John Galt - Inventor

In 1835 John Galt (1779-1839) was living in his sister's house in West Blackhall Street, Greenock.  Badly incapacitated from a number of strokes, this did not stop Galt's imagination from devising what can only be described as an early form of exercise machine.

Picture Source - Watt Institution, Greenock

A quote from a "Greenock Paper" found in the publication "Museum of Foreign Literature and Science" (Volume 26) 1835 reads:- 

“John Galt’s Hobby-Horse – Mr. Galt, being incapable of locomotion, has lately invented a machine which gives him exercise somewhat similar to riding.  It is of the form of a cross, the transverse beam moving on a pivot like a balance.  From each arm hangs a stirrup-iron, and on the top of the upright are two pullies, through which two cords are reeved, fastened to the extremities of the transverse beam.  The unfastened ends hang down in front, with bell-pull handles.  When using it, the invalid is seated on an elbow-chair, his feet placed in the stirrups, while he grasps the handles, and gives it motion by drawing the cords, raising and depressing the ends of the transverse beam."

This contraption could have been what Galt described in his Literary Life and Miscellanies Volume 1 when he wrote-

 “At last I hit, as I supposed, on a more agreeable diminution of leisure than dictating stories, and an old youthful habit was invited to return.  I imagined that there was not such a waste of thought in mechanical experiments, as in literature; and accordingly I resorted to this very questionable kind of indulgence.  Having formed in my own mind the model of a machine that promised some amusement, I resolved to make one, and with that view ordered cuts of leaden pipes, and boxes to be made, and anticipated the pleasure I should derive from the experiment.”

Unfortunately for Galt, while his mental inventiveness was still to the fore, his physical strength was waning.  He writes, "... alas, I forgot the weight of the lead, and when I came to handle my materials, I found myself, in some instances, unable to lift them, though they did not exceed many pounds”.  He employed a man to assemble the machine.

From a young age Galt had been interested in how things worked.  In his Autobiography he writes -

"While yet at school I had a bias for mechanics ... Among other things I attempted to make a hurdy-gurdy, in a box, and was magnificent in shows."  He says that his best work was "an Eolian harp, which was occasionally shown off in the staircase window, especially when my mother happened to be absent, for its mournful melody put her in the vapours, as she said, and I was obliged to give away the "wind organ" to a schoolfellow."  It is not surprising, an Aeolian harp is played by the wind and must have filled the house with very eerie sounds. 

These are just a few of the instances which show the inventiveness and curiosity of John Galt - traits which stayed with him throughout his life.

Here are some other posts about John Galt that you may enjoy (just click on the blue links) -

The Greenock Galts - information about John Galt's family and their life in Greenock.
The Galt Marbles - John Galt was in Athens when the Parthenon marbles were being shipped to Britain.
The poem that left John Galt speechless - a cheeky poem about Galt by Renfrew poet Andrew Park.
John Galt's Women - the Countess of Blessington - a great friend of John Galt with a fascinating past.
John Galt - Founder of the City of Guelph - all about the beautiful City of Guelph in Ontario, Canada.

Blockade Runners from the Clyde

Anyone who has found the recent BBC Scotland series "Clydebuilt: the ships that made the Commonwealth" interesting would do well to look out for the book of called "Clydebuilt"  written by Eric J Graham (ISBN 9781841585804).  First published by Birlinn Limited in 2006 it is a fabulous account of the Clyde built ships which became blockade runners during the American Civil War.

Being a Greenockian, I was particularly interested in the part played by Greenock ship builders and owners in this trade.  Many of the blockade runners started off as mail boats taking mail and passengers around the west coast of Britain.  Shipbuilders were always competing to make their boats faster, so that their owners could win the lucrative mail contracts.  They also had to be strong enough to sail across to Ireland.  The Giraffe was one of these ships built in Glasgow.  Her first trip was from Greenock carrying a group of Glasgow businessmen.  Having proved her worth, she was sent to a Glasgow yard to be converted to a blockade runner.  All this was reported back to the United States by spies who staked out the Clyde shipbuilding yards and kept track of likely vessels.

Giraffe sailed to Nassau, Bahamas at the end of 1862 with a cargo of munitions and machinery as well as some Scottish lithographers.  There her Scottish crew were paid off and a new crew taken on under the leadership of John Wilkinson, a well known blockade runner.  She got through the blockade and arrived at Wilmington.  There she was renamed the Robert E Lee and had a very successful time as a runner.  At the end of 1863 she was captured by USS James Adger, acquired by the US Navy and renamed Fort Donelson.  You can read the fascinating account of Wilkinson's time as a blockade runner here (Narrative of a Blockade Runner) and particularly the exciting trip aboard the Giraffe.

This is just one of the amazing stories told in this book.  Tales of spies, clandestine sailings, and the money that could be made by taking chances on running the blockade make "Clydebuilt" a very interesting read, especially as the many shipbuilders and owners names are very familiar in the west of Scotland.  Eric  J Graham had done a tremendous amount of research and it is refreshing to read about such a fascinating subject purely from a Scottish perspective.

The Greenockian

Weir's History of Greenock, 1829

Anyone wishing to know about the early history of Greenock would do well to read Daniel Weir's History of the Town of Greenock which was first published in 1829.  This is a photograph of a new edition published in 2004 by The Grian Press, Paisley (ISBN 0-954799615).

The History of the Town of Greenock is also available to read online at the excellent Inverclyde Council website (along with many other online resources).

The front picture shows part of a painting of Greenock  by John Fleming (1792-1845).  He often painted scenes of Greenock and many of his works can be seen at Your Paintings on the BBC website.  The views of Greenock are very interesting in their details of ship building, ships in dock and steamers on the River Clyde.

I would highly recommend this book for its details about various aspects of Greenock's history - from the landowners, church history, shipbuilding and other industries to lists of lawyers and doctors at the time Weir was writing.  At the very end is a list of subscribers to the book.  Many of the names will be familiar to anyone with an interest in the history of Greenock.

The Greenockian