Illuminating gaffer Kirsty
THE LAW FAMILY are not only artistic, but they're mad about boats. That's been the case since 1997 when they bought Kirsty, a sailing yacht or, to be more precise, a Loch Fyne skiff. For landlubbers, it seems odd but impressive that Pat and Andy, with daughters Mhairi and Kirsty, would work for months, even years, sprucing up a boat and when they had the time, investigate the history of their 100 year old vessel.
To celebrate the boat's centenary The Scottish Maritime Museum has put on a multi-media show. Gaffer: Impressions from a Loch Fyne Skiff at the Linthouse on Irvine Harbourside until February 2 next year. The term 'gaffer', does not only refer to 'a boss', but also a boat ('old gaffer') with a gaff sailing rig.
Kirsty Law: Salt and peat on paper
Of interest to the maritime historian as it is one of the few surviving Loch Fyne skiffs, Kirsty is registered with National Historic Ships UK. She is a 37 feet gaff-rigged ketch sailing yacht of carved pitch pine on oak frames.
Her design follows the line of a Loch Fyne skiff, used for ring-net fishing across the west coast of Scotland in the late nineteenth century. She was built in 1921 as a family cruiser for David Mowat, manager of Summerlee Iron Works, Coatbridge by John Fyfe of Ardmaleish boatyard on the isle of Bute.
Kirsty, the Loch Fyne skiff, as launched
The Fyfes of Bute were related to the Fife yacht-building family of Fairlie, who were among the first builders of Loch Fyne skiffs. Until they tried their hand at yacht construction with Kirsty, they built fishing skiffs and cargo boats.
The Laws have woven together a narrative on their boat, using photographs, old and new, paintings, drawings, movies and sound. Although, over her life-time, equipment has been replaced on Kirsty, some original objects still exist, like varnished wooden blocks through which the sail is hoisted. Additionally, a beautifully-crafted bronze boat-hook head and shackle, built for a practical purpose but, in their simplicity and integrity, are objects of beauty in themselves.
For the past 25 years, since they have owned Kirsty, the Law's research into her history has been punctilious. To uncover her story they have explored beyond the log books, photographs, letters, bills of sale, newspaper cuttings and documents like her old registration records, contacted anyone with a connection to her and visited Ardmaleish where she was built.
For the present show, it was easy to gather material. They knew every inch of Kirsty, had amassed a mass of memorabilia, so the challenge was to pare it down to a manageable size.
Lead artist, Pat practises a range of art forms, from drawing, painting, film and installation, often in collaboration with other artists. She has exhibited in galleries, outdoor venues across Scotland and other countries. She has worked in the Arctic Circle, sailed around the coast of Svalbard and held an exhibition in a disused herring factory in Iceland.
Her abstract canvases, covered with peat and salt, two substances representing land and sea on the west coast, are a response to her relationship with Kirsty, on which they burned peat in a stove. These paintings are accompanied by the black and white photographs of Mhairi, an award-winning photographer, living and working on Lewis.
Interested in rural environments, she has travelled to the Faroe Islands and Patagonia in Chile to complete her projects. Within this show is a short film in which Kirsty Law reads letters written in 1986 to Peter and Fran Flutter, owners of the boat before the Laws bought her, by the elderly Jean Hunter (né e Fyfe), describing her pleasure in watching Kirsty being built and sailing in her with the Mowats. With these letters she sent an original photograph (included in the exhibition) of the men in her family who built the boat.
Kirsty Law contributes her sound recordings and a poem in her own words and voice. As a Scots song-writer and singer, versed in the Scottish and Irish tradition, she composes music, reviewed by BBC Radio 3 as 'spellbinding'. Last, but not least, is Andy, a vital, technical producer, wood-sawing expert and dab hand at liaison.
This multi-media show about a remarkable old boat imparts an important message. Although traditional boat-building is a specific skill threatened with extinction, it can be saved. The revival and care of these boats aren't purely an act of nostalgia and the preservation of the old for their own sake, but about revitalising communities and bringing people together to learn old skills. The construction and maintenance of boats, are as much a part of the land as the sea. Boats help to shape communities, especially the islands which still rely on them as they have touched the lives of people for centuries.
MARY GLADSTONE
