Patrick Miller’s first iron vessel, the world’s
First steamship is swanning across Dalswinton Loch.
A landscape painter, Alexander Naysmith
Perches on deck beside his good friend, Robert Bums.
It’s a calm, clear morning. The painter will later invent
The compression rivet, and work out the axial arrangement
Between propeller and engine. The poet will write about the light
Of science dawning over Europe, remembering how
Cold sun struck Pat’s boat that October day at Dalswinton
When the churning paddles articulated the loch
In triumphant metre, and the locals made some cracks
Almost as if they were watching a ship of fools.
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