I'm with Mick here. I think that the story told in Harris and The Mare is just that. A story. I think William of Orange is a great song and a great message. In time the message may even become acceptable to sing at Irish Fests.

Regards muzzle loaded cannons. I think you will find that it all depends on the direction of the damage. The barrels split along there length. The breaches crack around their circumfrence.

The end result of all this is the guns were damaged in a way that made them unreliable and possibly unaimable.

It is another of Stan's musical short stories that may be poor in history or accurate terminology but still a damn fine story.

Don