The Book of Buried Treasure Part 18

One of the surviving traditions is that a dog belonging to Captain Pareira was hurled ash.o.r.e alive. The faithful creature, when it had recovered from its hurts, refused to leave that part of the strand nearest the wreck, and continued to howl most piteously by day and night as long as it existed, which was more than a year. The Spanish officers, who had remained as hostages in the hands of Lachlan Mo'r MacLean were set at liberty by that sometimes courteous chief, and were permitted to proceed to Edinburgh where they lodged complaint with the king touching the destruction of their galleon. The matter of Captain Pareira having been disposed of in this explosive fas.h.i.+on, Lachlan MacLean returned to his main business of harrying the MacDonalds, and so fiercely and destructively was the feud conducted thereafter, that King James thought it time to interfere, lest he should have no subjects left in the Western Highlands. The warring chiefs were summoned to Edinburgh and imprisoned and fined, after which they made their peace with the king and returned to their island realms. The affair of the _Florencia_ was named in the charges brought against MacLean. In the official records of Holyrood Palace, seat of the Scottish kings, is this information, laid before the Privy Council on January 3rd, 1591:

That in the preceding October, Lachlan MacLean "accompanied with a great number of thieves, broken men and ... of clans, besides the number of one hundred Spaniards, came to the properties of His Majesty, Canna, Rum, Eigg and the Isle of Elenole, and after they had wracked and spoiled the said islands, they treasonably raised fire, and in maist barbarous, shameful and cruel manner, burnt the same island, with the men, women and children there, not sparing the youths and infants; and at the same time past came to the Castle of Ardnamurchan, besieged the same, and lay about the said castle three days, using in the meantime all kinds of hostilities and force, both by fire and sword....

The like barbarous and shameful cruelty has seldom been heard of among Christians in any kingdom or age."

On the 20th of March, 1588, King James "granted a remission to Lachlan MacLean of Duart for the cruel murder of certain inhabitants of the islands of Rum, Canna, and Eigg," but from the remission was excepted the "plotting or felonious burning and flaming up, by sulphurous powder, of a Spanish s.h.i.+p and of the men and provisions in her, near the island of Mull."

Swift and tragic as was the fate of Captain Pareira and his s.h.i.+p's company, it was perhaps more merciful than that which befell the great squadron of galleons of the Armada that were cast on the coast of Ireland, on the rocks of Clare and Kerry, in Galway Bay, and along the sh.o.r.es of Sligo and Donegal. More than thirty s.h.i.+ps perished in this way, and of the eight thousand half-drowned wretches who struggled ash.o.r.e no more than a handful escaped slaughter at the hands of the wild Irish who knocked them on the head with battle-axes or stripped them naked and left them to die of the cold. Many were Spanish gentlemen, richly clad, with gold chains and rings, and the common sailors and soldiers had each a bag of ducats lashed to his wrist when he landed through the surf. They were slain for their treasure, and on one sand strip of Sligo an English officer counted eleven hundred bodies.

In a letter to Queen Elizabeth, Sir E. Bingham, Governor of Ulster, wrote of the wreckage of twelve Armada s.h.i.+ps which he knew of, "the men of which s.h.i.+ps did all perish in the sea save the number of eleven hundred or upwards which we put to the sword; amongst whom there were divers gentlemen of quality and service, as captains, masters of s.h.i.+ps, lieutenants, ensign bearers, other inferior officers and young gentlemen to the number of some fifty.... which being spared from the sword till orders must be had from the Lord Deputy how to proceed against them, I had special directions sent me to see them executed as the rest were, only reserving alive one Don Luis de Cordova, and a young gentleman, his nephew, till your Highness's pleasure be known."

Alas, Elizabeth could not find it in her heart to spare even these two luckless gentlemen of Spain, and one judges those rude Highlanders less harshly for their bloodthirsty feuds at learning that the great Queen herself "ordered their immediate execution when she received the letter, and it was duly carried out."

Froude, in his essay "The Defeat of the Armada," comes to the defense of Elizabeth, or at least he pleads extenuating circ.u.mstances.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Defeat of the Spanish Armada. From the painting by P.

de Loutherbourg.]

"Most pitiful of all was the fate of those who fell into the hands of the English garrisons of Galway and Mayo. Galleons had found their way into Galway Bay,--one of them had reached Galway itself,--the crews half dead with famine and offering a cask of wine for a cask of water.

The Galway townsmen were humane, and tried to feed and care for them.

