Provenance of the Matrix
Why would a ship carrying supplies to relieve Bonnie Prince Charlie in Scotland be wrecked off the coast of Anglesey? And what makes us think we have found such a vessel?
The name of the vessel is, as yet, unknown, but evidence suggests that it was probably a British-built sailing ship that had been captured or bought by the French navy and provisioned to "sneak up the coast unchallenged" to reach the Young Pretender who was in hiding, moving around the isles of Scotland after his defeat at Culloden.
So why would the ring seal of Mary Queen of Scots - Bonnie prince Charlie's great-great-grandmother - be on a ship wrecked of the Welsh Coast.
That mystery that will not be solved until the underwater site where it is found is excavated, but one theory is that the seal was a "token of authenticity" carried by an emissary on the relief vessal to demonstrate his credentials on meeting the Prince.
It would have given the bearer an irrefutable "badge of authority" - proof to Charles that the ship's crew were genuine and not agents of the English Government.
The seal matrix has been valued at between #1000 and #1500 and authenticated by the National Museum of Scotland, who state:-
"This does indeed seem to be an exact duplicate of the British Museum ring (the famous gold and enamel signet ring, set with Mary's distinctive arms and thought to have been made while she was at the French Court - the underside of the bezel being inscribed with the cipher for Mary and her first husband, Francis).
"They are both incuse seal matrices (and the matrix found is) clearly of considerable historical significance."
The divers who found the ring in a section of seabed lifted from the site testify to the fact that the ring came from the wreck site in question.
Why the Ring Seal of Mary Queen of Scots is so important?
Years of research lead us to believe that Mary’s ring seal was consigned to the seabed whilst it was being carried to Scotland in the Summer of 1746 on board one of two ships funded by the French in a daring attempt to rescue Bonnie Prince Charlie before the English were able to find and capture him. The supreme irony was that the ships were themselves English – captured by the French and ideal to fool the huge cordon of English navy vessels waiting off the Western Isles that they were on legitimate business.
Had the captains of these “little shippes” found Charlie they would have shown him the ring as proof that they were truly from France, home of Mary, his ancestor, and could be trusted to carry him safely back to the land that had been his home for so many years.
Those ships, we believe, were also carrying large consignments of gold from the French to keep alive the Jacobite dream of expelling the hated English masters out of Scotland for ever.
Since 1745 Charlie - Charles Edward Stuart – had been England’s Most Wanted Man. Secretly landed in Scotland by pro-Catholic Irish merchants, he had almost succeeded in kicking the English out of Scotland. His army of Scots clansmen had even advanced as far south as Derby before a series of military defeats – most notably at Culloden – forced him to retreat, ultimately, to the west of Scotland.
A deal was done between the King of France and the Duke of Perth, whom we believe negotiated on behalf of a number of other powerful premier dukes, who, of course, did not want to be named as traitors, as what they were involved in was classed as ‘High Treason’. The Duke of Perth and many other Clan members met two French ships (Le Mars and La Bellone) at Loch Nan Uamh in the Summer of 1746, before the plot to send two vessels we are investigating was hatched. Le Mars and La Bellone were owned by Antoine Walsh, the captain who initially landed Bonnie Prince Charlie in Scotland in 1745. The cargo of these two ships is recorded in French Naval Records/Archives - each ship contained - 2,500 muskets and a large quantity of powder, shot, stores and coin. The cost of this 8 week charter to the King is recorded as being one and a quarter million pounds of gold. The actual weight of coin is specified as 852 000 pounds in Louis d’or. Antoine Walsh was instructed to put his two best captains to this task and in total command was Sir Thomas Sheridan – the decision maker.
The crews of Le Mars and La Bellone spent two days and two nights unloading this cargo onto the beach, to be shared out amongst the various clans. On the third morning, just as the unloading of the iron boxes of gold was about to begin, three small English ships (The Greyhound, The Baltimore and the Terror) sacrificed themselves by attacking these two French war-ships. The French ships took some damage, but decimated the three smaller ships. They left the bay, and continued up the coast, with the Duke of Perth and his entourage on board, still carrying the main bulk of their cargo of gold coin. They arrived at Arisaig where they landed some 35,000 coins to further the Jacobite Resistance. The Prince’s Secretary, Murray of Broughton, took some 5,000 for immediate expenses, leaving the remainder to be buried. It was later dug up to enrich several local families.
