THE SMUGGLERS' METHODS
It was not till June of 1746 that the Committee issued their second
report, and the evidence therein contained is even more interesting to
us than any which had hitherto been given. After the Solicitor to the
Commissioners had shown how biassed juries frequently were towards
prisoners brought up on charges connected with smuggling, how they
declined to bring in a verdict against them even in spite of the
clearest of evidence, another official (the Surveyor of the Searchers
in the Port of London) stated that when he had received information
that there had been a run of goods in a certain locality and had even
received information as to the road along which they would be brought,
he had been compelled to travel by night and carefully to avoid all
the beaten paths. Indeed, if people whom they might meet on the road
noticed a Custom House officer and any soldiers together, their design
would immediately be suspected and warning would promptly be sent to
the smugglers, who would hide their goods. He added, also, that he
remembered on one occasion that a couple of vessels landed in the
Isle of Thanet as much tea as could be loaded on the backs of two
hundred horses.
But it was when the ex-smugglers came to give their evidence that the
real secrets of the trade were unfolded. Robert Hanning, who for years
had been one of the most distinguished members of the industry,
informed the Commission that formerly he was the principal dealer with
the smugglers when he resided at Dunkirk. Some idea of the colossal
business which he had carried on may be gathered from his admission
that he had sold teas, brandies, and wines to be run into England _to
the extent of_ £40,000 _per annum_. And let us not forget to bear in
mind that of course this probably represented the value of the goods
when they were put on board. What they actually realised after they
were smuggled into the English market must have been something
considerable.
Hanning was followed by a certain Captain Joseph Cockburn, who had a
very instructive story to tell, which must have amazed even the
Commissioners. This gallant skipper was now commanding one of his
Majesty's sloops, but prior to that he had been engaged in
privateering, and before that had commanded several vessels employed
in smuggling. From his very infancy he had been concerned in the
practice of running goods, and his apprenticeship had been served to
a smuggler at Rochester, who was nominally a fisherman. Consequently,
with an accumulated knowledge obtained first as a smuggler and
subsequently as a pursuer of smugglers, there was not much, if
anything at all, in connection with the work which could have missed
his attention. He proved himself a veritable encyclopædia of smuggling
information, and even the following brief summary will show that his
experience was something exceptional.
First of all, he instanced the case of five cutters which he knew were
constantly employed in running tea and brandy from Boulogne into Kent
and Sussex. They imported at least six tons of tea and two thousand
half-ankers of brandy _every week_. He estimated that the six tons of
tea would be purchased abroad for £1920. The two thousand half-ankers
of brandy, even if they cost but ten shillings apiece, would represent
the sum of £1000; so altogether there was a total of nearly £3000
being carried out of the country in specie every week by these five
cutters alone. But he also knew of five other cutters which were
constantly employed in fetching brandy and tea from Middleburgh and
Flushing, and he reckoned that these ten cutters in the aggregate
smuggled into the United Kingdom each year goods to the value of
£303,680. Possibly there was no living person who possessed so perfect
and exact a knowledge of the smuggling trade, so we can have little
reason to doubt for a moment the veracity of his figures.
Passing, then, to describe the methods employed by these men, he
divided them into two classes. Firstly, there were those adopted by
the cutters and smacks which did little else than smuggle, and,
secondly, there were the British ships which primarily carried on a
legitimate trade to foreign parts. As to the first class, the practice
of these cutters and smacks was to put to sea from whatever port to
which they belonged--London, Dover, Rye, Folkestone, or wherever it
might be--having on board a small number of hands, their professed
object being to fish. Having stood some distance away from the land,
they would be met during the night by a number of smaller craft, and
under cover of darkness would take on board from the latter large
crews, much merchandise, and a considerable amount of money. The
smaller craft rowed or sailed back to the beach before daylight, and
the bigger craft, now well supplied with men, money, and merchandise,
stood on their course for some Dutch or French port. There they
purchased such goods as they required, disposed of those which they
had brought, and again set sail for home. The vessel was again met at
a convenient distance from the English shore by smaller boats if a
favourable signal had been flashed from the land; and, using the
darkness of the night, once more both the cargo and the supernumerary
men were put into the boats, after which the latter ran the stuff
ashore in casks already slung and in bales, while the smack headed for
her harbour whence she had set out. As she had just the same small
crew as before no suspicions were aroused, and it was presumed she had
been out fishing.
