Cutty Sark wind. The ship was named after Cutty-sark, the nickname of the witch Nannie Dee in Robert Burns's 1791 poem "Tam o' Shanter". The ship's figurehead, the original of which has been attributed to carver Fredrick Hellyer of Blackwall, is a stark white carving of a bare-breasted Nannie Dee with long black hair holding a grey horse's tail in her hand. In the poem she wore a linen (Scots: a short chemise or undergarment), that she had been given as a child, which explains why it was "cutty", or in other words far too short. The erotic sight of her dancing
Jock Willis Shipping Line Company ships included: The company's motto, 'Where there's a will is a way' was a pun on the family name, and was displayed on the stern of all Willis ships. The company was dissolved in 1899, with the sale of the "Cutty Sark". Jock Willis Shipping Line John Willis & Sons of London, also called the Jock Willis Shipping Line, was a nineteenth century London based ship owning firm. It owned a number of clippers including the historic tea clipper "Cutty Sark". The company was founded in London by John 'Jock' Willis (1791-1862), a ship captain (nicknamed 'Old Stormy Willis').