Lady Margaret: Portencross, Firth Of Clyde

'Within the very same place where the Spanish ship [NS14SE 8001] went down, a fine vessel belonging to Glasgow, the richest that ever was fitted out from this country, and the property of Glassford and Company, was also lost, in the spring of the year 1770. This disaster was occasioned, not by stress of weather, but through the inadvertency of the ship's company, in allowing the vessel to drift too far in during night, ere the light-house was perceived, and in endeavouring to put her about, she missed stays, and went upon the rocks.'

OSA 1794.

(Classified as 'West-Indiaman' with a general cargo: date of loss cited as 24 January 1770). Lady Margaret: this vessel was wrecked at Portencross. 'Same spot as the Spanish Armada galleon'. Capt. Kippen.

Registration: Glasgow. Built 1769.

(Location of loss cited as N55 42.5 W4 53.33).

I G Whittaker 1998.

The location assigned to this record remains unverified, and no detailed description of the wreck remains is apparently available.

The available accounts of this discovery are confused, particularly as regards its reported coincidence with a Spanish Armada wreck (NS14SE 8001). There appears to be no other record of an Armada wreck in the vicinity, and it is possible that the cannon that were salvaged in 1790 were from the Lady Margaret herself.

Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 21 July 2003.

L Zanelli 1970.

Whittaker ID : 6682

Name : LADY MARGARET

Latitude : 554230

Longitude : 45320

Date Built : 1769

Registration : GLASGOW

Type : WEST-INDIAMAN

Loss Day : 24

Loss Month : 1

Loss Year : 1770

Comment : Wrecked at Portencross. 'Same spot as Spanish Armada Galleon'. Capt. Kippen

Cargo : GENERAL

The Lady Margaret was a wooden West-Indiaman, built in 1769 (Moir and Crawford 2004: 71). The vessel wrecked in 1770, while registered to Glasgow. No seabed remains are recorded in the exact position given by Canmore for the Lady Margaret however c. 120m to the north the UKHO record diver sightings of a wreck from which cannon are thought to have been salvaged in 1790. Documentary evidence records the loss of a Spanish vessel in this location. The UKHO survey details suggest that cannon were found at a depth of 3m and magnetic anomalies were found in depths of 4m in 1989, however subsequent surveys by the ADU including a magnetometer survey, recorded no evidence for the Spanish wreck. Only a table-top tomb slab from an 18th century wreck was recorded (from UKHO ID 4084). It is possible that both this and the earlier records of cannon may relate to wreckage associated with the Lady Margaret.

Information from Sally Evans (Cotswold Archaeology), 27/11/2014.

Name: Lady Margaret

Position: 55.698055, -4.904445 (Canmore); 55.69911, -4.90562 (Dead UKHO posn for cannon)

Basis for Identification: Identification is based on historical documentation of loss position and presence of 18th century table-top slab on seabed.

Shipbuilder: Unknown (but owned by Mr George Kippen of Glasgow)

Build Date: 1769

Loss Date 1770

Vessel type: West Indiaman

Surviving Features and Condition: No seabed remains are recorded by the UKHO in the exact position given by Canmore for the Lady Margaret however c. 120m to the north the UKHO record diver sightings of a wreck from which cannon are thought to have been salvaged in 1790. Documentary evidence records the loss of a Spanish vessel and the Lady Margaret in this location.

UKHO (1989, information attributed to G. Spence): Cannon found at depth of 3mtrs and magnetic anomalies detected in 4mtrs. Application made to have site designated under terms of 1973 PWA.

ADU 1989. Following the application for the designation of the possible Spanish wreck subsequent surveys by the ADU in 1989 including a diver and magnetometer survey, recorded no evidence for the Spanish wreck. Only a table-top tomb slab from an 18th century wreck was recorded (from UKHO ID 4084). Additionally the magnetometer survey recorded an anomaly on the rocks near to the table-top tomb slab, which may represent a small cannon, concreted to the rocks. Other anomalies were also identified further offshore. These were buried in sediment and thus the nature of their origins was not determined. There was found to be no evidence for a Spanish Armada wreck but the evidence recorded on the wreck site may be indicative of the presence of an 18th century wreck, potentially the Lady Margaret (Dean 1989).

