McManus 168

Anthony Trail was the 8th of 11 children born to the Reverend David Trail (of Panbride Church) and his wife, Elizabeth Biss. His father David, was the 3rd generation of Trails to have become ministers of the Established Church at Panbride.

Although Anthony himself did not choose a life in the ministry, his sister Dorothea married William Robertson, minister at Carmyllie, sister Ann became a nun at St Margaret’s Convent in Edinburgh and his brother Robert elected (after the disruption within the Church) to become a minister of the Free Church at Boyndie,^[15] thereby adding yet another generation to find a calling in the Church.

Nor was Anthony the only one to have joined the Honourable East India Company as his brother David became an assistant surgeon, also with the Company.^[15] He died at Trichinopoly in 1845.^[15] His brother John, a Captain in the Bengal Engineers, died in 1864.^[15]

Anthony Trail, while a seaman with HEIC, rose in position from midshipman to Captain. The purposes of his voyages can only be supposed but, it would appear, they took him to far flung parts of the globe and offered witness to many events.

CHINESE GUNS – A piece of Chinese artillery, taken from the Admiral’s junk at the island of Chusan has been sent to this country by Captain Trail, son of Dr Trail of Panbride, who was present with the expedition (this at the time of the first opium war). The gun is exactly six feet in length, with a bore of about two inches in diameter, thus admitting a ball of about two pounds in weight, and has much the appearance of one of our street lamp posts, only it is not quite so thick. It is composed of separate bars, looped together after the manner customary with artillery in ancient times, of which the celebrated gun “Mons Meg” in Edinburgh Castle is a specimen. Apparently it is of considerable antiquity, the touch hole being greatly enlarged, and the gun otherwise worn by rust. We are inclined to think that in an engagement it would be more apt to prove destructive to those who worked it than to those against whom it was to be used. Captain Trail has handsomely presented it to the museum of the Dundee Watt Institution.’^[16]

Doubtless, Anthony Trail’s voyages for the Company as Captain were not always uneventful though the same may be said of his voyages as a passenger, so the following report testified:

SHIPWRECK OF THE STEAMER ENTERPRISE IN THE INDIAN SEAS – Letters have been received in town from the passengers on board the Enterprise, that give various details of her narrow escape from destruction. The landing of the ladies is described as a most perilous affair, from the heavy surf that was beating on the rocky islet. We believe they were borne ashore in the arms of the officers and people, who were half swimming, half wading, as the boat could not go close in or she would have been dashed to pieces by the surf on grounding. How, in such circumstances, the helpless females were put on the rock and taken off in safety, we cannot conceive; but it was chiefly owing to the skill and intrepidity of Captain Trail, a passenger, who had charge of the boat. At one time everyone supposed that the steamer must go to pieces.

It was stated that the occurrence ‘will possess considerable interest to many of our readers, from the circumstances that Captain Anthony Trail (son of the Reverend Dr Trail of Panbride) was on board the vessel, and, as will be seen, acted a distinguished part in the rescue of his fellow passengers.’^[17]

After a life on the high seas, Anthony Trail’s life settled on dry land from 1849, when he both retired from the service and gained a wife in Agnes Collier.