But additional to these comparatively large vessels there were smaller
craft--open boats, yawls, and little sloops--which in fine weather
were wont to run across from the south coast of England to Boulogne,
Guernsey, and from the west of England to the Isle of Man. They also
loaded up with as much cargo as they could carry, and, since they were
able to be beached, the process of discharging their contents as soon
as they returned was much simpler. These smaller craft also were in
the habit of running out well clear of the land and meeting Dutch
vessels, from which they would purchase similar kinds of goods and run
them in by the usual methods. In these lesser craft were frequently
carried a great many stones, anchors, and heavy weights by means of
which the half-ankers of brandy could be sunk near the shore and
afterwards taken up as required. The exact way in which this was done
we shall discuss fully in a later chapter.
Some of the cobbles, "hovelings," and small fishing craft that were
accustomed to run out to big sailing merchantmen under pretence of
shipping pilots to take them into the next port, were actually engaged
in smuggling all sorts of goods out of these ships. Perhaps it was a
lurking sympathy with the men engaged in a trade with which his
earlier years had been so intimately associated that made Captain
Cockburn suggest that it was because the Dutchmen brought such large
quantities of fish into Billingsgate that the English fishermen found
their work unprofitable, and were accordingly driven to devote
themselves to smuggling. But from evidence in other documents it would
certainly seem that Cockburn was speaking the truth and that the
fishing industry was not a very good livelihood at that time.
Then, secondly, there was the smuggling that was carried on by the
trading sailing ships from abroad. Great quantities of goods were
being run into the country by colliers--they were usually
brig-rigged--by corn-ships, packet-boats from the Continent and other
vessels trading with Holland. At least, one thousand five hundred
vessels were engaged in this trade, "and," added Cockburn, "he
scarcely ever knew one of them return without some prohibited or high
duty goods." The smuggling from these vessels was done in various
ways. There were the pilot-boats and fishing craft which frequently
met them near the coast, as already explained. Another way was for the
merchantmen to put into harbours, roadsteads, and rivers, where they
lay at anchor under pretence of waiting for orders. Another method
still, that was as simple as it was successful, consisted of landing
their goods at outports on such holidays as the King's birthday, &c.,
when the Revenue officers were absent. Cockburn admitted that he had
done this himself and had run great quantities of brandies, teas, and
Spanish liquorice even as much as nearly a ton of the latter at a
time. But besides these two classes there was a third. The whole of
the coasting trade in those days was of course done in sailing ships;
and inasmuch as there were no railways for carrying merchandise there
was a good deal more encouragement for the sailing ship owner than
there is to-day. The methods of smuggling adopted by these coasters
was a little more complicated, and this was done by such means as
fraudulently obtaining permits, by cockets clandestinely obtained, by
false entry of one sort of goods for another, and by corrupting the
Customs' officers. To prove his case the captain gave the following
examples, _all of which he had himself employed since the year 1738!_
As regards the obtaining of permits fraudulently, he said that he had
gone to Dunkirk, taken aboard 2040 gallons of French brandy and
cleared for North Bergen in Norway. Of course he had no intention
whatever of steering for that port, but in case he met any of the
Custom House sloops as he approached the English coast, it would be
convenient to show this clearance and so prevent his brandy being
seized. From Dunkirk, then, he sailed across the North Sea and ran up
the river Humber. There, by previous arrangement, one of those keels
which are so well known in the neighbourhood of the Humber and Trent
met him. The keel had been sent from York down the Ouse with permits
to cover the brandy. The keel was cleared by a merchant at York, who
obtained permits for conveying to Gainsborough a quantity of French
brandy equal to that which Cockburn had on board his ship, though in
fact the keel, notwithstanding that she obtained these permits, set
forth with no brandy in her at all.
It was the point where the Ouse crosses the Trent at right angles that
had been arranged as the trysting-place, and there the keel took on
board from Cockburn the brandy which had come from Dunkirk. Cockburn
himself nailed the permits on to the heads of the casks, which in due
course were taken by the keel, when the flood tide made again, to
Gainsborough some distance up the Trent. Arrived there the casks were
properly taken into stock and entered in the Custom House books as if
the brandy had been actually brought down from York and had previously
paid duty. On this one venture the garrulous skipper admitted that he
cleared a profit by the brandy of £250 per cent., which was a
remarkably handsome reward for so short a voyage as from Dunkirk.
