"The pirates, likewise, have a longing eye after these Islands, and know well how useful they would be for them: let us, therefore, so provide for ourselves, that come an enemy when he will, and be what he will, we may be able to give him a brave welcome."

ON 1 August 1620, several centuries before the declaration of the Cup Match holiday which commemorates the settlement of Bermuda and the Emancipation of it slaves, Governor Nathaniel Butler gave what may be termed the first Throne Speech in the country. This occurred at the commencement of the first Bermuda Parliament, which took place at St. George's that day, with the local inhabitants in attendance, 'all of them being seated and in quiet'.

Not running for election, Butler had no promises to make on pensions, better schools and healthcare or such like benefits for the public. Rather he advised the assembled multitude that "I cannot see with what comfort we can plant tobacco, and take pains to make it good unless we provide to keep it when we have it". Without the proper defences, the Spanish or the pirates would come in and help themselves to the crop, amidst a little rape and pillage of the times. The Governor pointed out that some of the people were under a 'deceitful and dangerous apprehension' that the present state of the country's defences was good enough.

He laid out a plan to preserve the general welfare of Bermuda and its first decade of settlers, the first humans ever to reside permanently in the island, in this manner by paraphrasing his speech: "In the first place, we must provide against any attempts at invasions by all foreign enemies by securing the harbours and places accessible to boats and shipping. This is to be done by building a sufficient number of fortifications and manning them well. In other words, we have to learn how to defend ourselves, that is to be soldiers."

The Governor went on to say that the bark recently arrived from England had brought news of the rumours and likelihood of great wars in Christendom. If there was to be a sudden breech of friendly relations between Spain and England, "there is not any place that it will break out upon sooner than upon" Bermuda.

The Spanish were particularly incensed with the establishment of the English colony in 1607 at Jametown, Virginia, and viewed the settlement of Bermuda in 1612 in a similar hostile light.

The ambassador at London had been advising the Spanish king since 1608 to give orders to have these insolent people quickly annihilated at Jamestown. Had the Spanish military done so after 1612, no doubt Bermuda would have been decimated as well, as it stood athwart the favorite sailing route from the Caribbean to southern Europe, a fortified reef endangering Spanish shipping naturally and technologically.

Prior to Butler's appearance in the seventh year of the Bermuda settlement, the populace had erected nine fortifications.

One only was made in timber and it burnt to the ground the day after Captain Butler arrived in Bermuda, that is on the afternoon of 21 October 1619, a Trafalgar Day for Bermuda's forts if you will.

The other forts were built in Bermuda stone and divide into two types. One group was the five small signal towers with one or two guns. They covered the east coast from Goat Island, just south of the entrance to Castle Harbour, to the northernmost St. Catherine's Point on St. George's Island, with one looking over the town of St. George's. None of these survive above ground, though Peniston's Redoubt on Paget Island was found by archaeologists from the College of William and Mary and the Bermuda Maritime Museum in the 1990s, working under the auspices of the Parks Department of the Bermuda Government.

The other group, though small works in themselves, were the three forts that covered the entrances to St. George's and Castle Harbours. At the former access point, Paget Fort and Smith's Fort provided a crossfire on the channel, but at the latter, only the King's Castle held sway. From 1612, the directors of the Bermuda Company had asked that a fort be erected opposite the King's Castle on the northerly Southampton Island, but little was done, for, as today, the island is very difficult to access.

Governor Butler was determined that the directive should be carried out and about this very season, 387 years ago, he was formulating plans for the execution of a fort on Southampton Island.

Leaving Christmas festivities quickly behind, he began work with "volunteers" about to depart for England on the Garland on 23 January 1620. So much work was done in two weeks that he was able to fire a salute from the new fort as the Garland left port, using guns he weighed out of the Warwick, which had sunk in Castle Harbour the previous year.The resulting Southampton Fort was a remarkable work, declared (if I say so myself) by the Governor, to be 'the finest peece of fortification' in Bermuda. So it remains, if somewhat damaged in recent hurricanes. To the rear, it had three rounded bastions, connected by crenellated curtain walls, recalling the bow and arrow technological of a medieval castle. Fronting Castle Harbour Channel, a rampart for the new weaponry of cannon was built, allowing five guns to enfilade the entrance, working with the guns of the King's Castle on Castle Island to the southwest.Until the dissolution of the Bermuda Company in 1684, we followed Governor Butler's mandate and did our own thing, militarily. The Bermuda Regiment, our present militia, may thus be said to have its origins in the building, manning and defence of the early homemade forts of the island, now all part of Bermuda's World Heritage Site, such is their wider significance today.

Photos show: 1: The east end of Bermuda and Castle Harbour. 2: Southampton Island from the west. 3: Southampton Fort from the south. 4: The plan of Southampton Fort. 5: Crenellations of one of the rear walls of Southampton Fort.

Dr. Edward Harris, mbe, jp, fsa, Bermudian, is the Executive Director of the Bermuda Maritime Museum. The views expressed here are his opinion, not necessarily those of the Trustees or Staff of the Museum. Comments can be sent to drharrislogic.bm or to P.O. Box MA 133, Sandys MABX, or by telephone 799-5480.