Fishguard - Hunt and Lifeboat

The hunt meets in Fishguard, hoping for a sporting kill, whilst the lifeboat demonstrates its capacity for saving lives at sea.

The stirrup cup puts fire in the bellies of the huntspeople meeting in Fishguard, outside the Royal Oak pub and the Abingdon Café. Women in Welsh costume are present, commemorating the last invasion of Britain – involving Fishguard and Llanwnda – in 1797. Some bear pitchforks, as did Jemima Nicholas, wife of a cobbler, who armed with such a weapon rounded up 12 invaders single-handedly. The Fishguard lifeboat – 'Howard Marryat' (serving the area 1957-81) also features.

Shot by Fishguard pharmacist John James Thomas. The invasion – a French-Irish initiative plotted whilst Napoleon was otherwise engaged in central Europe – was carried out by a ragtag and bobtail army. Stumbling across quantities of intoxicating liquor recently lifted by locals from a grounded Portugese ship – and suffering food poisoning from under-cooked chickens - the invasion force became a no-fit-state assemblage which failed either to overwhelm the populace or inspire them to join the revolution. But love was in the air and some of the imprisoned soldiers were assisted by smitten local women to escape, and sailed back to France on board a yacht belonging to Lord Cawdor, captain of a local militia.