Most were too far gone to be revived, and died of exhaustion. Some might have recovered, but recovered they would be a danger to the State. The English in the West of Ireland were but a handful in the midst of a sullen, half-conquered population. The ashes of the Desmond rebellion were still smoking, and Dr. Sanders and his Legatine Commission were fresh in immediate memory. The defeat of the Armada in the Channel could only have been vaguely heard of.

"All that the English officers could have accurately known must have been that an enormous expedition had been sent to England by Philip to restore the Pope; and Spaniards, they found, were landing in thousands in the midst of them with arms and money; distressed for the moment, but sure, if allowed time to get their strength again, to set Connaught in a blaze. They had no fortresses to hold so many prisoners, no means of feeding them, no more to spare to escort them to Dublin. They were responsible to the Queen's Government for the safety to the country.

The Spaniards had not come on any errand of mercy to her or hers. The stern order went out to kill them all wherever they might be found, and two thousand or more were shot, hanged, or put to the sword. Dreadful!

Yes, but war itself is dreadful, and has its own necessities."

A quaint recital of the fate of these fleeing galleons is to be found in a history published by order of Oliver Cromwell, with the t.i.tle of "Old England Forever, or Spanish Cruelty Displayed." One chapter runs as follows:

"_Here followeth a particular Account of the Miserable Condition of the Spanish Fleet, fled to the North of Scotland, and scattered, for many Weeks, on the Sea-Coasts of Ireland. Written October 19, 1588_.

"About the Beginning of August, the Fleet was, by Tempest, driven beyond the Isles of Orkney, the Place being above 60 Leagues North Lat.i.tude (as already mentioned) a very unaccustomed climate for the Young Gallants of Spain, who did never before feel Storms on the Sea nor cold weather in August. And about those Northern Islands their Mariners and Soldiers died daily by Mult.i.tudes, as by their Bodies cast on land did appear. And after twenty Days or more, having pa.s.sed their Time in great Miseries, they being desirous to return Home to Spain, sailed very far Southward into the Ocean to recover Spain.

"But the Almighty, who always avenges the Cause of his afflicted People who put their Confidence in Him, and brings down his Enemies who exalt themselves to the Heavens, order'd the Winds to be violently contrarious to this proud Navy, that it was with Force dissevered on the High Seas to the West of Ireland; and so a great number of them were driven into divers dangerous Bays, and upon Rocks, all along the West and North Parts of Ireland, in sundry Places distant above an hundred Miles asunder, and there cast away, some sunk, some broken, some run on sands, and some were burned by the Spaniards themselves.

"As in the North Part of Ireland, towards Scotland, between the two Rivers of Lough-foile and Lough-sivelly, nine were driven on Sh.o.r.e, and many of them broke, and the Spaniards forced to come to Land for Succor among the Wild Irish.

"In another Place, twenty miles South West from thence, in a Bay called Borreys, twenty Miles Northward from Galloway, belonging to the Earl of Ormond, one special great s.h.i.+p of 1000 Tons, with 50 Bra.s.s Pieces, and four Cannons was sunk, and all the People drowned, saving 16, who by their Apparel, as it is advertized out of Ireland, seemed to be Persons of Great Distinction.

"Then to come more to the Southward, thirty Miles upon the coast of Th.o.m.ond, North from the River of Shannon, two or three more perished, whereof one was burned by the Spaniards themselves, and so driven to the Sh.o.r.e. Another was of San Sebastian, wherein were 300 men, who were also all drowned, saving 60; a third s.h.i.+p, with all her Lading was cast away at a Place called Breckan.

"In another Place, opposite Sir Tirlogh O'Brien's House, there was another great s.h.i.+p lost, supposed to be a Gallea.s.s. The Losses above mentioned were betwixt the 5th, and 10th of September; as was advertized from sundry Places out of Ireland. So as by accompt. from the 21st of July, when this Navy was first beaten by the Navy of England, until the 10th of September, being the s.p.a.ce of Seven Weeks, and more, it is very probable that the said Navy had never had one good Day or Night."

That much treasure of gold and jewels and plate went down in these lost galleons was the opinion of Scotch and Irish tradition, but these stories gained the greatest credence in the case of the _Florencia_ of Tobermory Bay. She was said to have contained the paymaster's chests of the Armada, and to have carried to the bottom thirty million ducats of money, and the church plate of fabulous richness. It is certain that the _Florencia_ was one of the largest galleons of the Armada and that she never returned to Spain. Her armament comprised fifty-two guns, and her company numbered 400 soldiers and eighty-six sailors. It is probable that this was the _Florencia_ belonging to the Duke of Tuscany, which was refitting at Santander in September, 1587, concerning which Lord Ashley wrote to Walsingham, after the destruction of the Armada, that she was commanded by a grandee of the first rank who was always "served on silver."

