Scottish Arctic Whaling

by Chesley W. Sanger

Overview

Scottish Arctic Whaling brings to light a previously little-known but important Scottish industry. The author’s extensive use of original sources such as log-books and diaries shows that hundreds of whaling vessels, sailing variously from sixteen east-coast Scottish ports, harvested more than 20,000 bowhead whales at East Greenland, Davis Strait and Baffin Bay during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Through hard work, skill and perseverance, Scotland had a virtual monopoly on Arctic oil and bone, until seriously depleted stocks and the outbreak of the First World War brought the industry to a close.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781906566777
Publisher:	Birlinn, Limited
Publication date:	07/30/2016
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.05(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Chesley Sanger grew up in Newfoundland, where life was geared to the rhythms of the sea. He gained a PhD in the Origins of the Scottish Northern Whale Fishery from the University of Dundee. He has published a number of books, including Twentieth-Century Shore-Station Whaling in Newfoundland and Labrador, 2006 (with A.B. Dickinson), which received the Canadian Nautical Research Society Award for Best Book.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables vii

Preface ix

List of Abbreviations xix

1 The Context 1

2 Origins: Pre-1750 British Arctic Whaling 24

3 Initial Scottish Expansion and Consolidation: 1750-1763 34

4 Inter-War Stability: 1764-1774 52

5 The Impact of the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783): The Dunbar Factor 62

6 The Boom and Bust Inter-War Period: 1784-1792 70

7 Prologue to Scottish Domination: The Role of the French Revolutionary War (1793-1801) 81

8 The Golden Era of Scottish Arctic Whaling: 1802-1840 90

9 The Final Decline: Subsidised Bowhead Whaling - the Transition to Harp Sealing and Other Arctic Activities, 1841 to World War I 110

10 Summary and Conclusions 138

Notes 143

Bibliography 192

Index 209