Port wines, he said, were purchasable at Dunkirk because these had
been taken from English merchantmen by privateers; and since there was
little or no market for such wines in Spain they were brought into
Dunkirk, whither resorted the smugglers eager to buy them. He
proceeded also to explain another method of cheating the customs.
Large quantities of very inferior British brandy were taken on board a
ship and clearance was obtained for some other English port, but
instead of proceeding to the latter the vessel would run across to
Dunkirk or Holland, where she would unload the cheap brandy, and in
its place take on board some high-priced French brandy equal in
quantity to the British commodity which had been put ashore at the
French port. After this, with now a much more valuable cargo, the
vessel would put to sea again and make for that British port for which
originally she had cleared. And as to the practice of bribery, he
himself had several times bought permits from the Excise officers to
cover smuggled brandy and tea. On one occasion he had paid an officer
fifty guineas for a permit to cover a certain quantity of tea and
brandy about to be run into the country.
Next came Captain Ebenezer Hartley, who had also formerly commanded a
ship that was engaged in smuggling. He had known of large quantities
of muslins and silks brought into the country on board East Indiamen.
These goods were smuggled by throwing them through the port-holes at
night into boats waiting below, alongside the ship, or whilst the
Custom officer was being entertained on board with food and drink.
Sometimes, he said, this was even done under the very eyes of the
Revenue officer, who took no notice of it. He recalled an incident in
an earlier part of his life when he had sailed from England to
Holland, in which country he had filled up with twenty-six casks of
oil. After that his orders were to cross the North Sea and meet a
certain vessel which would await him off Aldborough. This
last-mentioned craft would give Hartley's vessel the signal by
lowering her jib three times.
A more tragic story was related by George Bridges, a tidesman of the
Port of London. He showed that it did not always "pay" to be diligent
in one's duty, for he quoted the case of a Captain Mercer, in the
employ of the Custom House, who did now and then make a seizure, but
he "was broke for doing his duty"; and when Mercer came into Cork on
the occasion in question, the mob set upon him so that he was
compelled to escape into the sheriff's house. The mob then surrounded
the house in their thousands until the sheriff interceded with them.
They were wild with fury and threatened to pull the house down, until
the sheriff gave them his oath that Captain Mercer should never again
be guilty of seizing the wool which the smugglers had endeavoured to
export. But the mob afterwards went to Passage and took hold of a
Custom House officer named May. They brought him forth from his house,
cut out his tongue, and cut off his ears, one of which the witness
said he remembered seeing nailed on to the Cork Exchange. They dragged
the man with a rope round his neck, gave him several blows, hurled him
into the river, and finally the poor fellow died of his ill-treatment.
Although handsome rewards were offered for the discovery of the
offenders, yet no one ever came forward.
One could quote similar instances of the vehemence of the smugglers
from other sources. For instance, on February 2, 1748-49, the
Collector of the Port of Penzance wrote to the Board to give them some
idea of the people among whom he had to work. "The insolence," he
said, "of some of the smuglers [_sic_] and wreckers in this
neighbourhood is run to such a heighth, that tho our officers have
from time to time secured severall Hogsheads, it has been by force
taken from them [again], 'and the officers forced to save their
lives.'" Writing again on the 14th December, the same correspondent
added that "the smugglers never behaved with more insolence than at
present, or was it ever known to be carried on with more
audaciousness," mentioning also that the previous night the snow[5]
_Squirrel_ of North Yarmouth had driven ashore loaded with a cargo of
brandy. The country-folk had immediately boarded her, stripped the
master of everything valuable, and then carried off all the brandy
they could lay their hands on, and, in their haste, had set fire to
the rest of the cargo, so that at the time of writing the whole ship
was in flames. He mentioned also a couple of months later the
difficulty he had to secure arrests of smugglers, for even when he had
obtained warrants for the apprehension of eight most notorious men,
the constables excused themselves from doing their duty in serving the
warrants, and pretended that the eight men had absconded.
