Dieu et Mon Droit, translates as God and my right.
The 24 foot long bronze cannon was cast in 1544 by Jan Tolhuys in Utrecht. It is thought to have been presented to Henry VIII by Maximiliaan van Egmond, Count of Buren and Stadtholder of Friesland as a gift for his young daughter Elizabeth and is known to have been referred to as Queen Elizabeth's Pocket Pistol by an article in the Gentleman's Magazine from 1767. The cannon is thought to have been used during the English Civil War, described as 'the great Basilisco of Dover' amongst other ordnance captured by Royalist forces from the Earl of Essex in Cornwall in 1644, later used at the seige of Hull and recaptured by Parliamentarians. The barrel is decorated in relief with fruit, flowers, grotesques, and figures symbolizing Liberty, Victory and Fame. The gun carriage was commissioned by the Duke of Wellington in the 1820s, cast from French guns captured at Waterloo.
This is part of the Job: 2K/15859 Queen Elizabeth's Pocket Pistol and Bouncing Bomb at Dover Castle, Kent; within the Volume: VF000169 Dover Castle, Dover, Kent; within the Series: EHC01/002 EH Architectural Requests; within the Collection: EHC01 English Heritage(EH):Archive
© Historic England Archive
Photographer: Kendall, Derek: English Heritage
Victorian Regimental Institute, Late 20th Century Exhibition Hall, Castle, Exhibition
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