Wooden Canon

[fernando]

Originally Posted by clockwork

this is a excert from the book The Palace Armoury regarding the cannon/gun
One of the earliest Doc mention of the presence of weapons kept soley for the display purpose, dates to the time of the magistracy of Ramon Despuig in 1737 and refers to the leather gun. This cannon, long thought to have either been imported from some northern country, produced at the end of the 18th centry or worse still, brought over from Rhodes, was actually constructed by a local gun smith. A petition by Margarita Ellul reminded the Grand Master that it was one of her ancestors who had built the leather gun:--Margarita vedova di francesco ellul di questa Citta Valletta esponeche per riguardo d'aver un suo antentato fatto il cannone di pelle che ritrovasi conservato nella sua armeria fu alli suoi antecessori, e successori concesso l'uso della mina che ritrovasi in questa citta sotto il Forte Cavaliere--

Fine Tony,
So it was the widow who ordered the leather (not wooden) cannon, to defend herself from possible assaults ...