sailors of the east coast. For many years a memorable prophecy had been associated with her fortunes, to the effect, "that the Catholics would never get the better while the Betsy Cairns was afloat"; hence, these rugged, brave seamen heard of her fate with grief and apprehension.
The Princess Mary, however, had, during a portion of her career, two companions almost as venerable as herself. One of these was the royal yacht William and Mary, built at Chatham, by R. Lee, in 1694; length of keel, 62 feet 10 inches; breadth, 21 feet 7 inches; depth, 10 feet 6 inches; 172 tons burden, rebuilt at Deptford in 1765. She appears in the Navy List of 1800, being then under repair at Deptford, and at that date was the oldest vessel in the British Navy. The next oldest was the royal yacht Medina, built at Portsmouth in 1702; length of keel, 42 feet 10 inches; breadth, 17 feet; depth, 8 feet 6 inches; and 66 tons burden.
These yachts were in active service in the year 1800, and probably later, although they disappear from our sight at this date, except that the name of the William and Mary was changed to the Coquette in 1807. Had they possessed the power of speech and memory, what stories they could have told of fêtes and frolics on the starlit, summer sea, the gentle breeze bearing across her calm bosom the sweet perfume of ripening fields; of gallant men and fair women, their vows of constancy and love whispered and sealed by lips long silent and turned to dust; Of war and battle; of crashing, splintering
