Читать книгу King's Cutters and Smugglers 1700-1855 - E. Keble Chatterton - Страница 10

NAME OF CRUISER	LIMITS OF HER SPHERE
Rye	Pembroke to Lundy Island
Discovery	Milford to Swansea
Dolphin	Milford to Exmouth
Hastings	Milford to Exmouth
Woolwich	Downs to Falmouth
Swan	Downs to Falmouth
Fly	Off Folkestone
Dispatch	Off Folkestone

This fairly well covered the region to which goods were likely to be run from the Continent as well as that from which the owlers were wont to export their wool. From an entry among the documents preserved in the Custom House at Newcastle, dated September 1729, we can see that also the north-east coast was guarded thus:—

NAME OF CRUISER	LIMITS OF HER SPHERE
Cruiser	Flamborough Head to Newcastle
Deal Castle	Newcastle to Leith
Spy	Firth of Forth to Newcastle

And about the last-mentioned date the Deal Castle had succeeded in capturing four French smuggling craft and brought them into Shields.

To the other side of England the Isle of Man, which was a veritable contraband depôt, used to send quantities of dutiable goods, Liverpool being the favourite destination, and it was a more difficult matter here to deal with than in many other ports. On October 9, 1713, the Collector at Liverpool writes to the Board of Customs that he thinks a sloop would be of little service for that port. Some time ago they had one, which was not a success "by reason of ye dangerousness and difficulty of the harbour and ye many shoales of sand, which often shift in bad weather." The Manxmen were a thoroughly lawless, desperate species of smugglers, who stopped at nothing, and were especially irate towards all Revenue and public officials, recognising no authority other than might and a certain respect for the Duke of Atholl, the owner of the Isle of Man.

Among the letters to Southampton there is a record dated June 14, 1729, which shows that a number of his Majesty's sloops were appointed by the Admiralty to cruise off the coasts of the kingdom to prevent the exporting of wool and the running of goods by the import-smugglers. For instance, the Admiralty sloop Swift was appointed to cruise between Portland, Poole, and Jack-in-the-Basket off the entrance to Lymington Harbour, Hants, her commander being a Captain Cockayne. Similarly the sloop Success (Captain Thomas Smith, commander) was to cruise between Portland and Spithead, and the Rye (Captain John Edwards) between the Isle of Wight and Beachy Head to the eastward. It was part of the duty of the Revenue officers at Southampton to see that these three ships constantly cruised on their station, and if their commanders were found negligent of this duty the matter was to be reported to the Board of Customs. The Revenue craft were apparently not above suspicion, for in November of 1729 the Southampton officers of the Customs reported to headquarters that this very sloop, the Swift, every time she went across to Guernsey in connection with her duties of prevention, used to bring back quantities of wine, brandy, and other dutiable goods under the pretence that they were the ship's stores. The intention, however, was nothing less than that which dominated the actions of the smugglers themselves—the very class against which the Swift was employed—for Captain Cockayne's men used to find it no very difficult matter to run these goods ashore clandestinely under the very eyes of the unsuspecting Customs officers. The Commissioners of the Customs therefore sent down strict instructions that the Swift was to be rummaged every time she arrived at Southampton from Guernsey. We shall have reason presently to refer more especially to the Channel Isles again, but it may suffice for the present to state that they were in the south the counterpart of the Isle of Man in the north as being a depôt whence the import smugglers fetched their goods across to England.

Additional to the Naval sloops just mentioned, there were two other cutters belonging to the Southampton station under the Revenue and not, of course, Admiralty-owned craft. These vessels were respectively the Calshot and the Hurst, and it is worth noting that at the time we are thinking of (1729) these vessels are referred to generally as "yatchs" or "yachts." It was not quite seventy years since the first yacht—that presented to Charles II., named the Mary—had arrived in England, and it was only in 1720 that the first yacht club had been established, not in England, but in Cork. If we may judge from contemporary paintings of yachts we can visualise the Hurst and Calshot as being very tubby, bluff-bowed craft with ample beam. But what would especially strike us in these modern days would be the exceptionally long bowsprit, the forward end of which was raised considerably above the water than its after end, both jib and foresail each working on a stay.