And anyone who cares to examine the Treasury Books and Papers for this
period will find similar cases. In July of 1743 some smugglers had
seized the Custom House boat at Dover and coolly employed her for
their own purposes in running tea. The Custom officers deemed matters
to be in such a state that they begged that a man-of-war might be
stationed on that coast to prevent smuggling. Similarly in January of
1743-44, during a skirmish near Arundel between the preventive men
assisted by some dragoons against a band of smugglers, the latter had
wounded three of the soldiers and carried off an officer and two other
dragoons on board the smugglers' cutter. This was no unique
occurrence, for sometimes the contraband runners, when infuriated,
captured the would-be captors, hurried them out to sea, and then,
having bound the unfortunate victims with a bit of spare rope and
having tied a piece of ballast to their live bodies, they would be
hurled overboard into the sea, and the soldier or preventive man would
never be seen or heard of again unless his lifeless body were cast
upon the beach. At Folkestone, about this time, three men were carried
off by the smugglers in trying to effect an arrest, and the supervisor
at Colchester had been also carried off, but afterwards he had been
released on promising not to mention the smugglers' names. It was bad
enough, therefore, for the Revenue men when they had the assistance of
the dragoons, but it was infinitely worse when they had to contend
alone. There is an almost pathetic petition from the Folkestone
riding-officers sent on New Year's Day 1744-45, begging for military
assistance against the smugglers, as although there were soldiers
stationed at Dover yet they were unobtainable, since they refused to
march more than five miles.
And it was just as bad, if not worse, about this time in the Isle of
Man, for the latter's inhabitants consisted almost exclusively of
smugglers and their families, some of whom had long since been
outlawed from England and Ireland. So rich and prosperous, indeed, had
these Manxmen become by means of smuggling that they were recognised
with a degree of importance which was almost ludicrous. The two
deemsters (or deputy-governors) of the island even countenanced and
protected the men, who would often assemble together to scheme and
drink to the damnation of His Britannic Majesty. Unhindered in their
nefarious work, able to obtain all the cargo they required from France
and the Channel Isles; able, too, to run their contraband into the
west of England, they waxed exceedingly independent and wealthy. At
Douglas they had built themselves a good quay for the shelter of their
ships and for convenience in landing their cargoes, the only drawback
being that the harbour dried out at low water.
It happened that on the 26th of June 1750, that Captain Dow,
commanding H.M. cruiser _Sincerity_[6] was, according to the orders
received from the Board of Customs, on duty in Douglas Roads. A
notorious Irish smuggling wherry came in from Ireland and ran under
the _Sincerity's_ stern, while the smugglers "with opprobrious,
treasonable, and abusive language abused His Majesty King George and
all that belonged to or served under him." This, of course, was too
much for any naval officer to endure, and Captain Dow immediately
caused the ship to come alongside, and, after being rummaged, she was
found to have concealed in a jar of butter-milk twenty-five English
guineas tied up in a bag. There were also papers on board which proved
that this money was to be expended in the purchase of brandies and
tea, &c., and that, having obtained these articles, she was then to
return to Ireland. The English captain therefore promptly seized both
money and papers.
On the same day that this incident occurred a Dutch dogger[7] also
came into Douglas Roads loaded with prohibited goods from Holland. As
soon as he had noticed her come to anchor Dow sent his boat to board
her with his mate and six men, and to examine and see if she had the
prohibited goods on board which were suspected. If she had, then she
was to be seized. At the same time Dow had requested Mr. Sidebotham,
his Majesty's officer in the Isle of Man, to cast off the
_Sincerity's_ headfast and sternfasts from the shore. But thereupon a
riotous and angry mob, fearing that the cruiser should be able to get
under weigh and seize the Dutch dogger, refused to allow Sidebotham to
let go the ropes. Armed with bludgeons, muskets, swords, and stones
they rushed down on to the quay, and did all they could to force the
cruiser on shore by aiming showers of stones at the cruiser's men and
restraining Sidebotham in his endeavour to help the _Sincerity_. They
even carried the latter away by force, and beat and bruised him in the
most brutal manner.
Captain Dow, realising that the intention of the mob was to get the
_Sincerity_ stranded, determined to cut his cable and exhorted them in
his Majesty's name to disperse, to which they paid not the slightest
attention except to send more showers of stones on to the cruiser's
decks. Seeing from afar what was happening, the mate and six men who
had been sent to board the dogger now returned to the _Sincerity_.