UKHO record was amended to dead.

Moir and Crawford (1999): Seabed remains are reported to include small pockets of concretion and a large inscribed tombstone.

Moir and Crawford (2004): No account of diving the site. However, salvage history is discussed. The cargo is reported to have been salvaged following the loss of the vessel, which included scuttling the vessel to remove cargo from holds. After which the vessel is thought to have broken up on the rocks.

Moir and Crawford (pers. comm 2015) A stone slab reportedly survives on the seabed. Pewter artefacts and other objects are reportedly held at the Dick Institute museum (see list of holdings below).

A cannon is also reported at Portencross Castle and may be from the Lady Margaret (The Friends of Portencross Castle 2007). The ADU report indicates that the cannon post-dates the Armada and probably dates from the late 17th/early 18th century (Dean 1989).

A list of the holdings of the Dick Institute, and information from museum staff (Morgan, pers. comm., 2015), are included here.

List of holdings relating to the Lady Margaret held by the Dick Institute

East Ayrshire Council Collection – Dick Institute, Kilmarnock.

Recovered from sea bed off Portencross by I. Winchester 1981. Deposited at Dick Institute 1982.HM Customs are referred to on record cards.

AR B55 Brass handle or button or buckle?

AR B 56 “

AR B 57 “

AR B 58 “

AR B 59 Brass handle

AR B 60 “ hinge

AR B 61 “ handle

AR B 62 “ “

AR B 63 “ fragment

AR B 64 “ fragments

AR B 65 Lead Nameplate J Kelly saddler Girven

AR B 66 Brass pin

AR B 67 “ pin

AR B 68 Bronze buckle

AR B 69 “

AR B 70 Buckle

AR B 71 Brass handle/ button/ buckle?

AR B 72 “

AR B 73 “

AR B 74 “

AR B 75 Fragments of a brass buckle

AR B 76 Brass button

AR B 77 “

AR B 78 “ tacks

AR B 79 Pewter? fragment

AR B 80 Brass hinge

AR B 81 Lead shot

AR B 82 Small lead shot

AR B 83 Bronze weight

AR B 84 Pewter table spoon

AR B 85 “

AR B 86 “

AR B 87 Brass cooking pot leg

AR B 88 Bronze lid

AR B 89 Pewter plate

AR B 90 Small tankard (pewter)

AR B 91 Brass tacks

AR C 27 iron bar

AR C 28 cooking pot iron fragment

AR C 29 “ “ “ “

AR C 30 “ “ “ “

AR C 31 “ “ “ “

AR C 32 “ “ “ “

AR C 33 iron fragments

AR C 34 iron cooking pot fragment

AR C 35 “ “ “ “

AR C 36 “ “ “ “

AR C 37 “ “ “ “

AR C 38 iron button

AR E 155 pottery sherd

AR E 156 “ “

AR E 157 “ “

AR E 158 “ “

AR E 159 “ “

AR E 160 “ “

AR E 161 “ “

AR E 162 “ “

AR E 163 “ “

AR E 164 “ “

AR E 165 “ “

AR E 166 base of plate? Pottery sherd

AR E 167 “ “ “ “

AR E 168 “ “ “ “

AR E 169 pottery sherd

AR E 170 “ “

AR E 171 rim pottery sherd

AR E 172 “ “ “

AR E 173 pottery sherd

AR E 174 “ “

AR E 175 maiolica pottery sherd

AR E 176 base of plate pottery sherd

AR E 177 pottery sherd

AR E 178 base of plate? pottery sherd

AR E 179 pottery sherd

AR E 180 rim pottery sherd

AR E 181 “ “ “

AR E 182 “ “ “

AR E 183 pottery sherd

AR E 184 “ “

AR E 185 “ “

AR E 186 “ “

AR E 187 “ “

AR E 188 pottery sherd

AR E 189 “ “

AR F 13 cufflink, glass and brass

AR F 14 missing

AR F 15 cufflink, glass and brass

AR F 16 glass fragment of cuff link

AR F 17 “ “ “ “ glass and brass

AR F 18 glass and brass cuff links

AR K 14 tooth

AR L glass nameplate seal

AR L “ “ “

AR L glass bottle piece

AR Z fossilised brush imprint

Transcribed from handwritten list 25.03.2015 by K. Bruce L. Morgan (East Ayrshire Leisure Trust Cultural Services). Date of original list and circumstances under which this list was compiled is uncertain.

