The engineer William Symington and Patrick Millar of Dalswinton pioneered nautical steam power in a demonstration on Dalswinton Loch on 14 October 1788. Legend has it that Robert Burns was one of the party. This print was published on the centenary of the event, by which time ship-builders and their steamers were building an enviable legacy on the Clyde.

As the Scottish rail network spread west in the first half of the 19th century, railway companies invested in piers and steamships to carry their network beyond mainland Scotland. Stations like Wemyss Bay connected rail passengers with ferry services on the lower Clyde.

Companies like the Glasgow and South Western Railway realised that steamers had potential beyond scheduled ferry services. Their network of piers could be used for excursions, visiting coastal towns and points of interest around the Clyde Estuary.

Scheduled steamer services ran from the Broomielaw in the heart of Glasgow, although it had taken years of dredging to deepen the Clyde. On weekend and holidays the scheduled services competed with a host of excursion vessels. This resource shows the scene on Queen Victoria's birthday in May 1896. The Chancellor, Eagle, Waverley, Athole, Vivid and the Benmore jostle for berths - and it wasn't yet 11 am.

The rise and rise of the Clyde steamers was not without incident. Despite the contact and custom that the steamers brought, the inhabitants of the western ports sometimes complained about their visitors. They were blamed for many things. In the middle of the 19th century Sunday tourist cruises from the city disturbed the sensibilities of landowners near the coast. In a manner reminiscent of the clans of old Sir James Colquhoun rallied his retainers to repel the unwanted invaders. They were no match for the passengers of the 'Emperor' as this ballad recalls.

Scheduled steamers ran on the Forth and Tay in much the same manner as the Clyde. Here too excursions were soon added to the regular runs. Railway company steamers and those of small companies provided the services. John Kidd's Galloway Steam Packet Company operated a succession of the smaller steamers on the Forth from the late 1870s.

Even before the rise of the Clyde steamers David Napier's Marion began in 1818 trips around Loch Lomond. The sixty-foot Marion was just the first in a succession of successful cruisers: the Lady of the Lake, the Loch Lomond, The Prince Albert and the Prince Consort were amongst those that followed. The paddle steamer Maid of the Loch, which last served in 1980, is realistically expected to be able to resume service in 2004 or 5.

By the 1960s declining passenger numbers and increasing expenses threatened to bring an end to Clyde river excursions. Only two vessels were left in service: the turbine steamer Queen Mary II and the paddle steamer Waverley. Both sailed for the Caledonian Steam Packet Company (part of British Rail). By the 1970s both vessels had been passed to Caledonian MacBrayne. Soon the Queen Mary II went to be a restaurant in London! Against all odds the Waverly was reborn in the hands of the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society who acquired her in 1974.