Swiftsure

Wood Information
Size - 10 acres
Owner - Estate of Tony Wilks
To be planted - November 2005

Scotland has a strong maritime past and her people made a significant contribution to the Battle of Trafalgar:
- Five of the 27 Captains of the Fleet were Scottish;

- Almost 30% of the 18,000 strong crew were from Scottish towns and fishing villages;

- The youngest crew member in the Battle of Trafalgar was a cabin boy aged 10 years old from Leith;

- Nelson’s own doctor, and the woman who embalmed his body when he died, were also Scottish;

Scotland’s industry also contributed to this historical event, by producing and supplying sails for the ships from the jute mills of Dundee, iron for the canons from the Carron Works in Falkirk, charcoal from the forests of Northern Argyll which was used to fire the canons and timber products from Scotland’s woods which were used to construct the fleet of Trafalgar ships.

Swiftsure was captained by William Rutherford, a Scotsman who went on to became Captain of the Greenwich Hospital. The late captain Tony Wilks, who himself had a long and venerable naval career, was also captain of the Greenwich Hospital. The new woodland will serve as a timeless reminder of Scotland's maritime past and Capt. Wilks' own naval career and love of trees.

The site is on a slope with a marshy / rushy area at the bottom of it (on the roadside). The aim is to expand the area of native woodland by linking up two small areas of native woods. Swiftsure Wood connects the woodland to the west around Cross Burn (mostly ash), with the plantation along the road to the east (species includes alder, oak, ash, birch, rowan, Scots pine).

The main species are oak & ash with alder & willow in the wetter areas. Shrubs include hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel, and grey willow in the wetter areas.

Events in Swiftsure Wood
On October 26th it was all hands on deck as school children from Fossoway, Cleish and Pitcairn Primary Schools helped plant this woodland. They were helped in their task by Captain Boss (of HMS Beautiful Flower), Mrs Know it All (the pub landlady who knows all the sailor's gossip) and Andrew Miller, a crewman aboard the Swiftsure. Despite the drizzle and dreich conditions, the children planted a whopping 750 trees!

More information

William Rutherford
Was the son of John Rutherford, of Bowland Stow, near Edinburgh, and Frances, widow of Gabriel Johnson, Governor of North Carolina. He was born in North Carolina in 1764; educated at Edinburgh and St. Andrew's University, and entered the service as a boy in 1778. In 1805 was appointed to the Swiftsure (74g) which he commanded at Trafalgar, 1805 – received the thanks of Parliament, a gold medal, and a sword of honour from the Patriotic Fund. Captain of Greenwich Hospital 1814. CB 1815. Died in Greenwich Hospital, 1818, and was buried in St. Margaret's, Westminster, where a tablet was erected to his memory.

HMS Swiftsure

HMS Swiftsure was built at Bucklers Hard near Beaulieu and was launched in 1804, replacing an earlier Swiftsure which had been taken by the French in 1801. She was therefore one of the newer ships in the British fleet, not long into commission, and was sent to join Nelson in the Mediterranean.

Swiftsure took part in the chase of the French to the West Indies before they joined the Spanish to form a single combined fleet, which met the British at the Battle of Trafalgar on the 21st October, 1805. She formed part of Admiral Collingwood’s column being near the rear between HMS Thunderer and HMS Defence, so the battle had already commenced before she broke into the French line.

Swiftsure first engaged the French Achille (74 guns) for 40 minutes leaving her badly damaged before other British ships joined the action, and her boats, with others helped to rescue the crew of Achille when she caught fire. Although damaged in both rigging and hull, after the battle, Swiftsure took the badly damaged French Redoubtable in tow, but was forced to abandon this when she began to sink despite the best efforts of the prize crew. Swiftsure’s boats rescued 169 of the Redoubtable’s crew before the rising storm made further efforts impossible, and she sank with some of the prize crew still aboard while Swiftsure stood by. In the morning a further 50 survivors were rescued from the water and with the other prisoners taken into Gibraltar. Swiftsure suffered 17 casualties, but although damaged aloft, after repairs at Gibraltar was able to join Collingwood’s squadron blockading Cartagena.

Many thanks to Alan Aberg at the Society for Nautical Research for providing us with information on the ships and their commanders.