The commander of the Calshot yacht was a Captain Mears, and there is an entry in the Southampton documents to the effect that he was paid the sum of £2, 12s. 6d. for piloting his vessel from Southampton to Guernsey and back in connection with the Preventive duties. This trip took him five days, his pay being half a guinea a day. It is clear from a record of the following year that Mears was employed by special arrangement, for on July 18, 1730, the Board of Customs decided that it was necessary that Captain John Mears, commander of the Calshot yacht at Southampton, should now be placed on the same footing as the other commanders of the Revenue sloops and smacks in regard to the matter of wear and tear. Henceforth the sum of 30s. per ton was to be allowed him instead of £47 per annum. Both yacht and her boats were to be kept in good repair, but the commander was first to give security to have the vessel and her boats generally in good order and reasonable repair, loss by violence of the sea or other unavoidable accidents excepted. The commander was also to find the sloop and her boats with all manner of necessaries and materials, so that the Crown was to be at no charge on that account in the future; and every quarter the Comptroller and Collector of the port were to certify to the Board as to whether the yacht and boats were in good repair.

It would appear that these two vessels were not actually owned by the Customs but hired from Captain Mears; and less than a month before the above order the Surveyor-General of the Customs for Hampshire represented to the Board that it would be necessary to allow the commander of the Hurst half-a-dozen muskets, two pairs of pistols, half-a-dozen swords or cutlasses, and these were accordingly ordered to be sent, together with two swivel guns, from Weymouth to Captain Mears "by the first coast vessel bound to" Southampton. There was certainly need for a strict vigilance to be kept in that neighbourhood, for there was a good deal of smuggling then being carried on along the Hampshire shore in the vicinity of Hurst Castle and Beaulieu.

In another chapter we shall go into the important matter touching the flags that were worn by the vessels employed in looking after smuggling, but, in passing, we may call attention to a letter which the Board sent to Southampton at this time referring to the proclamation of December 18, 1702, by which no ships whatsoever were allowed to wear a pendant excepting those engaged in the service of the Royal Navy, but that the sloops employed in the several public offices (as, for instance, the Customs and the Excise) should wear Jacks, whereon was to be described the seal used in the respective offices. And Captain John Mears, senior, of the Calshot, and Captain John Mears, junior, of the Hurst, were to be informed that they must deliver up their pendants to the Customs' office at Southampton and for the future forbear wearing a pendant. Instead thereof they are to wear a Jack and ensign with the seal of office therein, "but the mark in the ensign is to be twice as large as that in the Jack; and if the captain should hereafter find that the not wearing a pendant will be any obstruction or hindrance to the service," the Board of Customs is to be informed.[3]

We have now seen something of the sloops and cutters on the south, the west, and the north-east coasts. Let us take a glance at the district to the southward of Flamborough during this same period. From the Hull letter book we find that in September of 1733 the Admiralty appointed Captain Burrish of the Blandford and Sir Roger Butler of the Bonetta to cruise between Flamborough and Newcastle; but Captain Oates of the Fly and Captain Rycant of the Tryal were to cruise between Flamborough and Yarmouth. There is also a reference to the Revenue sloop Humber employed in this neighbourhood on Preventive work. She was a somewhat expensive craft to keep up, as she was frequently needing repairs and renewals. First, she was to have a new cable which was to cost £20, 14s. 3–½d.; and it is a striking reminder of those days of hemp and sail that this bill was paid to the "ropemakers." A few months later she had to undergo repairs which amounted to £31, 10s. 6–¼d., and less than six months afterwards she had to be given a new anchor which cost £18, 8s. 9d. Three years later she was given a new suit of sails which came to £25, 17s. 1d. but her old suit was sold for the sum of eight guineas. And finally, in 1744, as she had begun to cost so much for repairing, the Board determined to sell her.

Notwithstanding that the south coast, by reason of its proximity to the Continent and the Channel Isles, was a convenient and popular objective for the smugglers running their goods from France and Holland, yet the Yorkshire coast was by no means neglected. From Dunkirk and Flushing especially goods poured into the county. There was a small sloop, for instance, belonging to Bridlington, which was accustomed to sail across the North Sea to one of the ports in Zealand, where a cargo was taken aboard consisting of the usual dutiable articles such as tea, tobacco, and gin. The return voyage was then made and the goods landed clandestinely at some convenient spot between the Spurn Lighthouse and Bridlington.

