David lived in Aberdeen, Scotland, until he was nine years old. Then he and his family moved to Cornwall, Ontario. They moved because life was getting more expensive in Scotland, and family members were telling David's dad to come to Canada. David took a train from Aberdeen to Glasgow and boarded a ship there that landed in Montreal. He left on May 21, 1960, and arrived on May 27, 1960.
The ship was called the Empress of Britain. It had two smokestacks and was 760 feet long. The ship was designed to carry 1,195 passengers: 465 first class, 260 tourist class, and 470 third class. David said he thinks he travelled third class. The ship had four propellers and reached speeds of 44 km/h.
David has great memories of being on the ship. For example, one night his parents went to a party in a ballroom on the ship. David and his older sister got to order food to their room and really enjoyed it.
There was also a good-sized pool on the ship. Not many people went in the pool, so David and his sister had the pool to themselves. He also played cards on the ship. He said that he and his family played games such as crazy eights. Overall, the ship was not supposed to be like a cruise ship. It was just a ship to get to Canada, but they still had a lot of fun. One really unusual memory is that David got to play a xylophone with a steward on the ship as a signal to the passengers that lunch or dinner was being served.
In the end, David said the biggest thing that changed when he moved to Canada was that he did not have to share a bathroom with another family. Another difference was that, in Scotland, it took about two hours to travel from east to west by car. In Canada, travelling from Quebec to British Columbia takes 51 hours and 37 minutes.