Royal Gong

The above gong was presented to H.R.H. The Duke of York – subsequently King George V – and Princess May of Teck upon their wedding in 1893, by Henry Castle & Sons the predecessor business name of Castles Shipbreaking Ltd.

Carved on the oak arch from which the bronze gong is suspended is the motto NEMO ME IMPUNE LACESSIT ( No one provokes me with impunity) which is the motto of The Order of the Thistle of which The Duke of York had been made a Knight of the day before his marriage. The upright sides are carved with replicas of the all-enduring Atlas like caryatids which had begun their service on the Temeraire’s stern galleries.

The stand of the Gong carries two inscribed shields. The upper one reads:

THE TEMERAIRE GONG STAND A SOUVENIR OF THE WOODEN WALLS OF OLD ENGLAND AND GRACIOUSLY ACCEPTED BY H.R.H. CAPTAIN THE DUKE OF YORK RN ON HIS MARRIAGE WITH THE PRINCESS MAY 1893 FROM THEIR HIGHNESSES MOST HUMBLE AND OBEDIENT SERVANTS H. CASTLE & SONS

As a final epitaph to the Temeraire, the last two verses of the popular Duff-Hobbs song are engraved on the lower shield:

" Friends depart and are forgot As time rolls fleetly by
  In after years none, none are left for them to heave a sigh
  But history's page will ever mark The glories they did share
  And gild the sunset of her fate, The brave old Temeraire."
  

It is currently understood that the Gong is now kept at Balmoral in Scotland.

Furthermore we know that as late as 1893 Castles were still in possession of wood remnants from the Temeraire at the time the Gong was presented to his H.R.H.