Wooden snow, registered Lynn, 184 tons
Voyage Lima and Rio de Janeiro to Liverpool.
Cargo: indigo, cotton and hides.
Early Sunday 4 March 1827, struck shore north of Glenarm near Garron Point.
Approximate location: Ringfad reef 55° 0.886N, 5° 58.427W.
Captain J. Bond, his wife and family, and some crew lost (11 lost, 7-12 saved)
This wreck is commemorated in a folk song, created soon after the wreck, (words of song included below) - which gives quite an accurate picture of what happened.
Belfast Newsletter 6th March 1827
The Enterprise of Lynn, a large West Indiaman, was ashore at the Largy about three miles north of Glenarm. - Eleven of the crew are lost and seven saved. She was chiefly laden with cotton. Among those reported lost were Captain J. Bond and his wife and family.
Belfast Commercial Chronicle 7 March 1827; among many wrecks reported:
The brig Barnett, of Workington, John Davis, master, from New Orleans, bound to Greenock, went on shore on the point of Garron, near Glenarm, and is supposed will go to pieces, crew with great difficulty saved.
At same place, the brig Enterprise, of Lynn, Bond master, laden with indigo, cotton, and hides, was totally wrecked Saturday night [3-4 March 1827], the master and crew are supposed to be all lost. The bodies of a man, respectably dressed, with that of an infant clasped in his arms, have been washed ashore....
It is reported that a large West Indiaman is ashore at Largy about three miles north of Glenarm, 11 of the crew are lost, 7 saved. She was chiefly laden with cotton.
Caledonian Mercury 15 March 1827
The Enterprise, Bond, from Rio de Janeiro to Liverpool, was totally lost on Saturday night near Glenarm, and it is feared all on board perished.
Liverpool Mercury Friday 16 March 1827
Enterprize, master Bond, from Lima and Rio de Janeiro for Liverpool, is on shore Carnlough Bay, about 20 miles north of Belfast. Captain and crew drowned, part of cargo saved.
Several newspapers give variant versions:
(i) Vessels lost at Glenarm: Enterprize from New York, crew saved.
(ii) About 1 am Sunday morning , it is reported that a large West Indiaman
was driven on shore the 4th inst.[4th March 1827] at Largy, about 3
miles north of Glenarm, and afterwards wrecked at the Isle of Muck, near
Belfast; eleven of the crew were lost, 7 saved. She was chiefly laden with cotton.
[This may be confusion from another wrecked vessel: The remains of a vessel have been
discovered at the Isle of Muck; a dead body, thought to be that of the Captain,
his boots marked Capt. M'Gill, Woroll, Shoemaker, Limerick, and some
sails and rigging, have come on shore, and the topsail with the name of Margaret,
in [illegible] inch letters. Reported 7 March 1827]
A folk song commemorates this shipwreck: From Sam Henry, Songs of the People: The Wreck of the Enterprise
The Enterprise of Lynn, brave boys, was our good ship's name
She was loaded with dollars and indigo, and from Peru she came
She crossed the Western Ocean, where the foaming billows roar
And she left her precious cargo all on the Largy shoreIt's for the Captains's Lady as I do hear them tell
She learned navigation and practised it right well
She took an observation at ten o'clock that day
Saying "I'll hold for fifty pounds, brave boys, we're off Glenarm Bay"When sailing past by Black Rock, light appeared in view
It's hold her off, the Captain cries, what the lady says is true
It's hold her off, the Captain cries, some harbour we are near
But oh, alas, our joy soon fled, pale death did soon appearAt three o'clock our good ship struck, unto our great surprise
Its men, women and children, their cries rent the skies
Our mainmast overboard it fell and our rigging tore away
And our well-built ship in pieces split before the break of dayBeing early the next morning, before that it was clear
The people ran from every part to get some of our gear
Some got silver cup and plate, part of our gold beside
While the captain and his seamen brave lay rolling in the tideCome all ye bold sea-captains that plough the raging main
Be sure and steer your compass right and your helm never strain
Be sure and steer your compass right and your helm never leave
For if you strand on a bank of sand, for a wrecked ship you will grieve
Comments Largy (from an Irish word meaning steep hillside) is the
coast north of Carnlough to Garron Point. Local tradition is that bodies
of those lost in this wreck were interred in the north-west corner of the churchyard
at Killycrappin [also called Nappin], nearby.
There is an isolated offshore rock that dries 3 ft near Garron Point - known
as Black Rock. image.
Lloyds Register for 1827 gives the Enterprise as trading between
London and Valpariso in Peru.
Another version of the ballad includes the lines
The mate was just one of the crew Of them that did survive,
Out of a crew of twenty two, Not twelve were found alive.
which is similar to those newspapers reporting 11 lost and seven saved
This version also mentions Ringfad as the location - a rock near the Largy shore
charted at 55° 0.886N, 5° 58.427W.
A silver spoon recovered from the wreck, engraved with the details (from
Millar's Old Tyme Sweets, Carrigfergus):