Discussion with Mr Morgan (pers. comm. 2015) indicates that references to bronze, brass etc should be read as ‘copper alloy’ because no sophisticated technical examination is known to have taken place, and these terms seem to have been arbitrarily assigned. Lots of these metallic objects may be associated with horse harnessing and shoes which were part of the cargo of the ship. The material corresponds closely to the cargo which the Lady Margaret was carrying and which is on record.

Mr Morgan noted that ‘AR E 175 refers to a maiolica sherd. It was suggested that a piece of pottery within this group might have come from the Portencross Spanish wreck as it resembled Hispano-Moresque ware. The Lady Margaret is recorded as carrying delft ware and the ceramic fragments which I have seen confirm this. As delft and Hispano-Moresque are both basically tin glazed earthenware it is possible that a piece of delft has been mistaken for something more exotic. The ceramic fragments which I have seen, have localised accretions of iron corrosion products but there seems to be a lighter staining across the glaze which I believe is also oxidised iron and this creates a faintly iridescent effect. This may have been misidentified as a Hispano-Moresque lustre.’ However, Mr Morgan noted that all of this material needs to be looked at by the appropriate experts in order to verify this discussion.

AR F 13 – AR F 18 are identified as cuff links-This seems improbable.(Moran, pers. comm., 2015)

Discussion with Elizabeth Colquhoun (pers. comm., 2015), West Kilbride Museum, regarding the holdings of the museum relating to the Lady Margaret. EC gave a description of the holdings for the Lady Margaret at West Kilbride Museum. These include copies of documentation, including a letter of manifest, details of the cargo of the ship, details of the launch of the vessel (at Greenock) and details of the disagreements between the ship’s owner and others, following the wrecking of the vessel. The museum also holds artefacts from divers including bottles, lead shot etc. which are from this wreck.

Seabed and type and marine environment: The depth of the seabed in this area is recorded as 3m by the UKHO. Surface sediments of Sand and Gravel are recorded by the Institute of Geological Sciences (Deegan et. al. 1973). The ADU reported that the seabed was rocky from the inshore area down to 9m, from which depth sands were found, and silt occurred on the seabed to seabed depths of c. 25m. Kelp and other marine growth was also noted on site. The ADU also noted that there were no notable currents inshore and further offshore they were limited such that they did not affect diving operations (Dean 1989).

Information from Sally Evans (Cotswold Archaeology), 27/11/2014.

The maritime archaeology of the Clyde has been identified as a focus for a major study of human interaction with the river through time by the RCAHMS following on from recommendations by the Scottish Archaeological Research Framework (ScARF). Source to

Sea has been developed as the long-term research programme, of which the research into human connections with the River Clyde forms part. This project has comprised a study of the surviving shipwreck heritage of Clyde-built vessels lost within the Clyde estuary and Firth of Clyde.

This project has collated information from a range of sources and has enhanced knowledge of Clyde-built wrecks within the Clyde. In particular information from recreational divers has proved invaluable and has been the source of detailed information about the current condition of many Clyde-built wrecks, useful for on-going management. A number of wrecks previously recorded as of unknown identity in the RCAHMS database were positively identified during the project and more accurate positional information was established for a number of other wrecks. Additionally, the project identified a potentially significant wreck (Margaret Niven) the remains of which were not previously recorded. This project has also identified a number of other potentially significant wrecks within the Clyde, which reflect both its unique contributions to world-wide shipbuilding and local connections. These wrecks include paddle steamers (Lapwing and Princess of Wales), Clyde Puffers (e.g. Margaret Niven), steam-yachts with military connections (HMS Breda), a dredger (Greenock) and an 18th-century West Indiaman (Lady Margaret). Numerous other wrecks have been identified by this project, and all display some degree of significance.

Information from Sally Evans (Cotswold Archaeology) April 2015