From the Clyde to St Kilda- The Ships and Services of Martin Orme & John McCallum

For the first time, this book reconstructs the full history of the companies of McCallum and Orme from their beginnings as rivals in the 1860s and 1870s to their merging as a single company in 1929, and finally their absorption into the MacBrayne empire in 1948. It describes the ships and their adventures, but, even more significantly, it takes the reader on a 'round trip' to the islands in words and pictures. Through extensive use of contemporary newspaper articles and travellers' accounts, it lets us experience for ourselves what it was like to be a passenger or tourist, or even an animal, on board these old steamships. The legendary Dunara Castle and Hebrides and their fleet-mates, their Captains, crews and customers, live again in the pages of this book.