Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!
It's just that while trying to read this really great story from last week, they (or, at least, writer Christy Parker) kept referring to this ship's badge as a "crest," which it isn't, and it just kept raising my blood pressure every time they referred to it as that. (And they did so a lot in this story.)
Anyway, the good news is that one (of two known examples) of the ship's badge of the Maltese heritage site Fort St. Angelo, one of two such forts designated as "stone frigates" by the Royal Navy, has been found in Ireland and is being returned to Malta to the naval museum there.
Fort St. Angelo was classified as HMS Edgmont in 1912, and became HMS St. Angelo in 1933. The fort became the property of Malta in 1979 and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The metal casting of the badge (mounted, as you can see above, on a wooden plaque) was created shortly before or during WWII. It was discovered in an antique chest of drawers brought from England to south Tipperary by a returning emigrant, and remained there for some twenty years. Then Michael Faul, an inspector of fisheries, acquired it and it sat in his garage for another 25 years. From him it passed to David Cooley (on the right in the photo above), who three years later asked local businessman Hugh Carson to research its history.
On learning of its origins, it was determined to return the ship's badge to Malta, which is being done now through the offices of the Irish Navy on the ship LÉ James Joyce.
It's a great story, the repatriation of an historical piece of heraldry to the place where it belongs. I just wish they'd not called it a "crest" so many times.
You can read the whole July 26, 2016 story on-line at the website of the Irish Examiner at http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/irish-navy-to-return-historic-fort-crest-to-malta-after-60-years-412359.html#
Just take your blood pressure medication first!
You'd think people might get it if they thought about the word. If a bird has a crest, it's a feathery bit on its head. The crest of a mountain or wave is the very top of the thing. But the crest of a coat of arms obviously refers to the entire thing from top to bottom. *rolls eyes*
ReplyDeleteReally?? Honestly, An Irish man decides to do something that most people wouldn't and bring a piece of history back to its home place where it belongs and all you can crib about is why they call it a crest? Easily known you have little or nothing to bother you. Roll your eyes, be it a crest, a badge or a plaque, or whatever you like to call it, its a piece of history and its back where it belongs!! get over yourself. Think I need blood pressure medication myself after reading that!
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