Before the adoption of the match-lock by the English, cannon, as I have before shown, had been in use, though they were of a clumsy description.
To the indefatigable exertions of Mr. Dean, we are indebted for the recovery of several brass and iron guns, belonging to the “Mary Rose,”--a vessel of war, wrecked in the reign of Henry VIII. of England, and Francis I. of France, in 1545: “while standing along the coast, during a distant firing from the French fleet, under Admiral Annebout, she was overpowered by the weight of her ordnance, and sunk, together with her commander and crew of 600 men.” One of these iron guns is in an excellent state of preservation, considering it to have been immersed above 300 years. The cut on next page will convey, together with the following description, a faint idea of its unwieldy and inefficient construction. It is composed of a tube of iron, whose joint or overlap is as its length; upon this is a succession of iron hoops, composed of iron three inches square, being in fact immense rings; these appear to have been driven on while red hot, and thus, by their contraction, forming a much stronger gun, when combined with the interior tube, than the generality of accounts given of ancient guns would lead us to expect. It will be perceived, that to describe it as “composed of iron bars hooped together,” is not correct. We may also mention, that if parties describing guns of this primitive manufacture will observe accurately, they will find that this is the general method by which they have been fabricated. They all appear to have been loaded by removing a breech part, or chamber, inserting the charge, replacing the chamber, and securing it by wedging it behind; as will be seen on a close inspection. No means of raising or depressing the muzzle appear available; the barrel or gun being sunk in a large block of timber, and secured there by bolts, as a musket barrel is secured in its stock; while a large piece of iron, or wood, was inserted perpendicularly into the deck to prevent the recoil. The advantage of “chambers” was perfectly understood even at this early period; they were apparently slightly conical, with a spherical bottom. It is no mean evidence of ancient skill, and knowledge of gunnery and mechanics combined, to state, that only a few years ago, a gunmaker of some celebrity, constructed a number of rifles and pistols to load at the breech, on the very same principle adopted in this gun 312 years ago. Strange, evidence from “the vasty deep” to show “there is nothing new under the sun.”