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==== The Pair of Guns at the Exit ====
''Gold is for the mistress, silver for the maid''<br />
''Copper for the craftsman cunning at his trade.''<br />
''"Good!" said the Baron, sitting in his hall,''<br />
''"but Iron, Cold Iron, is master of them all."''<br />
from 'COLD IRON' by Rudyard Kipling<br />
<gallery caption= widths="330px" heights="250px" perrow="2">
File:0059 Mandalay Palace Exit gun 8009.jpeg|Palace exit gun 8009 <br> '''Image courtesy of the [http://www.angloburmeselibrary.com/ Anglo-Burmese Library]'''
File:0061 Mandalay Palace Exit gun 8012.jpeg|Palace exit gun 8012 <br> '''Image courtesy of the [http://www.angloburmeselibrary.com/ Anglo-Burmese Library]'''
</gallery>
These are the oldest Royal Navy guns seen. They are marked with the Rose & Crown insignia which was used by the Board of Ordnance from 1690 to 1725. The design of the crest varied slightly as the years progressed. The guns are marked respectively 8009 and 8012 and the marks on the buttons are L7 and S11. These last refer, I believe, to the guns' position on board ship, Larboard No.7 and Starboard No.11. The word Larboard was subsequently changed to Port to avoid confusion. The serial numbers are recorded in Col. Browne's Survey and refer to a date of 1695. From this survey it can be established that they are nine and a half foot 32-pounder demi-cannon, cast by Thomas Weston, Ironmaster of the Ashburnham forge near Battle, East Sussex, for HMS NEWARK. She was a Third Rate ship of the line mounting 76-80 guns of various weights.
<gallery caption= widths="150px" heights="150px" perrow="4">
File:0060 Mandalay Palace Exit 8009 detail.jpeg|Gun 8009 detail 1 <br> '''Image courtesy of the [http://www.angloburmeselibrary.com/ Anglo-Burmese Library]'''
File:0063 Palace exit Rose & crown button.jpeg|Gun 8009 detail 2 <br> '''Image courtesy of the [http://www.angloburmeselibrary.com/ Anglo-Burmese Library]'''
File:0062 Mandalay Palace Exit 8012 detail.jpeg|Gun 8012 detail 1 <br> '''Image courtesy of the [http://www.angloburmeselibrary.com/ Anglo-Burmese Library]'''
File:0064 Palace exit button top detail.jpeg|Gun 8012 detail 2 <br> '''Image courtesy of the [http://www.angloburmeselibrary.com/ Anglo-Burmese Library]'''
</gallery>
Each of these 32-pounders would be serviced by 14 men and a 'powder monkey' (a small boy who could easily run up and down ladders carrying bags of gunpowder from deep in the ship's hold). HMS NEWARK was refitted in 1717 and in 1745. At each refit, and possible alteration to the ship's hull, it was usual to remove and assess which guns would still be needed. Those surplus to requirements, but still in good condition, would be transferred to the ordnance stores and placed on another ship as needed. Well founded cannon, if used with the correct amount of powder, single-shotted and not fired at extreme elevation, could be expected to last 1000 firings and a few were recorded as lasting for 3000 before becoming worn out and useless.
Layout
The question that we all want to know, of course, how did these two pairs of Royal Navy cannon find themselves guarding a Burmese potentate's palace in Mandalay ? <br />
==== The Pair of Guns at the Exit ====
''Gold is for the mistress, silver for the maid''<br />
''Copper for the craftsman cunning at his trade.''<br />
''"Good!" said the Baron, sitting in his hall,''<br />
''"but Iron, Cold Iron, is master of them all."''<br />
from 'COLD IRON' by Rudyard Kipling<br />
<gallery caption= widths="330px" heights="250px" perrow="2">
File:0059 Mandalay Palace Exit gun 8009.jpeg|Palace exit gun 8009 <br> '''Image courtesy of the [http://www.angloburmeselibrary.com/ Anglo-Burmese Library]'''
File:0061 Mandalay Palace Exit gun 8012.jpeg|Palace exit gun 8012 <br> '''Image courtesy of the [http://www.angloburmeselibrary.com/ Anglo-Burmese Library]'''
</gallery>
These are the oldest Royal Navy guns seen. They are marked with the Rose & Crown insignia which was used by the Board of Ordnance from 1690 to 1725. The design of the crest varied slightly as the years progressed. The guns are marked respectively 8009 and 8012 and the marks on the buttons are L7 and S11. These last refer, I believe, to the guns' position on board ship, Larboard No.7 and Starboard No.11. The word Larboard was subsequently changed to Port to avoid confusion. The serial numbers are recorded in Col. Browne's Survey and refer to a date of 1695. From this survey it can be established that they are nine and a half foot 32-pounder demi-cannon, cast by Thomas Weston, Ironmaster of the Ashburnham forge near Battle, East Sussex, for HMS NEWARK. She was a Third Rate ship of the line mounting 76-80 guns of various weights.
<gallery caption= widths="150px" heights="150px" perrow="4">
File:0060 Mandalay Palace Exit 8009 detail.jpeg|Gun 8009 detail 1 <br> '''Image courtesy of the [http://www.angloburmeselibrary.com/ Anglo-Burmese Library]'''
File:0063 Palace exit Rose & crown button.jpeg|Gun 8009 detail 2 <br> '''Image courtesy of the [http://www.angloburmeselibrary.com/ Anglo-Burmese Library]'''
File:0062 Mandalay Palace Exit 8012 detail.jpeg|Gun 8012 detail 1 <br> '''Image courtesy of the [http://www.angloburmeselibrary.com/ Anglo-Burmese Library]'''
File:0064 Palace exit button top detail.jpeg|Gun 8012 detail 2 <br> '''Image courtesy of the [http://www.angloburmeselibrary.com/ Anglo-Burmese Library]'''
</gallery>
Each of these 32-pounders would be serviced by 14 men and a 'powder monkey' (a small boy who could easily run up and down ladders carrying bags of gunpowder from deep in the ship's hold). HMS NEWARK was refitted in 1717 and in 1745. At each refit, and possible alteration to the ship's hull, it was usual to remove and assess which guns would still be needed. Those surplus to requirements, but still in good condition, would be transferred to the ordnance stores and placed on another ship as needed. Well founded cannon, if used with the correct amount of powder, single-shotted and not fired at extreme elevation, could be expected to last 1000 firings and a few were recorded as lasting for 3000 before becoming worn out and useless.
==== Tracing the History of the Guns ====
Engravings: The Royal Palace at Amarapura, and Burmese War Boat. From 'Europe and Burma' by D.G.E.Hall. Pub.1943. The Royal Palace at Mandalay. From 'Mandalay the Golden' by E.C.V. Foucar pub:1963. All originals believed to belong the Royal Asiatic Society.
== Naval Gun at Moulmein ==
