Greetings Cousins and salute to Doug;
RE: Canons at Louisburg
My information was discovered some 6 years ago when I went to Louisburg. At
that point I was armed with having read Andrew Sinclair's Book, had seen the
pictures and now was at the fort.
For people on the list, there is something one should appreciate about Fort
Louisburg. It was rebuilt at $25,000,000 plus expense to be as totally
accurate as it could be reflecting the origins, people and life of the
French. The Uniforms and cloth are exact replicas of the original, the
height of the Governor was known and so on. Plants of the period were
rediscovered and replanted. You get the picture, accuracy was obtained and
sought after. Many thanks go to bureaucrats of the era who duplicated
records preserved in Paris.
Yes the cannon were there and yes they were manufactured in Europe as
duplicates of a piece of armament that existed pre 1400. It was described
originally as a Mediterranean cannon, a hand loaded piece mounted on ships.
Yes is was duplicated from archeological discoveries. Yes this type of
cannon was dated prior to 1400 and it was consistent with the time period of
Henry's Voyage.
Now a couple of perspectives while studying as a Sinclair tourist at
Louisburg. The first was that the voyage of Henry Sinclair was assumed as
fact by the region, and secondly the entire community was centered on cod
fish that fed Europe for generations. Louisburg was during its apex the
third largest settlement on the entire Eastern Seaboard. It was generally
explained there that European fishermen were suspected of visiting the Grand
Banks since 1200 and the French were the last of a series of persons
interested in the most plentiful food source the world has known. The Cod
were so plentiful that scooping up endless supplies is what created a
permanent settlement. Sadly the cod fishery fell pray to over harvesting AND
the era died only in the last few years as anyone who wants to pay the price
of cod can attest to. One of the worlds serious tragedies.
There are some 5 + duplicated cannon on site and I left with 2 conclusions.
One that Andrews perspective of the cannon being possibly from Henry
Sinclair's voyage is entirely possible not that this is the only perspective
as they could have been carried and used by many other visitors after that
time. Still it was consistent with Andrews thesis. Secondly cannon existed
far earlier than we generally assumed and were used on ships prior to 1400.
Again co-oberative evidence in support and not illogical with the
hypothesis.
Enjoy Louisburg if you every get a chance. It is a monument to
reconstruction and accuracy next to Williamsburg if not a bit ahead in
attempts at total authenticity.
Neil Sinclair Toronto
----- Original Message -----
From: "Doug Weller" <dweller@ramtops.demon.co.uk>
To: <sinclair@quarterman.org>
Sent: Sunday, March 17, 2002 5:54 PM
Subject: Re: The louisbourg Cannon
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