Ian Uys uncovers Dirkie Uys' powder horn

Update

KNYSNA NEWS - An artefact from a Voortrekker/Zulu battle was uncovered by Knysna historian Ian Uys.

Uys, who recently published Italeni - Battle of the Flight Commando, was invited to a book launch at the Voortrekker Monument last week for the 185th anniversary of the Battle of Italeni on 11 April.

While perusing the exhibits before presenting his talk, Uys recognised boy hero Dirkie Uys' powder horn in one of the displays. Ian is a distant relative of Dirkie Uys. The powder horn is a cow's horn, about 220mm long and stopped at both ends, in which gunpowder was kept.

It was most useful in rainy weather as it kept the gunpowder dry. The powder horn still has the bushbuck riempie (thong) that Dirkie's mother had fastened to it.

Historically, it was used by 15-year-old Dirkie who fell in the Battle of Italeni on 11 April 1838.

Dirkie is noted as having fought and died for his father during this battle and has been regarded as a notable historical figure of the time. The horn was seized by a Zulu herder during the battle.

It was recounted more than eighty years after the battle that the horn was presented to Eelmans van Rooyen, and the Zulu herder who had seized the horn had requested that the horn be given back to the Uys family. It was presented to Dirkie's nephew, his namesake Dirk Uys of Verena, who has since passed away.

It is assumed that an unidentified donor gave the artefact to the museum without realising its importance.

Uys notified the curators of the Voortrekker Museum and asked that an appropriate caption be posted beside the artefact in the display.

Ian Uys is the author of Italeni - Battle of the Flight Commando