(_Abridged from the United Service Journal._)
The precise time when the Cinque Ports were first incorporated by
charter is unknown, but it was at a very early period of our history;
the institution being formed on that adopted by the Romans, while
masters of Britain, for the defence of the coasts against the northern
pirates. The difference between them consists in the number of the
stations incorporated, the Roman being nine, under the governance of an
officer whose title was, Comes littoris Saxonici; and the Saxon
consisting of five, under the superintendence of a chief, whose title
is, Lord Warden and Admiral of the Cinque Ports. There is no charter
extant of the ports prior to Edward I.; and as they are not mentioned
collectively in Domesday, many persons have been led to conclude, I
think erroneously, that they did not exist as a corporation at the time
when that ancient record was taken. Dover, Sandwich, and Romney are
named as privileged ports, from which it may be inferred, that the
corporation flourished at that time,--and for this reason,--Hastings has
always been considered the first port in precedency, which would not
probably have been the case, if it had been one of the latest
privileged. The charter of Edward I. mentions immunities granted to the
Cinque Ports by William the Conqueror; and, what is still more to the
purpose, because it carries back their origin to the Saxon times, is,
that King John, in his charter, says, that the Barons of the Cinque
Ports had in their possession, charters of most of the preceding kings,
back to Edward the Confessor, _which he had seen_. So, having
traced them up to a Saxon origin, I must leave to some future antiquary
the task of settling the precise date of their first incorporation.
The five incorporated ports are, Hastings, Sandwich, Dover, Romney,
and Hythe. Attached to each port are several limbs or members, the
inhabitants of which participate in their privileges, and bear a share
of their expenses. Rye and Winchelsea were united to Hastings about the
first year of the reign of King John, under the denomination of the two
ancient towns, and they appear to have obtained the superiority which
they now hold over the other limbs, at a very early period, a charter
of the year 1247 styling them, by way of eminence,_nobiliora membra
Quinque Portuum._ The limbs are first mentioned in the Red-Book
of the Exchequer, a miscellaneous collection of treatises, written
before and after the Conquest, and collected together by Alexander
de Swereford, Archdeacon of Shrewsbury, an officer of the Exchequer,
who died in 1246: and also in the Domesday of the Ports, an ancient
manuscript, formerly kept in Dover castle, but now unfortunately lost;
but they do not occur in any charter till that of Edward IV. By what
means or for what purpose these limbs became united to the five head
ports, is now matter of speculation.
The duties which the Ports were bound to perform were incessant and of
the most arduous character, particularly during the early years of the
institution, when the narrow seas were constantly infested by numerous
hordes of fierce, adventurous, and reckless pirates. Exonerated from all
other services, they were bound to exert their own naval force for the
protection of the realm, for the maintenance of the free navigation of
the Channel, for the prevention of piracies, and all impediments and
interruptions whatsoever. Effectually to perform these services,
dangerous and difficult it must be allowed, they were obliged to furnish
among them fifty-seven ships, each manned with twenty men and one boy,
at their own cost, for fifteen days, and for as long a period afterwards
as the king pleased to appoint; but they were then entitled to receive
pay for their services. The sums granted to them by the crown were by no
means a remuneration for the expenses attendant on the large naval force
they wore obliged to keep up at all times for the service of the
kingdom, and often did not cover a third part of the necessary
expenditure. The ships of the Cinque Ports, therefore, were the navy of
the realm, and in almost every reign the pages of history show with how
great honour and reputation the Ports discharged the sacred trust
reposed in their valour, skill and bravery, by their confiding country.
We sometimes find them fitting out double the number of ships specified
in their charters; and when larger ones were thought necessary, they
have equipped a smaller number, at an expense equivalent to that which
their service by tenure demanded. In the reign of Elizabeth they had
five ships, of one hundred and sixty tons each, at sea for five months,
entirely at their own charge; and in the reign of Charles the First,
they fitted out two large ships, which served for two months, and cost
them more than eighteen hundred pounds.
The honours and privileges granted to the Cinque Ports, in consideration
of these services, were great and numerous. They were each to send two
barons to represent them in parliament; they were, by their deputies,
to hear the canopy over the king's head at his coronation, and to dine
at the uppermost table, on his right hand, in the great hall; they were
exempted from subsidies and other aids; their heirs were free from
personal wardship, notwithstanding any tenure; they were to be impleaded
in their own towns, and nowhere else; they were to hold pleas and
actions real and personal; to have conusance of fines; and the power
of enfranchising villeins; they were exempt from tolls, and had full
liberty of buying and selling, with many other privileges of less
importance.
To direct the energies, to enforce the due performance of the important
services, and to protect the extraordinary privileges of the Ports, an
officer was created, and styled Lord Warden, Chancellor, and Admiral of
the Cinque Ports, an officer of such high dignity and honour, that it
has been sometimes executed by the heirs-apparent to the crown, often by
princes of the blood royal, and always by persons of the first rank in
the kingdom.