The two ships’ captains now had to decide what the best course of action would be. King James, the ex-King of England (Prince Charles’ father) had insisted that his war-horse general, who had looked after his son during the 1745 Rebellion and stood by his side at Culloden, Sir Thomas Sheridan, would have the final say in any decisions made. The two captains convinced Sheridan that the three English ships were picket ships for a large squadron sailing up the coast and now that their rigging and hull had sustained damage, Le Mars and La Bellone were no longer the fast, nippy ships they once were. The instructions they had received from the King of France was that under no circumstances was the cargo to fall into the hands of the British. It was, therefore, decided that they take the long way back to France – sailing round Ireland.
During this month long trip back to Nantes, fever broke out on both ships and the poor condition of the men at this time resulted in those injured at the battle of Loch Nan Uamh all dying of gangrene (La Bellone – 67 deaths / Le Mars – 85 deaths). On the night of the 8th May, the Duke of Perth succumbed and died. He was buried at sea that evening and as a show of respect a broadside of cannon was fired. This would have been a great loss as, we believe, the Duke of Perth was the principal negotiator for the Highland Clans in this great plot. These ships left Nantes on the 1st April 1746 returning to the same port on the 27th May. Historians believe that this great amount of gold was handed back to back to the banks of France.
Our ‘Ring Seal’, identified by the National Museum of Scotland, as Mary’s Seal, was found at our site on the Isle of Anglesey. This site contains cannon balls bearing an arrow which is the signature of a British warship. The Admiralty has not lost a British warship on the Isle of Anglesey 30 years either side of our date. In correspondence between Walsh and the King of France, Walsh constantly advises the King not to send any more French built ships up the coast of England, as he has, in his navy several captured British Warships. With Walsh’s captains these ships could sail up the British coastline unchallenged.
In the port of Nantes on the 27th May, Walsh met the captains of Le Mars and La Bellone, as well as Sir Thomas Sheridan. We can only surmise the content of the conversation, but from letters in history we can say what we believe may have occurred. Maurepas, the King of France’s naval minister, is on record as informing the King that the vessels had returned, but without the Prince and that Walsh had taken charge and would report to him personally. Lord Elcho, a Jacobite Lowland chief who had returned to France with Sheridan, declared that Walsh was a true Jacobite, for putting both crews into taverns and inns and ensuring they had clean linen, food and shelter.
This is, of course, the beginning of ‘Plan B’. Walsh secured the two vessels and decontaminated the hulks. At the same time he sent a rider to Pierre Bart, Commandant at Dunkirk, with sailing orders for the two ships standing ready to sail on the next tide – destination, Nantes. We believe that Walsh would then have gone to see the King of France to advise him that ‘Plan B’ was in motion. His permission was required to transfer the cargo from Walsh’s two ships to the King’s two captured English Frigates. We can also assume that he also recovered the information bag from Sir Thomas Sheridan, which would have held Mary’s Ring Seal, along with letters from the King of France to the Highland Dukes, letters from the Pope, King James and Charles’ elder brother, the Duke of York (Cardinal at the Vatican). All these letters would, of course, have been placed safely inside water-tight containers.
It is our belief that these two vessels then set sail. Wherever the ring seal and information bag went, the cargo accompanied them, as it would have been an insult to the Highland Dukes to dispatch Mary’s Ring Seal and letters without the cargo. No cargo – no rebellion. We have reference that the King of France and his Court were advised that there was no news of the two little ships that sailed from Dunkirk – this was at the end of July.
The first trip (Le Mars and La Bellone) took 57 days – from the 27th May to the end of July is 64 days. These two ships were now due back, depending on how long the changeover took. We believe they foundered off the coast of Anglesey, probably in bad weather. The coming weeks will tell whether we are right or not.
