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 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'). Jock Willis had joined ships sailing along the British coast after having run away from his home at Eyemouth, Berwickshire when he was 14 years old. During one of his sailing voyages to London, he found employment at a pub frequented by seafarers