A British man-of-war warned her to stop.
But Captain Newmen didn’t stop and continued on his way. A puff of smoke
came from the bows of the man-of-war and the roar of a gun. The
shell came within ten feet of the ship's bowsprit and plunged in the sea
some hundred feet beyond her starboard side. Before the echo of the shot
had died down, the Parnell had come round to the wind, squaring he yards
for a lay-to. A boat put off from the ship and boarded the Irish Burgee
barque. Her papers were carefully examined, and after much questioning
she was allowed to sail. The matter was brought up in the British House
of Commons. An investigation followed
and as a result, an apology was tendered to Canada.
A poem was written, set to music, and
became a favorite sea shanty. Today, it is an underground Irish song;
very popular in certain sections of Northern Ireland.
The Parnell set many records; she was
the fastest ship of her time. She set records that were never touched
- she outshone both the "Marco-Polo" and the "Bluenose". In
1883 she sailed from Richibucto to Queenstown (Cobb), Ireland in 13
days under the direction of Captain Newman -- (actually 12 days 13 hours).
On October 13th, 1886 the 745 ton barque
sailed into Port Hawkesbury N.S. from Glasgow Scotland. The trip was
made in an amazing time of ten days. Other
record breaking's included: Campbellton to Belfast (14 days); London
to Campbellton (20 days); and the trend setter of them all was when
she sailed into Galveston, Texas from Fleetwood, England (19 days).
This is the fastest time made by a sailing
ship on that route. For six previous years, the average round trip
was 56 days. Another noted ocean racer was the "Martha McLeod", built
by George McLeod of Richibucto.