Whereupon the dogger, perceiving her chance, promptly got under way.
As the crowd on shore still continued to pelt his ship with stones and
had already wounded two of his crew, the cruiser's commander fired
amongst them. For a time, at least, this dispersed them, and so Dow
was able to get his vessel clear. He immediately proceeded to follow
the Dutch dogger, and chased her until she had, perforce, to run
herself on to the sands at Ramsey to the north of the island.
Determined not to be beaten, Dow now sent his mate and ten men on
board her, seized her, and marked her in several places with the sign
of a broad arrow to denote her capture.
[Illustration: "Dow sent his mate and ten men on board her."]
But when the mate came to open the hatches several of the islanders
who had been secreted on board, with the assistance of two boat-loads
of armed men who had rowed off from the shore, seized the mate and
his men, and threatened that if they resisted they would kill them.
Being completely overpowered, the eleven naval men were compelled to
yield and be carried ashore, where they were shut up in cellars and
finally carried down to Castletown Castle. Meanwhile, the smugglers
set to work on the dogger's cargo and landed it safely. A few days
later six of the eleven were released, but the other five were
detained until Captain Dow should refund the twenty-five guineas he
had seized from the Irish wherry. In order to give him a fright they
also sent word that the five men should be tried before one of their
Courts of Judicature on the following Thursday, were he to fail to
send the money. As the captain declined to accede to their demands,
the five prisoners were on July 5 brought up and remanded till a month
later. Finding it was impossible to obtain their release the commander
of the _Sincerity_ weighed anchor and ran back to Ramsey to take in
the six released men, and then, sailing away to Whitehaven, arrived at
that place on the 10th of July.
We need not say more. The story is sufficient to indicate the utter
state of lawlessness which prevailed there. Peopled by outlaws and by
the scum of France, Holland, Ireland, Scotland, and England, they were
a pretty tough proposition. Their violence was rivalled only by their
impudence; and fleets of wherries[8] would sail in company into
Ireland and Scotland loaded with cargoes of cheap brandy, which had
been brought from Holland for that purpose. As a means of checking
these Manx smugglers it was suggested that the English Government
should employ a number of tenders in this neighbourhood, since they
drew less water than the sloops-of-war and so would be more useful for
a locality that was not well supplied with deep harbours. Moreover,
these tenders would be well able to take the ground in the harbours
which dried out. Such craft as the latter were of about 160 tons,
mounted twelve to fourteen carriage guns, and were manned by a
captain, second officer, two mates, two quartermasters, a gunner, a
boatswain, carpenter, surgeon, and forty seamen.
From the south-east corner of England came reports not much better.
Just before the close of the year 1743 the Surveyor at Margate and his
men were out on duty along the coast one night when five of them came
upon a gang of about twenty-five smugglers. An encounter quickly
ensued, and as the latter were well armed they were, by their superior
numbers, able to give the officers a severe beating, especially in the
case of one unfortunate "whose head is in such a miserable condition
that the Surveyor thought proper to put him under the care of a
surgeon." Both this Surveyor and the one at Ramsgate asserted that the
smugglers were accustomed to travel in such powerful gangs, and at the
same time were so well armed, that it was impossible to cope with
them, there being seldom less than thirty in a gang "who bid defiance
to all the officers when they met them."
On the 7th April 1746, the Collector and Controller of the Customs at
Sandwich wrote to the Board:
"We further beg leave to acquaint your Honours that yesterday about
four o'clock in the afternoon a large gang of near 100 smuglers
[_sic_] with several led horses went thro' this town into the island
of Thanet, where we hear they landed their goods, notwithstanding that
we took all possible care to prevent them.
"_P.S._--This moment we have advice that there is a gang of 200
smugglers more at St. Peter's in the Isle of Thanet."