While even now the most painstaking investigation is unable to find definite information regarding the amount of treasure lost in the galleon of Tobermory Bay, that she contained a vast amount of riches was believed as early as a half century after her destruction. The papers of the great house of Argyll record the beginning of the search almost as far away as 1640. Of these fascinating doc.u.ments, the first is the grant to the Marquis of Argyll and his heirs by the Duke of Lennox and Richmond, Lord High Admiral, with consent of King Charles the First, of all rights and owners.h.i.+p in the wreck of the _Florencia_ and her treasure. The deed of gift is dated from the Court of St.

Theobold's, February 5th, 1641 and "proceeds upon the narrative that in the year 1588, when the great Spanish Armada was sent from Spain towards England and Scotland, and was dispersed by the mercie of G.o.d, there were divers s.h.i.+ps and other vessels of the Armada, with ornaments, munition, goods, and gear, which were thought to be of great worth, cast away, and sunk to the sea ground on the coast of Mull, near Tobermory, in the Scots seas, where they lay, and still lie as lost; and that the Marquis of Argyll, near whose bounds the s.h.i.+ps were lost, having taken notice thereof, and made inquiries therefor, and having heard some doukers[2] and other experts in such matters state that they consider it possible to recover some of the s.h.i.+ps and their valuables, was moved to take and to cause pains to be taken thereupon at his own charges and hazard.

"For this reason, the Great Admiral, with the King's consent, gives, grants, and disposes to the Marquis the said s.h.i.+ps, ornaments, munition, etc. of the Spanish Armada, and the entire profit that might follow, or that he had already obtained therefrom, with full power to the Marquis, his doukers, seamen, and others to search for the s.h.i.+ps, and intromit with them, providing the Marquis were accountable and made prompt payment to the Duke of Lennox and Richmond of a hundredth part of the s.h.i.+ps, etc. with deduction of the expenses incurred for their recovery, _pro rata_."

In these words the Crown a.s.signed the treasure of the _Florencia_ to the house of Argyll as part of its admiralty rights along that coast where marched the family estates. In 1665, the ninth Earl of Argyll, son of him who had obtained owners.h.i.+p of the galleon, employed an expert diver and wrecker by the name of James Mauld to search for the treasure of ducats and plate. It was an attractive speculation for that notable "douker" who was promised four-fifths of all the "gold, silver, metal, goods, etc." recovered and incidentally the Earl bound himself "that the same James Mauld shall not be molested in his work, and that his workmen shall have peaceable living in these parts during their stay, and traveling through the Highlands and Isles, and shall be free from all robberies, thefts, etc. so far as the said Earl can prevent the same. The said contract provides further lodging houses for the workmen at the usual rates, and is fixed to endure for three years after March 1, 1666."

These divers easily found the hull of the galleon, and they made a chart showing its exact bearings by landmarks on two sides of the bay.

This ancient chart of the "Spanish wrack" as it is labeled, is owned by the present Duke of Argyll, and has been used by the modern treasure seekers who are unable even with its aid to find the remains of the _Florencia_, so deeply have her timbers sunk in the tide-swept silt of the bay. The interest of the ninth Earl of Argyll in exploring the galleon was diverted by Monmouth's Rebellion in which luckless adventure he became an active leader. He was made prisoner and suffered the loss of his head which abruptly snuffled out his romantic activities as a seeker after lost treasure.

He left among his papers a memorandum concerning the galleon, under date of 1677, which states that "the Spanish wracks.h.i.+p was reputed to have been the _Admiral of Florence_, one of the Armada of 1588, a s.h.i.+p of fifty-six guns, with 30,000,000 of money on board. It was burned and so blown up that two men standing upon the cabin were cast safe on sh.o.r.e. It lay in a very good road, landlocked betwixt a little island and a bay in the Isle of Mull, a place where vessels ordinarily anch.o.r.ed free of any violent tide, with hardly any stream, a clean, hard channel, with a little sand on the top, and little or no mud in most places about, upon ten fathoms at high water and about eight at ground ebb.

