American Literature of the Sea and Great Lakes

GLENCAIRN. The S.S. Glencairn is a fictional British tramp steamer, scene of Eugene O’Neill’s* The Moon of the Caribees (first perf. 1918; pub. 1919), Bound East for Cardiff (first perf. 1916; pub. 1919), and In the Zone (first perf. 1917; pub. 1919). The crew from the Glencairn also appear in the shore-based play of the group, Long Voyage Home (first perf. 1917; pub. 1917), which is set in a London waterfront dive. The ship is likewise the scene of Children of the Sea, an earlier unpublished version of Bound East for Cardiff In Moon of the Caribees, the ship is anchored in the West Indies, while in Bound East and In the Zone it sails eastward in the North Atlantic. The Glencairn cycle was made into a successful film with the title Long Voyage Home (1940), directed by John Ford. [See also DRAMA OF THE SEA]

Attilio Favorini