| The MARY was the first
Royal Yacht to be owned by the British Monarchy and was given to King
Charles II by the Burgomaster of Amsterdam.
The dimensions of the MARY are
subject to dispute. Some say she was fifty two feet long, others sixty
seven feet. She had a beam of eighteen and a half feet and drew only
three feet, although a more likely report is that she had a draught of
eight feet. She was fitted with lee boards and looked similar to a
Thames Barge. Her figurehead was a Unicorn and the Royal Arms were
emblazoned on her stern. Her high coach roof and the side windows of the
stern cabins were decorated and gilded. Some of the best artists of the
time were engaged to produce beautiful paintings and sculptures to
furnish her and she had eight ornamental cannon projecting from her gun
ports, decorated with gilded wreaths.
 By the time she was wrecked on
Thursday the 25th of March 1675, the MARY had been sold to the Royal
Navy, becoming a V.I.P. transport for Royalty and Government officials
sailing mainly between Ireland and Britain. She was on a passage from
Dublin to Chester, on the River Dee, when, at two o'clock in the
morning, she ran onto a rock to the North West of the Skerries, an
outcrop off the North West corner of Anglesey.
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This
is a model of the Mary that we have in our collection.
You can find more models in the
Gallery. |
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