Thanks for all the snippets and suggestions. I think he was probably older than he claimed on his maters certificate. His likely father was a farm labourer so maybe he saw the opportunities of going to sea as a better option. By my reckoning he was about 10 years older than he claimed, so wandering further down the coast for employment was probably an option. The other children born to his likely parents Andrew Gowans and Ellisan(Alison) Peaty were all christened in Crail. They all appeared to have remained land lubbers. Gillian