Vital Spark

Vital Spark

The Vital Spark is a fictional Clyde puffer, created by Neil Munro. As its captain, the redoubtable Para Handy, often says: "the smertest boat in the coastin' tred".

Puffers seem to have been regarded fondly even before Munro began publishing his short stories in the Glasgow "Evening News" in 1905. This may not be surprising, for these small steamboats were then providing a vital supply link around the west coast and Hebrides islands of Scotland. The charming rascality of the stories went well beyond the reality of a commercial shipping business, but they brought widespread fame. They appeared in the newspaper over 20 years, were collected in book form by 1931, inspired the 1953 film "The Maggie", and came out as three popular television series, dating from 1959 to 1995.

In her captain's own (islands accented) words, the "Vital Spark" is "aal hold, with the boiler behind, four men and a derrick, and a watter-butt and a pan loaf in the foc'sle". The way these "steam lighters" with their steam-powered derricks could offload at any suitable beach or small pier is featured in many "Vital Spark" stories, and allows amusing escapades in the small west coast communities. The cargoes carried in the hold vary from gravel or coal to furniture to livestock, the crew's quarters in the forecastle are taken as lodgings by holidaymakers or lost children and the steam engine struggles on under the dour care of the engineer McPhail. Tales are recounted of improbably dramatic missions in World War I. Others scoff at her as a "coal gaabbert", reflecting the origins of the puffers, but an indignant Para Handy is always ready to defend his boat, proudly comparing her convert|6|kn|km/h speed and her looks with the glamorous Clyde steamers.

The stories sparked considerable interest in the puffers, and many books explore their now vanished world. When "VIC 72", renamed "Eilean Eisdeal", ventured from her home at the Inveraray Maritime Museum to visit the Glasgow "River Festival" in 2005, she proudly bore the name "Vital Spark" in testimony to her continuing popularity.Now in 2006 she proudly "is" the "Vital Spark" of Glasgow having been successfully re-registered.

The Argyll brewer Fyne Ales, situated close to Inveraray, where the current boat rests and Neil Munro was born, produces a beer called Vital Spark [http://www.fyneales.com/ourbeer.htm] in tribute to the series.

In December 2007, the "Vital Spark" Clyde puffer returned to the Forth and Clyde Canal - the place of her 'birth', as reported on stv news' [http://www.scotlandontv.tv/scotland_on_tv/video.html?vxSiteId=60fdd544-9c52-4e17-be7e-57a2a2d76992&vxChannel=News%20Features&vxClipId=1380_SMG1536] Reporting Scotland.

ee also

*List of fictional ships

External links

* [http://www.visitscotland.com/library/NeilMunro Neil Munro]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/aboutus/wirelesstoweb/decades/clip_display.shtml?decade=60s&clip_name=vital_spark&size=v&media_type=video BBC Scotland - the wireless to the web]
* [http://www.phill.co.uk/comedy/vital/ The Vital Spark (TV)]
* [http://claymore.wisemagic.com/scotradiance/bookreviews/puffer.htm The Light in the Glens]
* [http://www.inveraraypier.com/puffer.html The Vital Spark at Inveraray Maritime Museum]
* [http://www.parahandy.tv The New Tales of Para Handy] Three new adventures for the crew of the Vital Spark, staged and filmed in front of a live audience at The Warehouse Theatre, Lossiemouth, Scotland (available on DVD)

References

*Donald, Stuart, "In the Wake of the Vital Spark", Johnston & Bacon Books Ltd. 1994, ISBN 0-7179-4604-5 (ISBN 0-7179-4605-3 paperback)
*McDonald, Dan, "The Clyde Puffer", David & Charles (Publishers) ltd. 1977, ISBN 0-7153-7443-5


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