Similarly, farther south than the Humber smuggling by illegal importation went on extensively in the early eighteenth century. Sometimes a Dutch vessel would arrive in Grimsby Roads and succeed in quietly running her goods to the shore. In the autumn of 1734 the master of the Dutch schuyt The Good Luck of Camphire, alias The Brotherly Love, had succeeded in running as many as 166 half-ankers[4] of brandy and 50 lbs. of tea on the coast near Great Yarmouth, the skipper's name being Francis Coffee. He was a notorious smuggler. But on this occasion both he and his vessel were captured.

Still, matters were not always satisfactory on board the Revenue sloops and smacks, for whenever, at this time, there was an encounter with the smugglers afloat the latter were so violent and desperate that the captors went about their work with their lives in their hands. Furthermore, it was not altogether a pleasing business to have to fire at fellow-countrymen, many of whom they had known from boyhood. Then, again, there was not the space on these sloops and cutters, nor the amount of deck room to be found on the men-of-war; and to be cooped up in these comparatively small vessels always on the qui vive, usually near the shore but able to have shore-leave all too rarely, was calculated to make for restlessness. Added to which a very considerable portion of the crews of these Revenue craft was composed of men who had spent years of their lives as smugglers themselves. Consequently it was not altogether surprising that mutinies and refusals to obey their commander's orders were of frequent occurrence. After a time it was decided that those members of the crew which had to be dismissed for such offences were to be handed over to the commander of the next man-of-war that should come along, and be pressed into the service of the Navy, though, it may be added, this was not always a welcome gift to the Naval commander compelled to receive a handful of recalcitrant men aboard his ship. Then, again, when at last a handful of smugglers had been captured it was the duty of the Revenue officers to prosecute them before the magistrate at their own expense. This was regarded as an unfair hardship, and in 1736 the system was modified by the Treasury allowing an officer a third of whatever amount was recovered, the prosecution to be carried on at the King's expense. At the same time it was undeniable that some commanders of these sloops and cutters were not quite as active as they might be on their station. There was too ready an excuse to run in from the sea and too great an inclination to spend valuable time in port. They were accordingly now enjoined not to presume to lay up for the purpose of giving the ship's bottom a scrub, or for a refit, without previously giving the Collector and Comptroller of the port ten days' notice. This was not to occur unless the cruiser really needed such attention; but if it was essential then to prevent the station remaining unguarded some other smack or vessel was to be sent out to take her place for the time being. For the smugglers were kept so well informed of the movements of the Revenue ships that a contraband cargo of goods would soon be found approaching the shore during the night when the watch had been relaxed.

But from an early date—at any rate as far back as 1694—the East India ships were notorious also for smuggling into the country a considerable amount of goods that ought to have paid duty. We shall bring forward instances presently of East Indiamen, homeward bound, being boarded as they come up Channel, or while waiting in the Downs and putting some of their cargo on board smuggling cutters and Deal boats, which was subsequently quietly and secretly brought into the country. Silks were especially popular among the smugglers in this connection. In those days, too, the more wealthy passengers coming home by these East Indiamen used to leave the ship at Spithead, where they came in for that purpose. These passengers would then be put ashore at Portsmouth, and, proceeding by coach to London, thus shortened their sea journey. But notwithstanding their ample means, many of these travellers were constantly found endeavouring to land dutiable articles. In short, rich and poor, high and low, there was no class that did not endeavour to engage in smuggling either directly or indirectly. Even if the party never ventured on the sea, he might be a very active aider and abettor in meeting the boat as it brought the casks ashore, or keeping a look out for the Preventive men, giving the latter false information, thus throwing them on the wrong scent. Or again, even if he did not act the part of signaller by showing warning lights from the cliff, he could loan his cellars, his horses, or his financial support. In fact there were many apparently respectable citizens who, by keeping in the background, were never suspected of having any interest in these nefarious practices, whereas they were in fact the instigators and the capitalists of many a successful run. And as such they were without doubt morally responsible for the deaths by murder which occurred in those incidents, when violence was used after the Revenue men had come on to the scene.

But as to morality, was there ever a period when the national character was so slack and corrupt as in the eighteenth century?