The words ‘Clyde-built’ and ‘Clyde-navigation’ originated in the heyday of maritime engineering and commerce in Clydeside at the beginning of this century and had a double meaning; they respectively became the hallmarks of high-quality workmanship and astuteness in business. The words are symbolic of and have a rooting in the proud tradition of the lower Clyde with its flat carse-land suitable for human settlement, its sheltered navigable firth and estuary facing the New World and its handy reserves of coal. A new industrial society was founded from communities of poor, rural people in Scotland and Ireland ready to immigrate and settle in this land of opportunity. The sons of crofters became skilled tradesmen, engineers and businessmen; the Clyde was made navigable to the heart of Glasgow and for a time became an open sewer.