Evidence Of Loss

Date 1740

Event ID 587381

Category Recording

Type Evidence Of Loss

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/587381

An iron cannon, about 8ft long, traditionally from 'one of the large ships of the Spanish Armada which sank in about ten fathoms of water at no great distance from the shore' was recovered from the sea in 1740 and now lies at Portencross. Hewitt, after examining various accounts, concludes that the gun is either of late 16th or 17th century design, and is almost certainly Spanish. The remains of the ship that carried it lie somewhere between the point and Little Cumbrae. Although not necessarily a member of the Armada, as the Spanish navy was frequently in Scottish waters after 1588, it could be that the wreck was of a ship listed as 'fate unknown' by Philip's officials.

NSA 1845; G R Hewitt 1967.