An astonishing link to a 172 year old disaster has been received by the Manx Aviation and Military Museum at the airport and will be on permanent display from Good Friday.
It is a musket, part of a ship’s cargo destined for West Africa in 1852, which was found in a field at Church Farm, Cregneash following the catastrophic explosion of a brig, the Lily, which struck Kitterland, the small rocky islet in the Calf Sound.
The Lily was carrying a cargo of trade goods including bales of cotton cloth, rum, guns and gunpowder from Liverpool to a port in what is now Angola when she struck Kitterland in a severe storm on 27th December 1852. Five of her crew were lost but after hours of clinging to the wave-battered rocks another eight were rescued by a group of brave men from Port St Mary.
The badly-damaged ship was stuck fast with no hope of being refloated so the following day she was boarded by a group of men from Port St Mary and Cregneash who were to salvage her cargo and some of her fittings on behalf of her insurers, Lloyds of London.
Later stories claimed that the men were trying to steal the wreck’s cargo but this was the absolute opposite of the truth.
On the morning of 28th December the thirty men were either aboard the wreck or on Kitterland when the brig was totally destroyed by an immense explosion, the sound of which could be heard miles away and the whose force was even felt by miners deep underground. Wreckage was strewn over a huge area; some bales of cotton were found almost 5 miles away at Balladoole near Castletown.
One badly injured man survived but 29 lives were lost in the explosion which left 22 widows and no fewer than 77 children to grieve the loss of their loved ones.
The musket has been in the hands of one family ever since it was found, completely undamaged, in one of their fields. It is typical of the weapons made cheaply for the African trade and is a rare survivor.
Museum Director Ivor Ramsden said: “This musket is one of those objects which make the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. It is a direct link with an event which has now almost passed into Manx Folklore but which at the time had a devastating effect on the small southern communities.
“Whilst it is neither a military or aviation object it is such a rare and historic thing that I have no qualms about including it in our displays. I only know of one other gun from the Lily and that is in Manx National Heritage’s care. We shall briefly tell the story of the tragedy alongside the gun and I hope that it will encourage people to find out more”
“The 56 inch long gun is in remarkable condition. The woodwork looks almost new but the metal parts are seized with rust. It will be on show from Good Friday onwards.”
The museum is open from 10.00 to 4.30 daily from Good Friday until 5th April and then on Saturdays and Sundays until TT when daily opening starts for the whole summer. Admission is free.
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