What's in a name?
Iolaire
Our yacht (when eventually we acquire one!) will be named Iolaire. Iolaire is the Gaelic word meaning "Sea Eagle", it was also the name of a Royal Navy ship which served during World War 1.
On 1 January 1919, HMY Iolaire was returning men who had fought during WW1 to their homes on the Isle of Lewis. She left the Kyle of Lochalsh late on New Year's Eve and at 0230 on New Year's Day she was a mere mile from safety of Stornoway harbour when tragedy struck. The weather and sea conditions were wild and a fatal error was made in her pilotage. She struck the notorious shoals, The Beasts of Holm and sank. The foundering ship was mere yards from shore but because of the awful weather and the heavy clothing that the men wore over 200 men died.
Iain's great-grandfather, Private Herbert William Head, a Royal Marine from Suffolk was on board. He served throughout the war, including in HMS Queen during the ill-fated Gallipoli Landings. He was amongst the men who died that day.
Unfortunately the tragedy was not just the loss of his life. Waiting for him a mile away on the pier in Stornaway was his fiancee, Catherine Wares. They were due to be married that very day. To further add to the grief, Catherine was pregnant with her fiance's daughter, Betty Head. At the time, Scotland was an unforgiving place for a baby born out of wedlock and a mother who had never married. Catherine and Betty suffered horribly for many years after the tragedy. William's body was never recovered.
Naming our yacht Iolaire is our way of keeping their memory alive and of paying tribute to all who lost their lives on that fateful New Year's Day.
Initially a private yacht launched in 1881 as Iolanthe, she was renamed HMY Iolaire in 1918