[4] Luffed.
[5] The Townshends were the leading people of Castlehaven, living at Castletownshend, from Cromwell's time to ours. This was Col. Richard Townshend. Richard and Dorothea Townshend, An Officer of the Long Parliament and his Descendants, pp. 150-151, with portrait.
[6] Between Castlehaven and Baltimore, and four miles south of Skibbereen. The rocky coast in just this region inspired Swift's once celebrated poem, Carberiae Rupes (1723).
136. Protest of Capt. Mackay. November 15, 1739.
To all Christian People unto whom this Publick Instrum't of Protest doth come or may Concern, Be it known and Manifest that this Day there came and Personally appeared before me, Thomas Lucas, Gent'm, Notary and Tabellion Publick in and throughout the Kingdom of Ireland by Regal Authority, Lawfully Admitted and sworn at Skibbereen[1] in the County of Cork and Kingdom aforesd, George Johnston, Mate, Joseph Hall, Boatswain, William Cromie, Mariner, belonging to the good Ship or Vessell called the Amsterdam Post, burthen Forty Tuns, whereof Æneas Mackay is Master, and Voluntary made oath on the Holy Evangelist That on the Twenty eighth Day of Octo. last they sailed with said Vessell from the Canaries bound to Corke, and met with very bad Weather on their Voyage; that on Thursday the Fifteenth of this Inst. Novemb'r,[2] ab't three of the Clock in the Morning, the Weather being very desperate, they lost their Main Boom and anchor and one third of a Cable of[f] the Stage of Castle Haven, and all the Sails much Damaged; and that about five of the Clock in the morning the Vessell was stranded at Finins Cove near Castle Haven Harbour, where the Vessell now lyes; that by the Violence of the Weather they have reason to Suspect they have Received great Damage. Wherefore the Notary, at the Special Instance and Request of Æneas Mackay, Master, George Johnston, Mate, Joseph Hall, Boatswain, and Wm. Cromie, Mariner, have Protested, as by these Presents I Do Protest against the Seas and Winds for all Losses, Damages, Prejudices or hindrances whatsoever known or as yet unknown which the Ship or Vessell, or the Owners, Freighters or Insurers, or any other Person or Persons has Sustain'd or Received or hereafter may Sustain or receive. In Testimony of which I the Notary aforesaid have hereunto sett my Hand and Seal of Office this Fifteenth Day of November One thousand seven hundred and Thirty nine.
| Æneas Mackay. George Johnston. Joseph Hall. William Cromie. | Thos. Lucas, Notar. Public. |
[1] "Skibbereen is a small market town, where the Collector, Surveyor, and other Officers of the port of Baltimore reside", (i.e., since the destruction of Baltimore by the Barbary corsairs in 1631). Ch. Smith, Antient and Present State of the County and City of Cork (Dublin, 1750), I. 280. Hence Mackay would go there to make this declaration of damage by storm, called in maritime law a protest.
[2] See [doc. no. 135], [note 1].
137. Extract from Capt. Mackay’s Journal. November 16, 1739.[1]
From Yesterday at 6 in the Evening to this Morning at 8 a Clock I have been in continual Dread by reason of some Shabby Gent'n who staid on Board at Night and frequently seem'd to hint Concerning Money, of which I had indeed a large quantity but pleaded Poverty to them, but to my great Surprize at One in the Morning I found my own People Deserting of Me and had already sent one Chest on Shore, thereupon I immediately threatnd to Kill the first that would attempt to leave Me in that Distress. Fear kept them Aboard.