Barbara Rafferty will name our new vessel, the Glen Etive

We are thrilled and delighted that Barbara Rafferty will name our vessel, the Glen Etive, at the official Naming Ceremony on Tuesday April 5th at The Holy Loch Marina.

Barbara is a previous guest of The Majestic Line and we loved having her onboard.  As someone brought up on Clydebank she understood where we were coming from in calling our company The Majestic Line and the significance of the golden funnel! 

One of Scotland’s best loved and respected actors, Barbara is probably best known for her role as Ella Cotter in the iconic TV series “Rab C Nesbitt”.  However her impressive career includes countless theatre productions and films such as “The Last King of Scotland” as well as the role of Granny Mainland in CBBC’s “Katie Morag”.

Barbara grew up in in the tenements at Dalmuir West on Clydebank, which were built to house the shipyard workers. Her father, David Brown, worked in the engine rooms at John Browns Shipyard as a jigger and tool setter. 

As a youngster, Barbara had a front row seat to the sounds and sights of massive ships getting built in the yards very close by; as the ships neared completion they would tower above the tenements.  The last ship she saw getting built was the QE2 – the last great liner to be constructed in the John Brown yard.

Barbara remembers that the launch of any ship was a very emotional time. The workers had to endure very hard lives but to see the culmination of their work and skill in these great ships caused immense pride.  People from all walks of life who had been involved in the building of the ship stood side by side at a launch, symbolised by the mixing of their hats which they threw into the air as the boat hit the water – bowler hats, hard hats and jimmy bonnets all mixed up together.

The Glen Etive is perhaps not in the same league as the QE2 but we are just as proud of what we have achieved.  It is important to us that a very special person names our new vessel, and we are confident that, with Barbara’s blessing, the Glen Etive will be a ship which will bring a lot of fun and happiness to all who sail in her.

Posted by The Majestic Line