We'll Send Ye Tae the Mars by Gordon Douglas
For sixty years, the Mars Training Ship lay anchored on the River Tay at Dundee and it became a famous local landmark. In that time, more that 6,500 homeless and destitute boys joined the ranks of the ship to learn new skills and to keep out of trouble. "We'll Send Ye Tae the Mars" details for the first time the life and times of the Mars and the people who ran it and the boys from Dundee, Glasgow and Edinburgh who were trained there.Launched in 1848, the Mars was a handsome three-masted sailing ship with two decks and eighty guns. But by the time she was completed, the era of sail was giving way to new technology and her conversion was never entirely successful. After a brief spell on coastal defence duty, the Mars was earmarked for scrap. At that time in 19th century Dundee, poverty and disease were rife and, although transportation had stopped in 1857, many children had no option other than to steal to survive and a good number ended up in Dundee prison. This could not go on, however, and so the idea of a training ship for Dundee was born."We'll Send Ye Tae the Mars" is the fascinating story of how it all happened and how the Mars helped thousands of boys find a new life away from the poverty and crime of nineteenth-century Dundee.
Gordon Douglas is a passionate Dundonian and his kitchen window overlooks the old mooring place of the Mars Training Ship. This book began life as a musical as he had co-written a successful show for the 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe called 'The Heart of Gold'. After his initial research he believed that the musical would have to wait as he felt that this was an episode in Scottish history that needed to be told. Gordon, a photographer, graphic designer and musician, once had a publishing and recording contract with George Martin's Air Studios in London.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781845022303 |
| ISBN 10 | 1845022300 |
| Title | We'll Send Ye Tae the Mars |
| Author | Gordon Douglas |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Bonnier Books Ltd |
| Year published | 2008-11-06 |
| Number of pages | 160 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |