The winter of 1852 was so harsh and snowy that almost all the sheep of Ardgour were killed. The Edinburgh Evening Post reported the “great liberal generosity” of the laird, Colonel MacLean, during these hard times: He returned * 10% * of his tenants’ rent…
In 1842 workers went on strike at John Cochrane’s bleachworks at Kirktonfield, Neilston. He tried to break the strike by filling the workers’ dorms with chlorine gas “as a joke”. He almost killed 150 women, had to meet their demands, and became “Smeekin Johnny”.
In Feb 1880, fisherman from Utsira, Norway found a “small house” floating in the water. Inside was a trunk of clothes with the initials “PS” or “PB”. It was a train carriage without wheels. This was 46 days after the Tay Bridge Disaster.
The carriage was apparently retrieved and put on a steamer for Scotland. Printed as fact in Norway, but with some scepticism in Scotland. The distance between the the accident and Utsira is no less than 350 miles. If anyone has any insight, please share!
In 1882, a train carriage door, supposedly from the Tay Bridge Disaster was found near Trondheim, Norway. The Dundee Evening Telegraph reported that it was auctioned off as a souvenir.
On 21st November 1906, a 150,000 gallon wash tun at the Loch Katrine Distillery in the Gorbals burst, sending a 20 foot wave of hot whisky into the streets killing 1 and injuring 10. Demolished in 1970, it is now the site of Glasgow Central Mosque.
During a February thaw in 1831, an ice jam formed on the Clyde and wiped out 40 ships at the Broomielaw Bridge, killing several people and caused major floods, After the disaster the town widened the river significantly.
The 1831 flood caused the Clyde to rise 18ft (5.5m) above the normal high tide level. An earlier flood in 1782 peaked at just over 20ft (6.1m) above normal!
Maps from NLS Maps site (from 1807 and 1857).
In 1903, Ardgowan Distillery in Greenock caught fire. Storage casks burst sending a wave of flaming whisky down the street and set fire to a stream leading to a flour mill, which then exploded. A “raging flood of fire” chased people down the street.
Greenock had so many underground streams that flaming whisky raced under houses and streets. People began throwing furniture and belongings into the street at the first sign of fire, but the wave of flaming spirit crashed into them adding to the fires.
The warehouses had 800,000 gallons of whisky which all caught fire. The flood traveled over a kilometre through the town before entering the harbour. Water was hard to collect as the streams were on fire. It took more than 400 people to fight the fires.
7 people died, five were children under 16yrs old. Damages totaled £80,000– roughly equivalent to £10million today. Another warehouse with 2 million gallons caught fire but was thankfully extinguished in time.
The event was almost repeated during the blitz of 1941. After bombs hit the distillery flaming whisky poured down the same street creating “a sea of fire”.
On 1st November 1755, Lisbon was destroyed by an earthquake so powerful, that “violent waves” (known as seiches) were stirred up on Loch Ness, 2000 miles away. The tsunami caused by the quake was seen travelling up the Firth of Forth.
