The HMS Hera sails into the sunset on her maiden voyage on November 29, 1532
The Hippolyta, grand ship as she was, could no longer accomodate the growing number of nobles traveling each year in Queen Margaret's entourage. The spring of 1531 had been miserably cramped, what with the luggage of the Countesses of Argyll, Fife and Tyrone competing with the Queen and her ladies' own possessions. The Earl of Bothwell had no place but a broom closet to gamble, drink, wench and smoke those tightly rolled leaves of the tobacco plant of the New World that he won from Hernan de Cortez in a card game. The Royal Scottish Guard were having to bunk in the cargo hold with the goats and sheep (NOT a pretty picture, mind you!). And let's not EVEN get into Laird Avery MacDuff, the Earl of Fife, trying to complete his morning and evening ablutions elbow to elbow with Figbash and Skrump, the Royal Privvy Sumpers.
And so, in the early summer of 1531, work on Her Majesty's new ship, the Hera, began. The last voyage to Scarborough on the Hippolyta was in the spring of '32. So tightly packed were the Plaid Velvet set that the Earl of Lennox had to come in on the navy ship, Margarret. Believe me, it was NOT a pleasant trip even BEFORE Bothwell got strip searched at customs in Scarborough Harbor (it was bad enough that he was packing tweezers where his sgian dubh should have been and you know how port security at Leith feels about that)!
Tae make a lang story shairt...the Hera was completed on schedule and presented to Queen Margaret on her birthday (November 29, 1532) by her son, James V.
The Hera is as large as one of our first-rate galleys, with 120 oars (60 to a side) and four masts, three with topmasts and topsails, and the main with a topgallant mast and sail. Her complement is considerable. She has 60 gunners and 1,200 fightingmen. The Hera has been launched with 217 brass and iron guns, 14 of the big guns mounted aft. Her brass guns included five cannons, two demy culveryns, four sakers, and two falcons, while iron guns numbered twelve port pieces, two single slings, fifty double bases, and ten single (or small) bases. This is a lot of weaponry for a queen's vessel, but then a girl should never go anywhere unprotected.
The staterooms, and especially the Royal Suite, are extremely posh, each decorated with the arms of the nobles residing in them. Each is equipped with a garden tub, thanks to Lady Ellen Stewart's input in the planning. There is a Great Hall on board, which is a smaller version of that which you would find in a castle, but great nonetheless. Five-star dining can be found there four times a day. There is a ship's library and a Grand Salon that we are certain will be occupied by the Earls of Argyll, Bothwell, Fife and the Duke of Albany on the voyage, as it possesses the finest wet bar and humidor (thanks Cortez!) in Britain. The Earl of Lennox has been ordered to France after the diplomatic debacle/international incident last spring at Scarborough in which he, in an attempt to deflower a serving girl, ended up romancing one of the Lord Mayor Rooke's prize milk cows instead. Oh well...quelle grand surprise, n'est pas? We hope he will recover from the embarrassment and join us again soon.
Thanks to Tamra, Countess of Fife and Anne, Duchess of Albany, the Hera also possesses a lovely duty-free shop stocked with fine cognacs, excellent Scotch whiskeys, marvelous silk fabrics and French perfumes. Jean Gordon-Campbell, Countess of Argyll, is negotiating a gemstone deal with the Sultan of Oman at this time.
The Hera's shakedown cruise is scheduled for January, in which the Scottish Court will sail down the coast, disembark at a location to be disclosed later and head out to Berwick to renegotiate the old Treaty with Henry VIII, King of England. After that, we sail back to Leith and prep for the annual voyage down to Scarborough, North Yorkshire to see our relations in Merry Aulde England.
Sketch of the Figurehead of the HMS Hera
This is a pen and ink drawing of the figurehead of HMS Hera.
