Roaring Meg was the name of several powerful cannons used in the 17th century. It is not to be confused with Mons Meg, a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

bombard preserved at Edinburgh Castle.

English Civil War

Created by Colonel Birch for the Siege of Goodrich Castle

Roaring Meg was a mortar cast in 1646 for the siege of

Goodrich Castle Goodrich Castle is a Norman medieval castle ruin north of the village of Goodrich in Herefordshire, England, controlling a key location between Monmouth and Ross-on-Wye. It was praised by William Wordsworth as the "noblest ruin in Herefordsh ...

. With a barrel diameter and firing a hollow ball filled with gunpowder, Roaring Meg was the largest mortar of the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

. The weapon and its ammunition is believed to have been manufactured near

Lydbrook Lydbrook is a civil parish in the Forest of Dean, a local government district in the English county of Gloucestershire and is located in the Wye Valley. It is on the north west edge of the Forest of Dean's present legal boundary proper. It c ...

at Howbrook furnace and forge whose then owner, John Browne, is known to have supplied weapons to the Parliamentarians. It was instrumental in the capture of

in 1646 by

Sir Thomas Fairfax Sir Thomas Fairfax (17 January 1612 – 12 November 1671) was an English army officer and politician who commanded the New Model Army from 1645 to 1650 during the English Civil War. Because of his dark hair, he was known as "Black Tom" to his l ...

.NDS – News Distribution Service
/ref> During the siege the Roundhead commander, Colonel Birch, was so excited with his new weapon he personally fired the last 19 balls. Following Roaring Meg's success at Goodrich, it was subsequently deployed at the bombardment of

Raglan Castle Raglan Castle () is a Late Middle Ages, late medieval castle located just north of the village of Raglan, Monmouthshire, Raglan in the county of Monmouthshire in south east Wales. The modern castle dates from between the 15th and early 17th cent ...

. Roaring Meg is preserved by

Herefordshire Council Herefordshire Council is the local authority for the county of Herefordshire in England. It is a unitary authority, combining the powers of a district and county council. History Herefordshire was one of the historic counties of England. Elec ...

and has been on display at Goodrich Castle since 2004.

A cannon in the Earl of Northampton's Regiment

Roaring Meg was also the name of a cannon used earlier in the war by the

Cavalier The term ''Cavalier'' () was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of Charles I of England and his son Charles II of England, Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum (England), Int ...

Earl of Northampton Earl of Northampton is a title in the Peerage of England that has been created five times. Earls of Northampton, First Creation (1071) * Waltheof (d. 1076) * Maud, Queen of Scotland (c.1074–1130/31) * Simon II de Senlis (1103–1153) * Simon II ...

's Regiment.

The Siege of Derry

Another Roaring Meg protected the Irish city of

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

during the siege of 1689. One of several cannon given to Derry by the City of London in the aftermath of the earlier siege of 1641, Roaring Meg became famous for "the loudness of her voice", which was said to bring cheer to the townspeople and terror to the besiegers. An inscription upon its barrel, which fired shot weighing eighteen pounds, indicates that it was cast in 1642 and that it was the gift of the Fishmongers' Company. It remains in place on top of the city walls, and was still used to fire ceremonial salutes into the 19th century.

In popular culture

A tributary of the

River Beane The River Beane is a short river in the county of Hertfordshire, England. A tributary of the River Lea, it rises to the south-west of Sandon, Hertfordshire, Sandon in the hills northeast of Stevenage and joins the Lea at Hartham Common in Hert ...

is called the Roaring Meg, a rock band and a retail park in

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...

have been named after this. A blonde beer brewed by the Springhead brewery in Sutton on Trent takes its name from the cannon. Alluded to by

Monty Python Monty Python, also known as the Pythons, were a British comedy troupe formed in 1969 consisting of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. The group came to prominence for the sketch comedy ser ...

with the

double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, one of which is typically obvious, and the other often conveys a message that would be too socially unacc ...

, "The whole garrison banged Roaring Meg and shot their balls into the French"

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20090906011151/http://www.northamptons.org.uk/arty.html *http://nds.coi.gov.uk/Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=102312&NewsAreaID=2 *http://www.hereford.gov.uk/html/roaring_meg.html *http://www.derrycity.gov.uk/Press%20Releases/060904-roaring.htm *http://www.mainmast-conservation.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6&Itemid=7 {{DEFAULTSORT:Roaring Meg (Cannon) Cannon Mortars