The Ulster Frogman and the hunt for Lough Neagh's hidden treasure

AS he gazed out to Lough Neagh on that chilly but bright winter’s day in 1955, farmer Frederick Watterson saw something glint in the sunshine.

It was a silver coin. And it was clearly very old.

He was well-used to the lough giving up its secrets on his land, known locally as The Bog, but this was a bit different.

Working on a hunch that old coins rarely travel alone, he stepped away from his plough and began scrambling around in the claggy muck by the water’s edge.

Soon he spotted another. And another. Eventually his pockets were filled by 132 pieces of silver.

It later emerged that the hoard covered a period of some 88 years from the reign of Mary (1553-58) to about 1642 in the reign of Charles I.

With the exception of two coins, one from Spanish America and a Scottish 30s piece, they consisted entirely of English half-crowns, shillings and six pences - all struck at the Tower Mint in London.

Word of the find soon spread.

A short time later, a local man and his nephew were strolling along a secluded section of the lough shore when he spotted what appeared to be a penny lying in the water a couple of yards out.

The young lad, who fancied himself as a bit of a treasure hunter, needed no encouragement to paddle in and retrieve the coin - which tuned out to be a half crown.

“Our quiet afternoon had suddenly become exciting and after a quarter of an hour’s fishing around in the water we had in our hands quite a nice little treasure - two half crowns, two florins and ten threepenny bits,” said the man.

Interesting, sure, but if there were rich pickings by the shore what else was lurking out there in the depths?

That was the question piquing the curiosity of Ernest Camlin.

He was a nurseryman by trade and a pretty useful rugby player to boot - but in his spare time he was something of an aquatic Indiana Jones, winkling out hidden archaeology under the waves.

Known as the ‘Ulster frogman’, Ernie had bought his diving gear for about £100 in 1954 - and he never looked back.

Soon he became a bona fide celebrity in his own right, even appearing in TV so sing about his exploits, performing ‘Song of the Frogman’ on David Nixon’s popular show in full diving gear.

And, no, he had no problem with his high C!

His first job was retrieving an elaborate toy yacht which sank in 30 feet of water. It was, he said, ‘a model piece of salvage’.

In the coming months he was called upon to dive for everything from outboard motors, to a section of a railway bridge that had fallen into the Bann, to a Thompson sub-machinegun from the bed of the Lagan.

But a man who thought nothing of diving to depths of 200 feet was looking for more. He longed for adventure - and soon plans for a treasure hunt with a difference in the murky waters of Lough Neagh took shape.

He had heard about the coins, of course, but he really caught the bug when he and Alex Scott, his friend and assistant - who, incidentally, had been blinded during the war - were scouting for locations of interest in the huge waterway.

“We got chatting to the older men about the legends that have been handed down from generation to generation,” he said.

“We check the legend in the history books and then organise a plan of campaign.”

And one that particularly caught his attention dates back to the 1640s during the rebellion.

It is said that Sir Phelim O’Neill had sent boats out onto the lough to capture English boats and relieve them of their loot.

Sir John Clotworthy, the commander of the English garrison, was soon wise to him and determined to stop the raids he gathered a fleet of small vessels and built a ‘super dreadnought’ of 25 tons, bristling with six brass cannons.

Returning from one of their missions, Sir Phelim’s flotilla was overtaken by the English ships, whose heavier broadsides sank several of the Irish vessels.

Others were beached, but Clotworthy’s men gave chase and routed them, taking the captured boats and prisoners in triumph back to Antrim.

“Our ears pricked up when we heard the next part of the story,” said Mr Camlin.

“One of the sunken ships was said to contain great quantities of gold. We decided to investigate.”

The local fishermen were quick to offer a few pointers - telling him about the submerged obstructions that routinely snagged their nets.

But it was still a complex task. Visibility at 10 feet below is limited to a few feet, and only gets worse the deeper you dive rendering Ernie’s handmade torch less than useless.

There was also the question of sand. If the ship had come to rest on it, the vessel could be buried well under the body of the lough.

“Critics say ‘Why do you believe these old wives tales?’ The strange thing is that on occasions these old legends have been proved correct.

“So if some kind inventive friend would help to make an underwater metal detector it would help to simplify the search.

“Meanwhile, I shall keep on searching.

“I haven’t got the backing of the scientists and dry land archeologists yet, but I have the fishermen behind me to a man. They’re as excited about the treasure ship as we are.”

Indeed, in 1958 he widened his search after learning of another trove nearby - a box containing gold and other valuables that had been thrown into the lough in 1657 by monks rather than surrender it to Cromwellian forces.

Local legend has it that Cromwell was so incensed that he ordered his men to blast the bell of the monastery church into the water with their cannons.

Assisted by fishermen Felix McGarry and Gerry Mallon, he set about retrieving both the box and the bell!

And in March 1959 it seemed that they had a bit of a breakthrough.

While diving through the ‘glar’, Ernie’s inquisitive fingers brushed past several large pieces of wood - and it was reckoned that they came from a ship dating back to the 15th or 16th century.

But of the treasure, there was no sign. Shame.

Sadly it seems that Ernie never did get his hands on the ancient gold.

He died in 1975 at the age of 60.

Ironically, in 1963 ‘hidden treasure’ was uncovered - after a fashion.

But any wealth did not reach the pockets of local folk.

Almost a decade after the lowering the level of the lough, Shaftesbury Estates Co were getting down to the task of informing the several hundred farmers who acquired the reclaimed land that it owned the shooting rights for the those extra acres.

A company spokesman said they hoped there would not be any ‘unpleasantness’ from the landowners.

“It’s hard to see how we can be charged for the shooting rights of our own land,” said one disgruntled farmer. Quite right too.

So is there still treasure lurking under the waters of the lough? Who knows.

Thomas Moore seemed to hint that there are secrets still to be told in his famous poem which captures the area’s rich history - and a longing for its past.

It reads: ‘On Lough Neagh’s banks, when the fisherman strays,

Or in his boat reclining.

He sees the round towers of other days

In the waters beneath him shining’.

Perhaps it’s time for an enterprising adventurer to dig out those flippers and begin the search anew?