209 - JAMES IRVINE (BRITISH, 1833-1899)

JAMES IRVINE (BRITISH, 1833-1899) Seaman James Coull, quartermaster of H.M.S. 'Shannon', in old age Signed 'Jas Irvine' (lower right) Oil on canvas 29½ x 24½in. (75 x 62cm.); framed with contemporary annotated newspaper cuttings to reverse James Coull (1786-1880) was born in Montrose, where he claimed to have been pressed from the fishing fleet into the Royal Navy. He further claimed to have fought at the Battle of Trafalgar, although his name does not appear on any muster list for the action. More famously (and plausibly), he is said to have steered H.M.S. Shannon into her famous engagement with the U.S.S. Chesapeake in 1813. Wounded in the left wrist by a musket ball early in that action, he joined the boarding party which captured the American frigate, suffering a further head injury during the close-quarters fighting. After the action, his hand was amputated, forcing him to retire from the Royal Navy on a pension of £16 per annum, but he returned to sea as a cook in the Montrose-based Arctic whaling fleet and as such crossed the Atlantic some fourteen times. In retirement, he became something of a celebrity and was clearly a talented storyteller; when he was buried, he received military honours, and the ships in Montrose harbour lowered their flags to half-mast. Paint shrinkage, bloom, needs to be cleaned, craquelure to background, would benefit from a reline. Framed 24 x 29in.