Did you know that historic Trinity House in Hull has a traditional Inuit kayak hanging in one of its rooms?
It seems that Captain Andrew Barker from Hull commanded a ship called the Heartsease on an early 17th century expendition to Greenland in search of mineral wealth, and that while sailing they found an Inuit kayak with an exhausted Inuit inside. The poor man sadly died, but he is remembered by his kayak and a likeness of himself, and a nearby pub known as The Bonny Boat.
There’s a little about Barker here and here.
My thanks to Liz Davenport for alerting me to this story!
