Though the heyday of Clyde paddle-steamers is over, people can still go “doon the watter” at Glasgow Fair, thanks to the enduring and magnificent Waverley. The Clyde’s paddle-steamer era has a pedigree of more than 200 years, since Henry Bell’s pioneer Comet first sailed in 1812. William Wordsworth took a trip on an early steamer (maybe the Comet itself?) in 1833 and was less than pleased by the sootiness of the crew (and no doubt the passengers) as the vessel sailed past the forbidding peaks of Arran. Frith is an older spelling of firth. The Hippogriff that Wordsworth craved is an imaginary griffin-headed flying horse.

ON THE FIRTH OF CLYDE ON A STEAMBOAT

Arran! a single-crested Teneriffe,

A St. Helena next – in shape and hue,

Varying her crowded peaks and ridges blue;

Who but must covet a cloud-seat, or skiff

Built for the air, or winged Hippogriff?

That he might fly, where no one could pursue

From this dull Monster and her sooty crew;

And, as a God, light on thy topmost cliff.

Impotent wish! which reason would despise

If the mind knew no union of extremes,

No natural bond between the boldest schemes

Ambition frames and heart-humilities.

Beneath stern mountains many a soft vale lies,

And lofty springs give birth to lowly streams.