relating the Mutiny
Which was declared in
1769 on H.M.S.
Dark Horse.
xx xx
Danny Boy, being small of size was able to pass alongside the salting tub. Clutching a poker, he slipped into the powder room, where Captain Jenkins, his officers and what crew-men remained loyal to King and Country were all gathered. Jenkins was rallying his men with a spirited rendition of "Rule Britannia!"
Danny struck the fuse in the keg of powder during the first verse. He let out the string.
No sooner had he lit the end of the fuse with a piece of incandescent metal, when the ship was buffeted by a large wave. A poorly stowed barrel slid from it's mooring and blocked the way out. The fuse burned on. The men still sang, except for the trouble-maker, who stood petrified in terror.
"Never, never, never shall be slaves" still echoed in the air, When the Dark Horse blew up.
Several of the survivors claimed that Danny Boy had tried to extinguish the fuse by spitting on it. If only provisions of sand had been made ready for such emergencies...
From that time on, the stower's name was cursed by all freebooters. And so ended in flame and death the tragic tale of a three-master now resting 80 feet under the waves of the balmy Indian Ocean.