It’s not every day that you’ll see an 18th Century Bantry Bay Long Boat resting in a field, as this one has been doing recently. Well, yes, it’s actually a replica, but still ….
These vessels were 38 feet long and rowed by 10 long oars (five per side) and/or sailed with three masts rigged with boomless sails. They were “officers’ barges” or “gigs” on large warships that could be rowed fast and maneuvered skillfully by experienced oarsmen. (The word “gig,” as applied to fast, narrow boats, reportedly derives from the Middle English “ghyg,” meaning spinning top.)
In 1796, part of the French fleet attempted to invade Ireland to assist the anti-British separatist movement there. Warships entered Bantry Bay on the Irish west coast during a fierce storm. Only one of their long boats made it safely ashore. It became the model for today’s Bantry Boats.
Today, rowing enthusiasts compete among themselves in local and international Bantry Boat contests. Work song enthusiasts also row the boats while singing sea shanties and other work songs. Such activities have become tourist attractions.
Actually, that’s why this replica is on the WoodenBoat School campus. Early on some mornings, it’s ramped into Great Cove and rowed out into Eggemoggin Reach by singing oarsmen and women whom you can hear all along the coast. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on September 12 and 13, 2021.)