Up From the Sea in Shipments

The relics of the Mary Rose, the lost warship of King Henry VIII, are on show at the county Natural History Museum. The items were dug out of the ocean off Portsmouth, England, where the ship sank in a freak wind 441 years ago--taking nearly 700 men with it, as Henry watched. The warship jammed into the mud within moments, becoming a “Tudor time capsule.” The artifacts brought up under the patronage of Prince Charles show the sailors’ lives caught in mid-avast: dice, a manicure set, pocket sundials (the Tudor Rolex), a flea on a comb. The exhibit runs until Oct. 15. Incidentally, just to be on the safe side, the British flew the collection over to us.