Reviews / A special book for everyone drawn to the sea

IN THIS book the author writes that “people do get romantic when it comes to boats, especially those built to elegant lines”. He talks about the ability of inanimate objects to inspire devotion, and it is this that underpins this unique book.

Right from the outset it is clear that Ian Stephen loves boats, and it is his skill of sharing his passion with the reader that makes this book so special.

This book is neither a factual nor a comprehensive history of every type of Scottish boat.

Instead, the author takes the reader for a tour around the Scottish coast, through time and place, with stories focused on the huge range of Scottish boat types. He tells the story of these boats through the lives of the people who designed, built, crewed and worked them.

Readers will be able to approach this book in different ways. Boat enthusiasts will marvel at the detail of boat construction and the explanations of the sea keeping qualities of different vessel types.

Others will be enthralled by the well written narrative about people and communities around the Scottish coast.

Most readers will have their favourite chapters. For me those about fishing boats are most memorable. Ian Stephen’s masterful and original description of the Eyemouth fishing disaster of 1881 was particularly evocative. Some may be more drawn to the chapters about cargo boats or pleasure craft. There is something here for everyone.

The book is full of masterful sketches of different boat types, all drawn by the authors wife, Christine Morrison. These are a delight to look at and complement the text perfectly.

For a book based on boats and the sea, it is however disappointing that the map of Scotland on the first page has Shetland in a box – entirely negating and distorting Shetland’s true maritime location.

I am sure that this must be the fault of the publisher rather than the author who is clearly a man who understands the sea and recognises how far apart the Scottish islands actually are.

Other than this quibble, this is a book that anyone who is drawn to the sea and boats will enjoy.

Boatlines. Scottish Craft of Sea, Coast and Canal by Ian Stephen has been published by Birlinn, price: £16.99.

John Goodlad

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