My father was never very keen on leaving Scotland, but when he decided to go to Utah he made it a condition that we would sail directly from Glasgow rather than travel the length of England and sail from Southampton. Dad was Irish to the core and had the typical Irish bias against the Sassenach.
We made travel arrangements through Mr. Alexander Millar of Saltcoats and were scheduled to leave Glasgow on a brand and new cargo/passenger ship, the MV Eucadia of the Anchor Line, an old Scottish shipping company. The Eucadia had 6 first class cabins on each side. On the 18th of June 1949 we paid for our transportation from Glaagow to Salt Lake City–! £165 for the sea voyage and £54 for the railroad fare–the total cost of tranporting the three of us came to approximately $725 US Dollars. Originally scheduled to leave Glasgow on July 2nd, the sailing date was postponed for three days. I think we arrived in New York on the 13th of July.
On the morning of July 5th we walked the few blocks from Aunt Jean’s home on Mooorark West to the Stevenston station, each of us carrying a brown cardboard suitcase containing all of our personal clothing etc. We said final goodbyes to a few neighbours and kinfolk and as the train sped past places whiere we had worked and played we all realized that this was not a holiday jaunt we were going on. Dad wept like a child as his happy hunting grounds (the Stevenston Marshes) vanished in the distance. For me I was as happy any teenager would be when faced with the greatest adventure in his life. A new chapter of my life was opening before me and I knew that my life would be forever changed by the decision I had made to leave my native land and gather in the place I believed was Zion. For years we had sung with vigor the hymn “Ye Elders of Israel.” Now we could sing the chorus with conviction: "Oh Babylon, Oh Babylon, we bid you, farewell; We’re going to the mountains of Ephraim to dwell.”
This picture of the MV Eucadia was taken, September of 1953 from the deck of the S.S. United States as I was returning from my mission to Great Britain.
