It’s very exciting when various strands come together and story ideas tie up. When I was asked to do a workshop at the National Gallery with Katie and the British Artists as the focus, I tried to think of stories I had that linked to The Fighting Temeraire, stories I could tell from memory. Nothing really worked, so I decided to tell a true story about Pirates and buried treasure. The legend of the Lima treasure on Cocos Island (Believed to be the true inspiration for R.L. Stevenson’s Treasure Island) is an extraordinary one, and I have a personal attachment to it as my Grandfather, Henry Leighton, was one of the pioneer treasure hunters in the 1930s who went searching on the island.
Cocos Island is near Galapagos Island, in the Pacific and Henry joined a crew at Lowestoft and sailed all the way in a converted fishing boat called Veracity (“Truth”). He had many adventures but alas found no treasure. Of course his stories were the real treasures to me, something more valuable than any gemstone. He also bequeathed to me a shark’s eye, a hard gristly piece from the eye of a shark he caught in the Pacific (he was the galley cook and responsible for feeding the crew). Today the treasure remains undiscovered and the island is now an uninhabited wildlife reserve, and no treasure hunters are allowed upon it. But the big thrill for me was discovering that one of the pirates associated with the treasure, the fabulously named Benito Bonito of the Bloody Sword, was in fact believed to be Captain Bennett Grahame, a veteran of Trafalgar who fought alongside Nelson. That linked beautifully to the National Gallery (which is of course in Trafalgar Square); But there is more. Lord Nelson’s ship, HMS Victory, was rescued from attack by none other ship than…The Fighting Temeraire.
It was wonderful to tell this story at the National Gallery yesterday, especially as my Uncle and his daughter and children, all descendants of Henry Leighton, came and heard the story, and indeed saw the shark’s eye, which I had brought along as well.
Leave a Reply