Toward the end of the eighteenth century William Fife, a wheelwright of Kilbirnie, removed with his family to the pretty village of Fairlie on the Clyde. He had a son, also named William, who was attracted by the waters of the beautiful bay, and longed to navigate them. Having no boat, he set to work and built one. So well did he succeed, that she soon found a new owner; and when purchasers appeared for several more boats he constructed, he came to the conclusion that boat-building was his proper vocation. About the year 1807 he built a small yacht of 25 feet in length, called the Comet, and in 1812 the cutter yacht, Lamlash, 51 tons, owned by Mr. Hamilton of Holmhead and Captain Oswald of Scotstown.
"Ould Wull"—as William Fife was affectionately called when the years rolled on—built some of the best yachts of their day. And his son and grandson, who bear his name, have perpetuated his memory in many of the swiftest and most beautiful yachts built in the United Kingdom.
In 1807 the cutter yacht Leopard was built by Lynn Ratsey of Cowes, but her owner is not
