''Peggy'' is an armed yacht built in June, 1789 for George Quayle (1751–1835), MHK, a prominent politician and banker on the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

. She is the oldest surviving Manx craft and is one of only a very few surviving vessels built in the 18th century. For over one hundred years following Quayle's death, ''Peggy'' was interred within the boathouse he built for her, effectively forgotten. Interest in her grew during the 20th century, and after WWII she was given to the people of the Isle Man to be held in trust by

Manx National Heritage Manx National Heritage ( gv, Eiraght Ashoonagh Vannin) is the national heritage organisation for the Isle of Man. The organisation manages a significant proportion of the island’s physical heritage assets including over 3,000 acres of coastlin ...

. She remains preserved in the boathouse, now part of The Nautical Museum in Castletown, on the Isle of Man. She is

clinker-built Clinker built (also known as lapstrake) is a method of boat building where the edges of hull (watercraft), hull planks overlap each other. Where necessary in larger craft, shorter planks can be joined end to end, creating a longer strake or hull ...

and was

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

rigged with a bowsprit. A set of her spars is preserved with her, along with her armaments (six cannon and two stern chasers) and the winding gear employed to draw her into the boathouse. She is the oldest surviving schooner in the world and the oldest surviving example of the

shallop Shallop is a name used for several types of boats and small ships (French ''chaloupe'') used for coastal navigation from the seventeenth century. Originally smaller boats based on the chalupa, the watercraft named this ranged from small boats a l ...

hull form. She was fitted with sliding keels (progenitors of the modern

daggerboard A daggerboard is a retractable centreboard used by various sailing craft. While other types of centreboard may pivot to retract, a daggerboard slides in a casing. The shape of the daggerboard converts the forward motion into a windward lift, cou ...

) not long after the invention of the technology by

John Schank Admiral John Schank (6 February 1823) was an officer of the British Royal Navy known for his skill in ship construction and mechanical design. Biography He was the son of Alexander Schank of Castlerig, Fife, Scotland. He entered the Royal Navy w ...

, and she is the oldest surviving example of such a vessel. Well-known correspondence between George Quayle and his brother, in the Manx National Archive, describes an expedition in 1796 over sea and land to

Windermere Windermere (sometimes tautology (language), tautologically called Windermere Lake to distinguish it from the nearby town of Windermere, Cumbria (town), Windermere) is the largest natural lake in England. More than 11 miles (18 km) in leng ...

, ''Peggy''s victory in a regatta there, and her perilous journey home, aided by her sliding keels. ''Peggy'' has been surveyed three times, first by P.J. Oke in 1935 of the Society for Nautical Research (drawings now residing at the

National Maritime Museum The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the United ...

in Greenwich, London), then by Mr Richard Cowley of Kirk Michael, Isle of Man, and most recently in 1968 by D. K. Jones at the behest of

Basil Greenhill Dr. Basil Jack Greenhill CMG (26 February 1920, in Bristol – 8 April 2003), was a diplomat, museum director and historian. He went to Bristol Grammar School, before reading philosophy, politics and economics at Bristol University, but his tim ...

, then Director of the National Maritime Museum, took a keen interest in her around this time.Salisbury, W. (1963) "The schooner Peggy of 1789 and her boathouse". ''The Mariner's Mirror''. Vol.49 No.2. ''Peggy'' is now recognized as a vessel of international significance, which is reflected in her citation on the UK National Historic Ships Register (

National Historic Fleet The National Historic Fleet is a list of historic ships and vessels located in the United Kingdom, under the National Historic Ships register. National Historic Ships UK is an advisory body which advises the Secretary of State for Culture, Media ...

). Her well-documented provenance, her fine state of relative preservation, her historic location and her design all contribute to this.

Conservation

Upon the death of Emily Quayle in 1935, ''Peggy'' and, in due course, George Quayle's boathouse, were bequeathed to the Manx nation. In 1950, with help from the Carnegie Trust, the Manx Museum and National Trust (as was) undertook minor restoration of the boat and boathouse and opened the site to visitors. ''Peggy'' had been resting on her starboard side against the damp ground for 150 years. Her keel, rudder and two of her lowest

strake On a vessel's hull, a strake is a longitudinal course of planking or plating which runs from the boat's stempost (at the bows) to the sternpost or transom (at the rear). The garboard strakes are the two immediately adjacent to the keel on ea ...

s were replaced (the original keel remains on display in the boathouse). She was then painted inside and out. Aside from at least one more repaint in the intervening years, no further work on ''Peggy'' has been done. ''Peggy'' is remarkably well-preserved. Recent surveys indicate that all her original paint layers are intact and that well over 95% of her timbers and fixings date from the 18th century. Nonetheless the damp conditions in the boathouse, which is subject to tidal flooding, have taken their toll. She is entirely constructed by means of iron fixings and most of her hull nails are completely mineralised (rusted). She shows signs of

hogging and sagging In solid mechanics, structural engineering, and shipbuilding, hogging and sagging describe the shape that a beam or similar long object will deform into when loading is applied. ''Hogging'' describes a beam that curves upwards in the middle, and ...

, and is slightly deformed by the rudimentary props and frames with which, until 2013, she was supported. Her decorative paintwork is fragile and flaking. Manx National Heritage has embarked upon a programme of conservation aimed at the stabilisation and long-term preservation of ''Peggy''. The first step (2013) was the replacement of the props and frames with a new cradle designed with the aid of a laser survey of the hull. During 2015 the boat was be removed from the boathouse, for the first time in two hundred years, for stabilisation, study, and conservation. In due course ''Peggy'' will be returned to her home in Castletown.

References

External links

Manx National Heritage (Isle of Man)

Peggy of Castletown Conservation Project

360 degree panoramas of the Nautical Museum boathouse from www.isleofman360.com

National Historic Ships UK

* ttp://www.carnegieuktrust.org.uk/home/ Carnegie UK Trust{{National Historic Ships History of the Isle of Man 1790 ships Individual yachts Schooners Ships of the Isle of Man Ships preserved in museums Ships and vessels of the National Historic Fleet