202 THE BAY OF LUCE 



on board, under command of an intrepid officer named 

 Thurot, who had inflicted severe loss upon British 

 merchantmen as a privateer. 1 Dunkirk, accordingly, 

 was blockaded by the British fleet ; but Thurot managed 

 to slip out one misty night in October, and got clear 

 away. Baffled, however, by storm, he lost one of his 

 ships in the Hebrides, and another was so disabled as 

 to be compelled to return to France. It was not until 

 28th February 1760, that the remaining three frigates 

 appeared off Carrickfergus in Belfast Lough. What 

 followed is thus recorded in the Annual Register for 

 1760: 



' Thurot landed his troops, now reduced to about 600 men, 

 augmented by drafts from his seamen to about 1000. These 

 he formed on the beach, and advanced to attack the town. 

 Carrickfergus is surrounded by an old wall, ruinous in many 

 places. Colonel Jennings commanded about four companies 

 in the town, mostly of newly raised men, extremely ill pro- 

 vided with ammunition, and no way prepared for this attack, 

 which they had not the smallest reason to expect. However, 

 they shut the gates, sent off the French prisoners to Belfast, 

 and took all the measures their circumstances would admit 

 of. The enemy advanced and attacked the gates. There was 

 no cannon, but the gates were defended by musquet shot 

 until the ammunition was spent. Then the garrison retired 

 into the castle, which, having a breach in the wall near 50 

 feet in extent, was in no way tenable. They therefore sur- 

 rendered as prisoners of war, with terms of safety for the 

 town. 



1 Thurot, as soon as he was master of Carrickfergus, issued 

 orders to Belfast to send him a quantity of wine and pro- 



1 I have it noted, but I know not on what authority, that Thurot's 

 real name was O'Farrel. 



