Some of you will remember that last year we found an old
coin that dated back to between 1858 and 1901. But before we tell you what we
found more recently, a little Newfoundland history would be worthwhile.
In Newfoundland's history,
there are many recorded instances of armed conflict. Many of those recorded
events were around St. Johns, the economic
and political hub of the Island. Whoever controlled St. Johns, controlled the Island, but that control was based in Europe by Great Britain, France,
Spain, Portugal and other countries over time, depending on their naval military strength and interest in the fishing trade.
As a result of long term European conflicts, there were
treaties drawn up that affected Newfoundland, and the people either fishing seasonally
or living here and fishing the waters fulltime. The fishermen and their livelihoods were pawns in the international scale settlements, and local skirmishes resulted when claims and rights changed.
Specifically, the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), the Treaty of Paris (1763), and Treaty of Versailles in
1783 dictated changes in the control of lands and fishing grounds in and around the western and southern parts of Newfoundland.
All this history, brings me to Marlene's find on the little
piece of our property called the Rocky Shore. While searching for sea glass and
other treasures along the shoreline, Marlene found a little metal ball. Like
most things metal on the seashore, it was corroded and not readily
identifiable. The first test we did was a check to see if it was ferrous, and we discovered it was attracted to a magnet. The next thing we noted was it was a perfect
sphere, and slightly less than 1.5 inches in diameter.
A search on the internet left us thinking it was grapeshot
from a British or French cannon. Grapeshot was a cannon load that is like
today's shotgun load. It was short range and covered a wide area.
Cannons and grapeshot were widely used on naval and merchant ships from both countries in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
We believe, it may have been used in the area of Rose
Blanche and Parsons Point during a conflict involving land ownership or the
control of fishing grounds. The identification may never be
certain, however, we're hoping that this story might lead to more information coming from you the reader, to help us better understand the origin of this interesting
find.