Mons Meg Cannon

The 15th-century siege cannon known as Mons Meg is on display outside St. Margaret's Chapel in Edinburgh Castle. Mons Meg was constructed in Flanders on the orders of Philip III, Duke of Burgundy in 1449, and was given by him to his niece's husband, King James II in 1457. The 6-tonne (bombard is displayed alongside some of its 330 lb gun stones. On 3 July 1558, Mons Meg was fired in salute to the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots, to the French dauphin François II. Workmen were paid to find and retrieve the shot from Wardie Mure, near the River Forth, some 2 miles distant. Mons Meg has been defunct since her barrel burst on 30 October 1681 when firing a salute for the arrival of the Duke of Albany, the future King James VII and II.

Photo 1152, May 2011