The nice Naval gun is a 'Carronade' with its trunnion set below. The old one might be better termed a gunnade' such as a commercial ships cannon. I've fired one 9 pounder often on ceromonies . Not mine belongs to the City of Nelson NZ. Thought be be used as a' time check' gun that is it was fired at noon every Saturday going by some ones cronometer . The boom allowed all clocks to be adjusted so that all the settlement in ear shot could be for a while be on the same time until the cable reached and wirelesses became the norm, Its a 9 pounder' gunnade' I got all the rubbish out of the breach anti chamber . and nursed what I called' My Baby 'As I was the one who fired it most and made all the kit it would have had. We fired three rounds in salute to the two sailing ships on the 150 eth Anniverery of the settlement of Nelson colony some 7,000 or onlookers as we had the area black powder clubs form our gun team, powder monkey, searcher, rammer , & me with me thumb on the vent to then fire by lintstock as directed by our Ensign (Who now is' Bucks County')2.500 grains of course power firering 3 pounds of sifted garden loam All wrapped in the Paperie mâché cartridge' Nelson Mail' ,The local rag ,Even had Sir Humphrey Wakefield who came out to portray his ill faitted Forebear Captain Arthur Wakefield of the New Zealand company (A planned migration scheme )in 1842 , it formed TV adverts & a continuous showing at the airport( But I never got a sixpence or a' by your leave' .)Now th ecouncil wont let us borrow it saying "We must preserve our heritage'' Which considering they had 'My Baby' out in the rain for years until the Hokey Carriage rotted dosn't sit well with me . The Vicar of Wakefield wanted to borrow it & me to add a bit of style to the 175 anniversary of their Anglican Church . But we made do with a small brass cannon that the Bishop of Nelson fired at my tending . He was tickled pink So I loaded it again much to his delight .
later I suitably attired made out I was hunting 1840s style Ide stalk about spot an invisable wood Pidgeon fire then recover a hidden plastic decoy of the English Wood Pidgeon .A bit of theater seemed to go down well with the crowds . However pardon my Digression it just seemed related .
Your Servant Rudyard