History affords abundant proof of the early grandeur and importance
of the Cinque Ports, situated in a district which, from the earliest
periods of authentic record, has been allowed to be the most fertile,
and the best cultivated in the kingdom, as well as the principal seat of
foreign commerce. Here the Roman power in Britain shone in its greatest
splendour; many good ports were constructed and fortified, large remains
of which exist to the present time, melancholy indications of the
instability of all mundane things. The prosperity and importance of this
district, the chief, or indeed the only, seat of maritime power, at that
period, cannot be better illustrated than by the fact of Carausius and
Allectus holding the title of emperors for ten years from the power
afforded them by the naval force of Britain. But the grandeur of the
Romans has faded into dimness, and of their magnificence nothing remains
but mouldering ruins. Their celebrated haven, situated between Kent and
the Isle of Thanet, which for position, extent, and safety, exceeded any
which we have remaining, is now lost; and of their other ports, some are
completely annihilated, others have become very inconsiderable, and all
very greatly impaired.
Under our Saxon ancestors, by whom the Cinque Ports were first
chartered, all the havens were open and in good condition, in which
state they were found by the Normans, who confirmed to the Ports their
ancient privileges. Through several centuries their prosperity continued
to increase; the towns were well built, fully inhabited, and in
possession of a lucrative and extensive commerce; they had many fine
ships constantly employed, and abounded with hardy and intrepid seamen;
opulence was visible in their streets, and happiness in their dwellings.
But times have sadly changed with them. Let us inquire into the causes
which led to their decay. The first cause is the failing of their
several havens, some by the desertion of the sea, and others from being
choked up by the impetuosity of that boisterous and uncertain element.
The second is the change that has taken place in the method of raising
and supporting a national marine, now no longer entrusted to the Cinque
Ports; and the third was from the invasion of their privileges with
respect to trade.
It is evident from their history that the Cinque Ports were once safe
and commodious harbours, the decay of which is attributable chiefly to
the practice of inning or gaining land from the sea; the first attempts
at which were made upon the estuary into which the river Rother
discharges itself, between Lydd and Romney. As there were marshes here
in the time of the Saxons, and as almost all the property in the
neighbourhood belonged to the church, it is most probable that this
mischievous practice was first introduced by their clergy. By various
operations the river was forced into a new channel, and a very strong
fence, called a ree, was built to ensure its perpetual exclusion.
The success which attended this operation roused the cupidity of the
Archbishops of Canterbury, who considering it as an excellent method
for increasing their property, continued to make large and successful
inroads on the sea, till the tract of land so gained may be computed
at between fifty and sixty thousand acres, now become rich and fertile
pastures, producing good rents, and extremely valuable.
Before these encroachments were effected upon the sea, no contention
existed between that turbulent element and the shore; but as soon as
cupidity made inroads upon its ancient boundary, and declared war
against the order of nature, the effects of its impetuous resentment
were speedily felt. Whoever supposes he can control old Ocean, or make
war upon his ancient border with impunity, will find himself mistaken,
and soon discover that he knew little of the perseverance, the genius,
or the power of his opponent. It retired from some towns and places
where they intended it should remain, and overflowed or washed away
others grown rich by its bounty; here it fretted and undermined the
shore till it fell, and there it cast up beach and sand, covering a
good soil with that which is both disagreeable and useless; and instead
of being the source of industry and wealth, it became the engine of
destruction and terror. Hastings, Romney, Hythe, Rye, and Winchelsea,
with their dependencies, are now totally gone as ports, and greatly
diminished in wealth and consequence. Winchelsea was once so large and
handsome, that Elizabeth, during one of her progresses, bestowed upon it
the appellation of Little London. Hythe formerly contained seven parish
churches, now reduced to one. Rye and Romney look as if the plague had
been raging through their dull and gloomy streets, and had carried
off nearly all the population. Hastings, though still flourishing
as a town, owes its prosperity to its having become a fashionable
sea-bathing-place; for as to a port or haven, there is not a vestige of
one remaining. Thus it will be seen that private individuals, for their
own benefit, have been suffered to gain from the sea fifty thousand
acres of pasture land, at a cost to the nation of five safe and
commodious harbours, and the ruin of their several towns; thus reversing
the political maxim, that private interest ought to give way to public
benefit.
Similar in state to the five towns just named, is the once-celebrated
and commodious port and town of Sandwich, now distant a mile and a half
from the sea. This circumstance, also, is not attributable to any
natural decline or desertion of the water, but to the long-continued
exertions of individuals, for the purpose of gaining land from that
estuary which formerly divided Kent from the Isle of Thanet. The estuary
is no more, and deplorable are the consequences which have followed its
loss; for towns have dwindled into villages, and villages into solitary
farm-houses, throughout the entire district through which it flowed;
trade and commerce have declined, and population has suffered a most
extensive and frightful reduction.
