Roy Tomkinson: A LITTLE GOLD: PERHAPS?

A LITTLE GOLD: PERHAPS?

I’m looking to go to Mull later this year to scuba dive for 10 days, and wondered if anyone had heard any buzzes about a Galleon called the Florencia. It went down in the Sound of Mull about a year after the battle between Elizabeth Ist, and King Philip of Spain in 1588.

The Spanish were the most powerful, and by far the best organised and equipped army in the whole of Europe. The Spanish Army of Flanders had crushed the Dutch revolt in the northern provinces of the Spanish Netherlands and their commander, the Duke of Parma, was ready to embark with his troops to cross the narrow north sea to teach the heathen English a lesson, and to class Elizabeth as an heretic, and almost certain execution if captured.

Many contemporary recorders at the time gave little chance of the English surviving the coming Spanish. British troops were quickly recruited to counter the threat, but England’s land defences were poor. The fortification undertaken at the time of Henry the VIII were fifty years old, and in poor condition. His old coastal castles were already vulnerable to modern guns, and would pose little threat to the pernicious Spanish Army.

It was a forgone conclusion that the battle hardened Spanish troops, with their state of the art artillery would have little difficulty in sweeping through Kent, overwhelm all opposition, and capture London within the week.
We know the history, but now to the crux: one prestigious Galleon, the Florencia, fled the carnage and executed its escape by going around Scotland, and ended up in the Sound of Mull.

The crew were captured and taken to Duart Castle where it is believed they were either executed, or left in the dungeon to starve to death by the MacLeans, who then occupied the fortified castle.

Now the excitement, this ship, many believed, was filled with treasure. Some are of the opinion all valuables were taken off it by the MacLeans before they blew it up, and the only thing that went to the bottom in Mull was a blown up ship. Others think the opposite, and believe this was not the case, but the ship’s crew fought off the MacLeans, and in the battle the ship was lost, treasure included, and only the survivors taken to Duart Castle and incarcerated.

My own opinion, when I researched the history of that period on Mull for my novel, “The Tour,” which is based in Mull, about a group of divers going up from Wales to dive Mull, and finding the Florencia, is that, somewhere around the Sound of Mull that Galleon is still there, gold included, and yet to be found.

I say this because, if the gold was taken off, where has it gone? Surely some pieces would come to light. Even without the treasure, finding the Galleon would still be a coup d'état for any diver, WELL ANYONE REALLY!

Have any of you divers or anyone, any comments on this, or for that matter, ever come across a likely dive site where the Galleon could be. It is hidden there somewhere off Mull. There is little doubt about that, AND EVENTUALLY IT WILL BE FOUND,I'm convinced of it.

Look how Henry VIII’s battle ship was discovered, and brought to the surface, and that went down years before the Florencia met its fate in the Sound of Mull.

So my fellow divers, it’s there somewhere, just, just, waiting to be found. When I’m on Mull diving, I won’t be particularly looking for it, but if I did come across it, so to speak, well… it would close a great chapter in Mull history… or… would it? It could open up another Pandora’s box, which would lead us in yet another direction. But whatever the outcome, one thing is certain, excitements there will be – would you not agree?

If you have a chance check out my story in “The Tour”

ISBN: 978-1-60693-682-5/SKU: 1-60693-682-4

And if you have a comment, let me have them, yes please, let me have them, all and every one.
Regards,
Roy.