Ulster Scots - Lambeg Drums 10

This drum:- The Clyde Valley - was made by and owned by Denis Morrow. It is a 3 piece shell, very light and a pleasure to drum. The drum is a plain shell with a simple ribbon across the front. The drum is named after The Clyde Valley Boat, a ship that has become synonymous with the events of 1912 and the Home Rule crises here in Ulster.

If Denis decides to sell the drum I have been given first refusal - Lets see. We had the drum out in Portavogie for the 'Twelfth' back in 2008.

Here is a snippet on the history of the Clyde Valley Boat

1914 April she was acquired by Major Frederick Crawford at Glasgow on behalf of the UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force) for the purpose of running guns and ammunition into Northern Ireland as she had been carrying coal from Scotland to Belfast for some months providing the perfect cover.

1914 19th-20th April During the night she rendezvoused with the coaster HMS Fanny in a Welsh bay the two ships lashed together one showing a port light and the other a starboard light. A cargo of 30,000 rifles and 5 million rounds of ammunition from Hamburg were transferred to her hold.

1914 24th April She was briefly renamed Mountjoy II, being named after the Mountjoy which broke the boom across the Foyle in 1689 and thus a more appropriate historic and name of good omen to Ulster ears given the activities she was about to embark upon. This was achieved by using strips of canvas 6 feet long which were cut and painted with white letters on a black back ground, and affixed to her bows and stern. This was done primarily so the men waiting at Copeland would know who and what the ship was.

At 10:30pm she steamed into Larne. While she was unloading on the quay, she was at the same time transshipping a smaller quantity of arms into a motor-boat, moored against her side, which when laden hurried off to Donaghadee.

At 5am she left for Bangor arriving at 7.30am to successfully unload the rest of her cargo.

The cargo was distributed to arms dumps all over the North of Ireland by almost every available motor vehicle.

On leaving Bangor she set a course for the Clyde discarding the canvas name and becoming the familiar coal ship.

As luck would have it fog came down and she changed course to meet up with the Fanny to bring back the Ulstermen of her crew