Paisley canal disaster

The 59.5-foot (18.1 m) canal boat Countess of Eglinton[1] designed for holiday day trips between the two towns operated from a dock belonging to a Mr. Barclay in Paisley.

The charter had been in operation for approximately a week and had proven enormously popular with local people, who took their families on the journey on their day off from work as a pleasure cruise.

The cost of a trip was just 8 pence, and with the day in question experiencing some unseasonable good weather, a lot of people were hoping to take a ride.

At 1pm on 10 November, the Countess of Eglinton had returned to Barclay's dock, where a large crowd had gathered, hoping to join the cruise.

One, donated by J & W Goudie and unveiled by Provost Celia Lawson in 2011, is mounted on a low granite plinth in the grounds of Paisley Abbey [3][4] while another more recent one, donated by City Gate Construction and unveiled by Provost Lorraine Cameron, has been mounted on a wall adjacent to Paisley Canal station.