During the mid 1800s the major annual seafaring event was the
'race of the Tea Clippers' from China back to the UK, with the
new season's crop. This was an extremely prestigious event worth
a considerable amount to the winning owner and crew. To this end
the Cutty Sark was built by Scott and Lindon, fitted out by
William Denny Bros. and launched on 22nd November 1869, at
Dumbarton. The name Cutty Sark derives from the Robert Burns
poem 'Tam O'Shanter', where a beautiful witch called 'Nannie',
chases Tam while riding his grey mare home one night. She wore
only a Cutty Sark, which was a short shirt made from Paisley
linen. In the poem she reaches out and grabs the horse's tail,
which is why her image on the ship's figurehead shows her left
arm out-stretched. The Cutty Sark made her maiden voyage in
January 1870. Between 1870-1877 she carried mainly tea, but was
never able to win the coveted race. Her most successful year
should have been in 1872 when she was leading her great rival,
the Thermopylae by 400 miles