ARMADA GOLD

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 42, 18 January 1938, Page 12

ARMADA GOLD

OLD SUNKEN GALLEON. NEW SALVAGE ATTEMPT. LONDON, Dec. 18. One of the most fascinating chapters in the history of British treasure trove is recalled by the announcement that permission has been granted to an Amsterdam salvage corporation to make a fresh attempt to salvage the Armada gold said to lie at the bottom of the sea in Tobermory Bay. Deep down among the sand and silt in Tobermory Bay lies the -wreck of the galleon Florida, which is believed to have been the pay chest of the Spanish Armada, and actually was blown up in September, 1588. Owing to tempestuous weather and to the fact that the Spanish seamen found themselves in waters utterly strange and unknown to them, many units of the proud Armada became isolated. . PRISONER DESTROYS SHIP.

Off the coast of Ireland the Florida ran into a patch of foul weather, and was driven from her course. She hoveto off Islay in mid-September, and a week later she was lying at anchor in the shelter of Tobermory Bay, one of the finest natural harbours of the Inner Hebrides.

The arrival of the Spaniards in these waters synchronised with a bitter feud between Mac Lean, of Duart Castle, and MacDonald, of Isla.y. Mac Lean immediately sought the assistance of the Spanish commander and his crew in return for certain services his clansmen were prepared to render by way of providing food and other necessities, of which the Spaniards were sorely in need. When Mac Lean sought payment in Spanish gold for his part of tile bargain, Don Fareija demurred. Rather than allow the galleon to sail away with this promise unfulfilled, one of Mac Lean’s men, meanwhile a prisoner aboard, blew up the vessel, and himself with it. GIFT FROM A KING.

With 300 souls and untold wealth this strayed unit of the Aramada went to the bottom* In the spring of 1641, just 52 years later, the Earl of Argyll obtained from Charles I a gift of the wreck, since which time it has remained in the possession of the Argyll family. Probably the most profitable attempt so far. to salvage this treasure was tliat made in 1740, when a huge diving-bell, capable of going down about 70ft., was used. The fragment of the wood from the galleon presented by Sir Walter Scott to George IV on the occasion of his visit to Edinburgh was recovered during this attempt, which resulted in the finding of a considerable quantity of gold and silver coins, and also a fine bronze cannon, lift. long. More than a century elapsed before another attempt was made. In 1870 the late Duke of Argyll, then Marquis of Lome, engaged the services of a Clyde diver named Gush. On this occasion, to use the marquis’ own words, “a few pesetas, a piece of worm-eaten oak, and a brass stanchion” were found.

SWORDS AND DOUBLOONS. Thereafter the wreck was left unexplored until early in the present century. In 1903 a small syndicate of Glasgow underwriters was formed with a view to having Tobermory Bay thoroughly explored. Diving operations carried out by James Gush, son of the diyer already referred to, resulted in the finding of swords, arquebuses, stone balls, and doubloons bearing the names-of Ferdinand and Isabella and Don Carlos. All this looked so promising that in 1905 a five years ’agreement was signed between the duke and the syndicate. A powerful digger was brought on tbe scene. Amoag the thickly-cor-roded relics it retrieved were copper powder-pans, pike-blades, shot, several small coins, and a heavy silver candlestick.