Cutty Sark - the most famous clipper ship of the XIX century

[Anatol]

Тhe Cutty Sark is the most famous and only surviving three-masted composite sailing clipper ship of the 19th century. It was built in 1869 . Since the middle of the 20th century it has been a museum ship in Greenwich ( Great Britain ).
The ship was seriously damaged during a fire on May 21, 2007 [6] [7] , the restoration of the clipper required a lot of effort and expense. The re-opening after restoration took place in April 2012 [8] [9] .
"Cutty Sark" means "short shirt" in Scottish . The name refers to the nickname of the legendary Scottish witch Nan "Shortshirt", which is depicted in the bow figure of the ship (a half-dressed young woman holding a ponytail in her hand). Presumably, John Willis named the new clipper ship under construction after a painting he had seen earlier depicting a flying young witch in a nightgown (short), the heroine of Robert Burns's poem " Tam O'Shanter " ( Scots "Tam O'Shanter" ) [11]. According to the plot of the poem, the witch Nanny "Shortshirt" is chasing Tam O'Shanter, at the last moment grabs his mare by the tail and tears it off.
Sailors, as usual, are superstitious people, they try to avoid any devilry, believe in omens, beware of going to sea on Fridays, do not like the number "13" and black cats. And therefore, when they found out that the new ship would be named after the witch, they were baptized, spat and assured that there would be no use from this idea, and the ship would sink with the entire crew - not even a year would pass. However, the fate of the tea clipper "Cutty Sark", nicknamed after the witch, an inhabitant of the Scottish swamps Nan Shortshirt, turned out to be surprisingly happy. He not only outlived all his peers, but also received eternal parking in a dry dock, became a museum, excursions are given to him, he is considered the pride and model of the English sailing fleet, although there is absolutely no merit for this ship. It cannot be called the fastest sailing ship in the world, since it has not won a single race, nor is it the most load-bearing and especially successful one.
Unfortunately, at present we cannot see a ship with sails, and only by drawings can one judge its unprecedented beauty. He possessed perfect forms and was the pinnacle of the development of the sailing fleet.
He looked amazing, but, looking at him, it never occurred to anyone that he would be admired even a century later, when his rivals were forgotten, and the heyday of the sailing fleet would be left far behind.
See more details: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9027.
Grenada 2019; 4$.
Sources: https://tripguide.ru/parusnik-cutti-sar ... nviche.htm and other websites.