In exchange for the ancient prosperity of this neighbourhood, we have
large fens or salt marshes, rich in fertility and malaria; but in this,
as in the former contest, the sea has had the best of it; for Bede has
clearly expressed in his writings that "the Isle of Thanet was of
considerable bigness, containing, according to the English way of
reckoning, 600 families." Supposing, therefore, a family or a hide of
land to contain only 64 acres, the smallest quantity taken by any author
of credit, the quantity of land, at the time he wrote, will amount to
38,400 acres; which, exclusive of the salt marshes, is double the
quantity contained in the island at the present time; we have,
therefore, lost more land than we have gained, and, most unfortunately,
the safe and eligible port of Sandwich into the bargain.
The port of the town of Sandwich, was for centuries one of the best and
most frequented in the realm, producing to the revenue of the customs
between sixteen and seventeen thousand pounds. But with the decay of
her haven, commerce declined, and the revenue became so small, "that it
was scarcely sufficent to satisfy the customer of his fee:" a dull and
melancholy gloom is now spread through all her streets, and around her
walls, where, during the times that her haven was good and her woollen
manufactures were prosperous, naught was visible but activity, industry,
and opulence. Her sun has been long and darkly eclipsed; but with a
little well-directed exertion on the part of her inhabitants, and a
moderate expenditure, it might be made to shine again, though not,
perhaps, in all the brilliancy of its former splendour.[6]
Dover, the other port remaining to be noticed, is certainly a
flourishing town at present; but to what does it owe its prosperity? Not
to any of its advantages as one of the Cinque Ports, but to the
circumstances of its being the port of communication with out Gallic
neighbours, and to its having become frequented for the purpose of
sea-bathing, which latter is a recent event. As a sea-bathing place it
is likely it may appear cheerful and gay, even when the Continent is
closed against us; but before it became a candidate for the favour of
the migratory hordes of the summer months, it was, during the period of
a war with France, one of the dullest towns in the kingdom.
The last calamity which I shall notice, is the attack which was made
upon their home trade. They were, by their charter, to have full liberty
of buying and selling, which privilege was opposed by the citizens of
London, who disputed their right to buy and sell freely their woollens
in Blackwell Hall. The charter of the ports is one hundred years older
than that of London, but, notwithstanding this priority of right, the
citizens of London prevailed. The result was indeed calamitous, for
after the decay of the haven, the chief source of prosperity to the town
of Sandwich consisted in the woollen manufactures, and as the freedom of
buying and selling was now denied, the manufacturers immediately
removed, and were soon followed by the owners of the trading vessels,
and the merchants; and thus basely deprived of those advantages from
which arose their ancient opulence and splendour, they sank with
rapidity into that insignificance and poverty which have unfortunately
remained their inseparable companions up to the present hour. Among the
princes who have executed the high and honourable office of Lord Warden
of the Cinque Ports, we find the names of the brave and unfortunate
Harold, in the time of the Confessor, and Edward, Prince of Wales, in
the time of Henry III. Henry V., when Prince of Wales, held this office,
which was afterwards filled by Humphry, Duke of Gloucester. James II.,
when Duke of York, was Lord Warden, as was also Prince George of
Denmark, with many other princes of the royal blood. In celebrated names
among the nobility, the catalogue of Lords Warden is eminently rich.
The family of Fiennes occurs frequently, as does also that of Montfort.
Hugh Bigod; several of the family of Cobham, as well as the names of
Burghersh, De Grey, Beauchamp, Basset, and De Burgh, are studded over
the calendar, in the early reigns. Edward, Lord Zouch, and George, Duke
of Buckingham, were Lords Warden in the reign of James I.; since that
period the office has been filled by the Duke of Ormond; the Earl of
Holdernesse, whose attention to the advantages of the ports was great;
Lord North, the late Mr. Pitt, whose affability and condescension,
added to a real regard for the prosperity of the Cinque Ports, and
an unremitted attention to the duties of the Wardenship, gained him
universal esteem; and lastly, by that honest and respected stateman, the
late Earl of Liverpool. The mantle of the ports has now fallen on his
Grace the Duke of Wellington, than whose name there does not exist a
greater in the catalogue of Lords Warden. The public spirit displayed
by the Duke, since his wardenship, cannot be too widely known, nor too
highly applauded,--his grace having paid into the Treasury, for the
public service, the whole amount of the proceeds of his office, as Lord
Warden, thus furnishing a noble example of magnanimity and
disinterestedness.
[6] We believe that measures are in progress for re-establishing
the commercial importance of Sandwich, by the restoration of
the once celebrated haven. The town, we may add, is noble in
its decay; for, among the jurats and burgesses are several
worthy and opulent retired merchants, who would doubtless
rejoice in the revival of Sandwich, for the welfare of their
more aspiring townsmen,--_Ed. M._
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