A bit of a loose cannon

In the canon of military history, what we have here is a mortar or a howitzer. Sydney Town is riddled with 'em. Cannons to the right of us, cannons to the left of us. Here are but two examples. There are others: on Dawes Point under the bridge, on Fort Denison, in Macquarie Place, at the Whitlam Square entry to Hyde Park.


This cannon is one of a pigeon pair in Centennial Park which were relocated from the Royal Botannic Gardens in 1920. Originally, they were in use in the Crimean War. Which will eventually bring me back to the cannons to the right and the left.




This cannon, located in Hyde Park across from St Mary's Cathedral, was cast at Carron Works in Scotland in 1808 and bears the royal cypher of George III on the second reinforce. Originally, this cannon formed part of the fortifications of Fort Macquarie on Point Bennelong, and was removed to this new location when Fort Macquarie was converted to a tram terminus in 1905. Why you would turn a fort into a tram shed is an issue for another day.

Fort Macquarie in 1900. This is now the site of the Opera House

The Charge of the Light Brigade is an 1854 poem by Alfred Tennyson written in response to the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War. There are six stanzas to the poem. Here are stanzas two and three:

Forward the Light Brigade Was there a man dismay'd Not tho' the soldier knew Some one had blunder'd. Their's not to make reply, Their's not to reason why, Their's but to do and die. Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.

Cannon to the right of them, Cannon to the left of them, Cannon in front of them Volley'd and thunder'd; Storm'd at with shot and shell, Boldly they rode and well, Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of Hell Rode the six hundred.