"The fore part of the s.h.i.+p above water was quite burned, so that from the mizzen mast to the fores.h.i.+p, no deck was left. The hull was full of sand and the Earl caused it to be searched a little without finding anything but a great deal of cannon ball about the main mast, and some kettles, and tankers of copper, and such like in other places. Over the hinds.h.i.+p, where the cabin was, there was a heap of great timber which it would be difficult to remove, but under this is the _main expectation_.

"The deck under the cabin was thought to be entire. The cannon lay generally at some yards distance from the s.h.i.+p, from two to twenty.

The Earl's father had the gift of the s.h.i.+p, and attempted the recovery of it, but from want of skilled workmen he did not succeed. In 1666, the Laird of Melgum (James Mauld), who had learned the art of the (diving) bell in Sweden and had made a considerable fortune by it, entered into a contract with the Earl for three years by which Melgum was to be at all the charge, and to give the Earl the fifth part of what was brought up. He wrought only three months, and most of the time was spent in mending his bells and sending for material he needed, so that he raised only two bra.s.s cannon of a large calibre, but very badly fortified, and a great iron gun.

"After this, being invited to England, he wrought no more, thinking his trade a secret, and that the Spanish s.h.i.+p would wait for him. On the expiring of the contract, the Earl undertook the work alone and without the aid of any one who had ever seen diving, recovered six cannon, one of which weighed near six hundred weight. The Earl afterwards entered into a contract with a German who undertook great things, and talked of bringing a vessel of forty guns, but instead brought only a yacht and recovered only one anchor, going away soon after, taking his gold with him and leaving some debt behind.

"The contract with the German has expired, and the Earl is provided with a vessel, bells, ropes, and tongs, and with men to work by direction, yet, although he is confident in his own understanding of the art of diving with the bell, he is willing to enter into a contract. He will dispone (grant) the vessel for three years, provided the contractor should keep four skilled men to work in seasonable weather from May 1 to October 1. The Earl will furnish a s.h.i.+p of 60 or 70 tons with twelve seamen, and give his partner a fifth part of the proceeds. If a Crown were found it was to be exempted from the division and presented to his Majesty....

"It is concluded that if the money expected be fallen upon, the fifth part will quickly pay all expenses, and reward the ingenious artist, and if that fail, the cannon will certainly repay the charges."

There are also preserved articles of agreement, dated December 18th, 1676, by which the Earl makes over a three-year concession to John Saint Clare, minister at Ormistoun in Scotland, "for himself and as taking burden for his father," to search the wreck on shares, the Earl reserving "one-third part of what should be recovered during the first year, and one-half of what should be recovered during the last two years." It is also provided that "if the Saint Clares were disturbed during the first year, so as not to be able to work or raise the wreck without damage to their persons (by reason of the unsettled state of the country), the contract should be regarded as not taking effect for a year. The Earl binds himself to produce before November 1, 1676, his right to the s.h.i.+p, under the Great Seal of Scotland, at Edinburgh, and to deliver a copy of it to the Saint Clares. John Saint Clare, younger, binds himself to repair with all skill for its recovery, and for the recovery of the valuables, during the s.p.a.ce of three years, and to make true account and payment of the shares above reserved to the Earl and his heirs, etc. Lastly, both parties oblige themselves faithfully to observe all the articles of agreement under the liquidated penalty of 2,000 marks, Scots."

The Saint Clares, or Sinclairs, as the name is spelled in other doc.u.ments of the same tenor, a.s.signed their rights and contract to one Hans Albricht von Treibelen, who was probably that German referred to by the Earl as taking his gold with him and leaving his debts behind.

This doc.u.ment contains a fascinating mention of "all that might be found in the water and about the s.h.i.+p, as gold, silver, bullion, jewels, etc." and sets forth a new scheme of division of the spoils.

Now there appears Captain Adolpho E. Smith as a partner of Hans Albricht von Treibelen, and one finds another parchment executed by the Earl who appears to have thought that these "doukers" would bear watching, for they are enjoined "immediately on the recovery of the wreck to deliver on the spot to the Earl's factors or servants who are daily to attend the work and to be witnesses of what is recovered....

Should the work be impeded by the violence of the country people, it is provided that the term of the contract might be lengthened."

The repeated references to molestation by the inhabitants round about were aimed at the Clan MacLean. The great Lachlan M'or had long since closed his stormy career, and, wrapped in his plaid, his bones were smouldering in a grave by Duart Castle. His kinsmen had good memories, however, and there was that debt for provisions which had been left owing by Captain Pareira of the _Florencia_ some eighty years before.

