016 when he was Technical Editor of CB, Theo convincingly argued that enduring serpent may have been the work of an itinerant craftsman, likely inspired by the dragonhead on King Haakon’s warship repelled at the Battle of Largs (1263). In her well-known book on the Fifes, May Fife McCallum ponders both options. The first Fife-built Dragon (1889) certainly did not sport a dragon. I am less certain about Dragon’s II and III, even after examining all the images I can source. Dragons appeared occasionally on yachts built by Dickie’s, while Fife’s small yachts and one-designs did not. The Fife III Clio (1907) is the first yacht I have found sporting a dragon at launch. I would love to hear from readers who can authenticate an earlier image. See below the 1889 Fife 20-rater Dragon owned by Francis Hill of Ardrishaig and skippered by Itchen Ferry’s own Ben Parker. Dragon was “unconquered in her class” winning fifty-four prizes of the value of £820 (£13,000 today). This West image was taken in southern waters and appeared in the first issue of The Yachtsman on 25th April 1891. She had traditional trailboards and no dragon.
Euan Ross, by email
THE LADY WITH THE CARVED DRAGON
Two decades after a radical restoration, and a period of inactivity, Wm Fife’s Lady Edith has awoken from slumber
WORDS BRUNO CIANCI
CB395 Lady Edith.indd 4-5 21/05/2021 15:50 Above: Opening spread our May issue feature on Lady Edith and left the dragon from Eliean
Putting your foot in it
Colin Brown of Saltash asks in his letter with photograph, what it is that the helmsman on the yacht Flame is resting his foot in. I think it must be the cover of the lazarette, although it appears to be concave, with a lip. Perhaps it is the cover of the lazarette, upside down in the opening. I am aware of a similar sized, mahogany cover on the yacht Marigold (featured some years ago in your magazine). It was used to store things like the sail cover, canvas gaskets for stowing the mainsail, mooring lines, etc.
Robin Whitefield, Herts
Putting your foot in it again
How about a mustard bath for his injured right foot? Patrick O’Brian’s surgeon Stephen Maturin would approve. What a tremendous tiller.
Thanks for running the Clayton painting of Kent on the letters page. In case a reader asks why Wells was wittering about paddle steamers, that image was attached to my email of 13 April.
Matthew Clayton’s pictures are not bad, and he was well known for them. I suspect there are people in Oz and NZ who know him as the painter, and others know him as the hard-driving Blackwall skipper, without realising the crossover. Someone in NZ ought to write him up.
