A fitting tribute to Ernest Shackleton in Dundee

The legacy of polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton lives long in Dundee and now a memorial to the great adventurer is travelling 7,000 miles from the South Pole to take its place by the Tay.

How fitting that the simple woden cross from Hope Point in sub-Antarctica, placed close to his final resting place by those who served ‘The Boss’, will soon be on display at Discovery Point museum where the RSS Discovery, which was built in Dundee and first carried Shackleton to Antarctica in 1901, overlooks the river.

Later, Shackleton later procured the Nimrod, a three-mast sailing ship built for the city’s whale and seal hunters, for his dashed attempt to become the first person to reach the South Pole.

The charistmatic and powerful story teller, in his search for a satisfying life on dry land, also stood as a Liberal Unionist candidate in the city.

Ernest Shackleton waving goodbye as he embarks on the Shackleton-Rault Expedition to the Antarctic in 1921. It was his last mission in his Antarctic project. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Shackleton never settled in life away from challenging waters and his long, risky voyages. In the year of the 150th anniversary of his birth, it is fitting that the memorial will come to rest in the city that embraced this most bold, singular and brave figure.