DCSIMG

Telly programme that rang a bell


Published on Monday 26 January 2009 17:13

Last week on the telly, Evan Davis was at Lloyd's of London explaining the mysterious world of high finance.

My eyes glazed over and I started nodding off until suddenly something rang a bell.

It was The Lutine Bell! I glimpsed it for a moment and then I dozed off again. Poor Mr Davis, he'd tried so hard!

But once I had re-emerged from the arms of Morpheus, my grass-hopper mind turned to the tragic story of a young Northamptonshire man who would have heard The Lutine Bell ring on many occasions. Not in the hallowed portals of Lloyds of London, where it now hangs, but on board the ship under his command.

William Lancelot Skynner was born in the Rectory in Easton-on-the-Hill in 1766 to John Skynner, Rector of Easton for 43 years, and his wife Sarah. He went off to sea and worked his way up to the position of Commander.

Then tragedy. Official records show that on the morning of October 9, 1799, HMS Lutine left Yarmouth Roads "laden with a large amount of specie on board".

It was wrecked before sunset on the same day, off the Island of Vlieland on the Dutch coast. On the outward bank of the Fly Island Passage, the ship was hit by a terrific north-north-westerly gale and "a strong lee-tide rendered all efforts of Commander Skynner unable to avoid the threatened danger". All on board were lost except for one man.

Seventy years later, in 1869, the Wyck fishermen dropped their nets to salvage what they could and hauled up gold and silver bars and other valuables.

Among these were some silver spoons engraved WS. They were returned to England and were identified as belonging to William Lancelot Skynner, the Commander of The Lutine. They had been a gift from his parents.

Also salvaged was the rudder, from which were made a table and chair, still in the library at Lloyds of London.

The ship was originally part of the French Navy and was launched in 1785 as La Lutine.

But in 1793 she was taken by Admiral Duncan and surrendered by French royalists to Lord Hood; she was renamed HMS Lutine, and was used, ironically, against the French, in the Revolutionary Wars of 1792-1802.

Easton-on-the-Hill is in a part of Northamptonshire that is, in my experience, completely unknown to people who live west or south of Corby! It's an awful shame, because if you go on a sunny day you might think you have taken a Tardis to the Cotswolds and you will see some of Northamptonshire's most glorious villages.

And the Lutine Bell?

It was recovered on July 17, 1858. It weighs 106 lb and is 17.5 inches in diameter. It was traditionally struck once for the loss of a ship and twice for her return. It is now cracked and has rarely been used since 1989.

It tolls when a member of the Royal Family dies and was rung after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

It is also rung for ceremonial purposes to commemorate disasters such as 9/11, the Asian Tsunami, and the London Bombings, and is always rung at the start and end of the two minutes' silence on Armistice Day.


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