THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY <- NATURALIST. 



109 



The Illustrious, 74, was launched in September, 1785, and 

 ten years later was under the command of Capt. T. L. 

 Frederick, lost in a heavy gale on the rocks near Avenza, 

 in the Mediterranean. 



The Indefatigable, 64, was launched in November, 1783. 

 Ten years later she was reduced to a 44 gun frigate. 



The Gladiator, 44, was launched in 1782. She was long 

 employed as a convalescent ship at Portsmouth. Her 

 dimensions were : length of gun deck, i4oft. ; and of keel, 

 nsft. lin. ; breadth, 37ft. njin. ; depth, i6ft. sin. ; tonnage, 

 882. 



On May 14, 1790, we read under the head of Portsmouth 

 news in the Salisbury and Winchester Journal, " Arrived 

 the Beaulieu, frigate, of 36 guns, lately launched at Beaulieu, 

 and is since come into the harbour." The length of the 

 new frigate's gun deck was i4?ft. sin. ; of her keel, izaft. 

 lojin. ; her breadth was 3gft. 6in. ; her depth, isft. 2fin. ; 

 and her tonnage 1,020. 



The Bittern, 16, was launched in 1796, and at once sailed 

 for the West Indies. Between 1796 and 1807 she captured 

 several Flench and Spanish privateers. 



In May, 1797, the Scorpion, Dutch hoy, of which an 

 officer named G. Bell was, according to custom, both com- 

 mander and purser, was lying in the Beaulieu river, but it 

 is uncertain whether or not she was built at Buckler's 

 Hard. 



Mr. Blount Thomas, who has given me valuable assist- 

 ance, sent me the following paragraph from the Salisbury 

 and Winchester Journal : "Southampton, April 20, 1793. 

 The Santa Margaritta, 56 guns, will be launched from Mr. 

 Adams's yard at Buckler's hard on Friday next, at ten 

 o'clock in the morning." The name of this ship must have 

 been afterwards altered, for the Santa Margarita, which 

 figures afterwards in the Navy List, was originally a 

 Spanish prize, captured in 1779. 



The Boadicea, of 38 guns and 1,038 tons burden, was 

 launched in 1797. The length of her gun deck was 148(1. 

 6in. ; of her keel, i24ft. 6in. ; her breadth was 39(1. 8in., 

 and her depth of hold 12(1. Sin. She captured many French 

 and Spanish privateers. 



The Penelope, 36 guns, was launched here, and in April, 

 1793, she captured the Geolan, 14 guns, the first French 

 ship taken during the war. 



The Spencer, 74, was building here in 1799. 



The Swiftsure, 74, was launched in 1804, when a large 

 number of spectators assembled to witness the launch. 



The Hannibal, 74, the last of her class built here, was 

 launched about 1809. An old man named Biddlecombe, 

 86, still resident at Bucklershard, remembers seeing her 

 launched. The men-of-war when launched were at once 

 taken round to Portsmouth, and coppered within 48 hours 

 after being docked. This "oldest inhabitant" says that 

 one of the men who came to fetch the 74 gave him " a quart 

 pot full of sugar, and I was as pleased as if he had given 

 me the ship." The father of Mrs. Biddlecombe was a 

 trunnel maker at Buckler's Hard, and aided to make solid 

 the stout sides of Nelson's Agamemnon. 



L'Aigle was built here in 1801. 



The Mary Anne and Henry, brigs, were built here at a 

 later period. The Australia, a large three masted vessel, 

 which traded with the country after which she was named, 

 was the last large ship built here. It was said that the 

 Formidable man-of-war was a Buckler's Hard ship. Any 

 proof of this would be welcome. 



Mr. Henry Adams was the original builder, and was 

 succeeded by his son, Mr. Robert Adams, who reached the 

 good old age of 92, and is still remembered as a kindly old 

 gentleman, by Mr. Rogers, of Brighton, anative of Beaulieu, 

 and an eye witness of various launches. The contract price 



paid by the Government was ^33 IDS. a ton, and a 74 was 

 usually at least 18 months upon the stocks. 27 

 sail of the line cost over a million and a half to build. A 

 ship of 1,300 tons burden required the felling of more than 

 2,000 average oaks, to supply 2,000 loads of timber. lootons 

 of wrought iron and 30 tons of copper were also needed. 

 When a ship launch was imminent every vehicle and 

 saddle horse within 20 miles was in motion. In default of 

 chairs, many came in tumbrils and waggons. Scaffolds and 

 booths were erected for the spectators, who often numbered 

 10,000, and who frequently waited in patience for many 

 hours. But all these things are over. Two brothers, 

 Edward and Walter Adams, finding trade prosperous, 

 undertook to build four men-of-war at one and 

 the same time. The strain upon their resources was 

 too great, failure to deliver the ships in due time caused a 

 fine, and ill-advised litigation against the Government with 

 disastrous consequences. The home of the Adamses still 

 stands, and the curious visitor may still tread the floor of 

 the room where in old days high festival was held before, 

 during, and after a launch. Hushed are the strains of the 

 band which played "God save the King" and " Off she 

 goes" as, hats off, and amid ringing cheers, the Agamem- 

 non took the water. Gone is Joseph Purse, the very 

 strong man who hauled down the timber which lay in 

 mighty piles in the village street. He is still remembered 

 for his great but quiet power over his horses ; "there was 

 no hollering." Closed is the inn where the shipwrights 

 and caulkers were paid, kept by Mr. Hemmons, as is also 

 the New Inn, kept by Mr. Wort, who was succeeded by 

 his son Joseph, with its traditions of a " smuggler's hole." 

 James Bown no longer fires the kiln, only hollows in a 

 meadow and by the waterside tell where the " top-sawyers" 

 laboured. The site of the mould loft in the lower yard is 

 still pointed out. The blacksmitk's shop is closed, the 

 shipwrights and caulkers rest in peaceful Beaulieu church- 

 yard, and the ribs of the grand old ships lie rotting on 

 many a shore, for " The old order changeth, giveth place 

 to the new," but " we are not better than our fathers." 



Mr. W. J. C. Moens, F.S.A., added some remarks 

 on the quantity of wood taken from the New Forest 

 for building these vessels and for building and repair- 

 ing castles ; and Mr. Shore exhibited a map on which 

 this spot was marked as Montagu town. 



Another mile to the south is St. Leonard's Grange, 

 formerly belonging to Beaulieu Abbey. The word 

 " grange," it appears, was generally applied to out- 

 lying buildings, and there was here an enormous barn 

 perhaps the largest in the country something like 

 100 yards long and 70 or 80 feet high. Its remains 

 now consist of one ivy covered gable wall, and half 

 the width of the other gable, which suffices for the 

 end wall of a fair size barn which now occupies a 

 portion of the space of the old one. In date, the 

 building must have been not much later than the 

 abbey. Here all the work of the abbey farm was 

 carried on, the corn being gathered and threshed at 

 each end, and the cattle stalled in the middle. Close 

 by are the ruined walls of St. Leonard's chapel, now 

 overgrown with ivy and presenting little of architectural 

 features. From here the brakes were taken again to 

 the schools, where tea was waiting ; and after this a 

 move was made to Sewley Pond and the site of the 

 old ironworks, the last of the ancient ironworks of 

 Hampshire, which ceased operations about the be- 



