
Dundee Libraries has made a range of resources available to the public as part of the Dundee's Maritime Pasts and Futures project. The initiative, led by the Libraries' Local History Centre team, explores the city’s relationship with the River Tay by looking at the histories of whaling, the ways it's citizens interact with the river now, and their hopes and fears for the future in the era of climate change.
The project's webpage explains that the Tay is Scotland’s longest river, flowing a 119-mile course from Ben Lui in the Highlands towards the Firth of Tay, where it enters the North Sea. Dundee has grown around it, from early fishing settlements by the Stannergate to the city we know today.
The city’s growth has also changed the shape of the riverbank, as people have built out into the river to make land for the railway and to construct docks which have later been filled in.
The waterfront continues to change, with new buildings and developments in progress. Predictions suggest the next fifty to one hundred years will see further dramatic changes as water levels rise and some of our ‘reclaimed’ land returns to the water.
For centuries, the Tay has been a route in and out of Dundee for people, animals, ideas, and materials, as well as a source of food, work, and connection to place for the people who live near it.
Dundee Libraries’ Local History collections include several logbooks from whaling ships in the 19th and early 20th centuries, as part of the extensive whaling-related collections held by the city's libraries and museums. One of these, kept by Alexander Smith on the S.S. Camperdown in 1861, records daily life on board the ship, as well as reflections on the whaling and sealing industries and the experience of life at sea. Project volunteer Stuart Will has digitised the book from microfilm and completed a full transcription of the first voyage, a sealing trip to Greenland.
Dr Erin Farley, Library and Information Officer said
"Alexander Smith's log is one of those very special historical documents that opens up the human stories of the past in unexpected ways, so we're delighted to be able to share it more widely with people. We're looking forward to exploring these themes further soon."
In this web resource Dundee Libraries also share Alexander Smith’s stories from life on board the S.S. Camperdown in which he speaks about his hopes, fears and observations, alongside other stories and images about Dundee’s maritime connections. They hope these stories, and Cara Rooney’s artwork illustrating discussions which took place at a Maritime Pasts & Futures event in March 2024, inspire everyone to reflect and start conversations about the topics they touch on.
This project is supported by the Scottish Government Public Library Improvement Fund.
To find out more about Dundee's Maritme Past and Futures visit www.leisureandculturedundee.
com/dundees-maritime-pasts-and-futures
The Fast Boat from Alexander Smith's diary. Image Credit: Dundee Libraries