It might seem that young Donald Glas had squared the account when he blew the galleon and her crew to kingdom come, but the MacLeans were men to nurse the embers of a feud and set the sparks to flying at the next opportunity. They held it that theirs was the first right to the wreck, and cared not a rap for any doc.u.mentary rights that might have been granted to the Campbells (the clan of the Earls of Argyll), by the Great Admiral of Scotland.

Hector MacLean, brother of Lachlan MacLean of Castle Torloisk, near Tobermory, rallied a force and drove the divers from the wreck. Then, in order that there might be no doubt about the views of the MacLeans, they built a small fort overlooking the bay and the scene of the wreck, the ruins of which still survive. There a detachment was posted with orders to make it hot for any interlopers who might try to find the sunken treasure without first consulting the MacLeans.

This interference found its way into the Courts at Edinburgh in the form of a pet.i.tion of grievances suffered by Captain Adolpho E. Smith.

He swore before a notary that John MacLean, of Kinlochalan, and John MacLean, a servitor to Lachlan MacLean of Torloisk, "had convocated six or seven score of armed men, and he had exhibited to them a royal warrant bearing his Majesty's protection and free liberty to Captain Smith and his servants to work at the wreck-s.h.i.+p at Tobermory, and prohibiting any of his Majesty's subjects from interrupting them.

Captain Smith then required the MacLeans to dissipate the armed men, part of whom were in a fort or trench at Tobermory, newly built by them for interrupting the work, and the rest in the place or houses adjacent,--as John MacLean of Kinlochalan acknowledged,--and in his Majesty's name required them to give him and his men liberty to prosecute their work at the wreck.

"Upon this Kinlochalan answered that the men in arms were not commanded by him but by Hector MacLean, brother of Lachlan MacLean of Torloisk, and others; and he declared that not only would Captain Smith and his men be hindered, but that the men in arms would shoot guns, muskets and pistols at them, should any of them offer to duck or work at the wreck.

Whereupon Captain Smith took this instrument, protesting against the aforesaid MacLeans and their accomplices, at Tobermory in Mull, 7 September, 1678." The militant and tenacious MacLeans struck terror to the heart of Captain Adolpho Smith, according to another official doc.u.ment called a "notorial instrument at the instance of William Campbell, skipper to the Earl of Argyll's frigate, called _Anna of Argyll_. This worthy sea dog, it appears, as procurator for the Earl,"

had compeared, desired, and required Captain Adolpho E. Smith and his men to duck and work at the wrecks.h.i.+p and to conform to the minutes of contract betwixt the Earl and him, otherwise to give the bells, sinks, and other instruments necessary for ducking to William Campbell, and the men on board the Earl's frigate, who would duck them without any regard to the threatenings of the MacLeans.

"Notwithstanding this, Captain Smith and his men refused to duck and work, or to give over the bells, etc., necessary for the work to William Campbell who thereupon, as procurator for the Earl of Argyll asked and took instruments and protested against Captain Smith for cost, skaith, and damage conform to the contract. The instrument was taken by Donald McKellar, notary public, at and aboard the yacht belonging to Captain Adolpho E. Smith, lying in the Bay of Tobermory in Mull, 7 September, 1678."

The wreck of the galleon was fought over about this time, not only by the mettlesome MacLeans but also by the Duke of York as Lord High Admiral of Scotland and the Isles, succeeding in that office the Duke of Lennox. He challenged the rights of the house of Argyll to the _Florencia_ and her treasure and inst.i.tuted legal proceedings in due form which were decided in favor of the defendant, thereby confirming for all time the possession of the wreck, which belongs to the present Duke of Argyll. The verdict read in part as follows:

"The rights, reasons, and allegations of the parties, and the gifts and ratifications therein referred to, produced by Archibald, Earl of Argyll, being at length heard and seen, the Lords of Council and Session a.s.soilized the said Archibald Earl of Argyll from the hail points and articles of the summons libelled or precept intended and pursued against him at the instance of said William Aikman, Procurator-Fiscal of the Admiralty, before said Lord High Admiral and his deputies, and decreed and declared him quit and free thereof in all time coming. Dated 27th, July, 1677."

There comes into the story, during the lifetime of the ninth Earl, the figure of Sir William Sacheverall, Governor of the Isle of Man, who was interested as a partner in one of the several concessions granted. He had left an account of his voyage to Mull in the year 1672, printed shortly after the event, in which he not only records sundry efforts to fish up the treasure but gives also a lively and vivid picture of the primitive Highlander on his native heather.