Details of the brief history of the three masted wooden sailing ship Lady Margaret are very limited in the historical record. She was launched in Greenock in 1769 ordered by Mr George Kippen of Glasgow.
Sailing notice for voyage
The ship had lain in Greenock for some weeks in late 1769 taking on a valuable general cargo for her destination of James River, Virginia. This cargo included substantial amounts of haberdashery, wrought iron, crockery, saddles, bridles, stirrups and many other miscellaneous items. She left Greenock on 17th January, 1770 under the command of Captain James Kippen, probably the brother of the owner.
As she turned west into the North Channel and passed Tory Island off the Irish coast, she encountered a violent storm. Captain Kippen decided to return to a safe port to ride it out and finally chose to return all the way to Greenock. By 23rd January the Lady Margaret was off Arran and steering north using the islands of the Clyde as shelter from the strong south west winds. Just after 10pm, as she passed close to Little Cumbrae, the wind suddenly shifted to the north west, leaving the Lady Margaret helpless as her sails flapped out of control in the now violent gale. The wind and the seas swept her eastwards and onto the rocks south of Portencross Castle, despite desperate efforts by the crew to avert disaster by cutting away the fore and main masts.
Portencross Castle
The next day dawned with the Lady Margaret high on the exposed rocks with her holds already awash. A hastily set up committee of the merchants owning the cargo despatched one of their number, Mr. Alex Fisher, to the scene to make every effort to salvage as much of the cargo as possible. He immediately suggested that the ship, which was worth £2,600, should be scuttled to ease the removal of the cargo, valued at some £14,000. The owners reluctantly agreed and a large hole was cut in her side, followed by the removal of much of her lower decking, allowing for a substantial part of her cargo to be successfully removed. On Sunday 11th February, 1770 the Lady Margaret finally broke up and succumbed to the waves which had pounded her stranded hull almost continually since she went ashore.
Newspaper report of loss of Lady Margaret
The concreted remains of the Lady Margaret lie in shallow water south of the castle at Portencross. Virtually nothing remains but, in the 1970s, a diver from Kilmarnock Sub Aqua Club discovered the location of these remains and recovered some interesting artefacts which are now held in the Dick Institute in Kilmarnock. There is also a large headstone at the site although it is not known if this artefact was part of the cargo of the Lady Margaret or if it arrived on the scene for some other reason.
The ‘wreckage’ lies in approximate position 55° 41.852′ N, 004° 53.205′ W. We have no reports of additional artefacts or even wreckage discovered at the site in more recent times.
