Old sea dog of the Mary Rose

THE skeleton of a two-year-old dog discovered with the wreck of the Mary Rose has been reunited with other artefacts from the Tudor warship.

The dog, which staff at the Mary Rose Trust have named Hatch, would have been kept as a pet on board Henry VIII's flagship, which sank in 1545.

However, it would also have been a working member of the 500-strong crew and earned its keep as a ratter. The preserved skeleton is now on display for the first time alongside other artefacts at the Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth, ahead of the opening of a new, bigger museum in 2012.

John Lippiett, the chief executive of the Mary Rose Trust, said: "The public, especially children, have always been particularly fascinated to learn that a dog had been discovered during the excavation."