Seven months later in that year, at nine o'clock one November morning,
a gang of 150 smugglers managed to land some valuable cargo from a
couple of cutters on to the Sandwich flats. Several Revenue officers
were despatched into the country for the purpose of meeting with some
of the stragglers. The officers came into collision with a party of
these men and promptly seized two horse-loads of goods consisting of
five bags of tea and eight half-ankers of wine. But they were only
allowed to retain this seizure for half-an-hour, inasmuch as the
smugglers presently overpowered the Revenue men and wrested back their
booty. The preventive men were also considerably knocked about, and
one of them had his thumb badly dislocated. The officers declared that
they knew none of the people, the latter being well supplied not with
firearms but with great clubs. A fortnight later, just a few miles
farther along the coast, a gang of 150 smugglers succeeded in landing
their goods at Reculvers near Birchington; and ten days later still
another gang of the same size was able to land their goods near
Kingsgate, between the North Foreland and Margate. But it cannot be
supposed that the Revenue officers were not aware of the approach of
these incidents. The fact was that they were a little lacking in
courage to face these problems on every occasion. Indeed, they were
candid enough to admit that they dared not venture near these ruffians
"without the utmost hazard of their lives." But the riding-officers
were not solely to blame, for where were the Custom House sloops? How
was it they were always absent at these critical times? Indeed, the
Collector and Controller informed the Commissioners that not one of
these sloops had been seen cruising between Sandwich and Reculvers for
some months past.
This complaint about the cruisers was made in March 1747, and in that
same month another gang, two hundred strong, appeared on the coast,
but this time, after a smart encounter, the officers secured and
placed in the King's warehouse a ton of tea as well as other goods,
and three horses. A day or two later a gang of smugglers threatened to
rescue these goods back again. The property formed a miscellaneous
collection and consisted of fifty pieces of cambric, three bags of
coffee, some Flemish linen, tea, clothes, pistols, a blunderbuss, and
two musquetoons. To prevent the smugglers carrying out their
intention, however, a strong guard was formed by an amalgamation of
all the officers from Sandwich, Ramsgate, and Broadstairs, who
forthwith proceeded to Margate. In addition to these, it was arranged
that Commodore Mitchell should send ashore from the Downs as many men
as he could spare. This united front was therefore successful, and for
once the smugglers were overmatched. And but for a piece of bad luck,
or sheer carelessness, a couple of years later a smart capture might
well have been brought about. It was one day in August when the
officers had received information that a gang of twenty men and horses
had appeared near Reculvers to receive goods from a cutter that was
seen to be hovering near the coast. The smugglers on shore were cute
enough to locate the officers, and by some means evidently signalled
to the cutter, for the latter now put to sea again and the gang
cleared off. Although for some time after this incident both officers
and dragoons patrolled the coast in the neighbourhood no one was ever
fortunate enough to gather information either as to the cutter or the
people who had vanished into the country with such rapidity.
And yet in spite of the very numerous sympathisers which these illicit
importers possessed, yet of course there were some individuals who
were as much against them as any officer of the Customs. In the
neighbourhood of Plymouth legitimate trade had suffered a great deal
owing to these practices. The mayor, aldermen, and merchants of
Saltash were at last compelled to send a memorial to the Lords of the
Treasury complaining that in the rivers adjacent to that place there
were several creeks and inlets which were being made of considerable
use by the smugglers for landing their goods. Especially was this the
case up the river Tamar, and all this had been and was still "to the
great prejudice of the fair traders and merchants." They pointed out
that a great deal of it consisted of clandestine running from ships in
the Sound, Hamoaze, and other anchorages round about there. Large
quantities of French linings, wines, and brandies were being run
ashore with impunity and speedily sold in the adjacent towns or
conveyed some distance into Devonshire. The mayor therefore begged the
Treasury for three additional Custom officers consisting of an
inspector of roads and two tide-waiters to be established at Saltash,
but the Treasury could not see their way to grant such a request.
But in other parts of the country the roads were kept carefully
watched to prevent goods being brought inland. The coaches which ran
from Dover to London with passengers who had come across from the
Continent were frequently stopped on the highway by the
riding-officers and the passengers searched. Harsh as this mode of
procedure may seem to us to-day, yet it was rendered necessary by the
fact that a good many professional carriers of contraband goods were
wont to travel backwards and forwards between England and abroad. Some
years later, for example, when the Dover coach was stopped at "The
Half-Way House," a foreigner, who was travelling by this conveyance
and had been able to evade the Customs' search at Dover, was found to
be carrying two gold snuff-boxes set with diamonds, four lockets also
set with diamonds, eighteen opals, three sapphires, eight amethysts,
six emeralds, two topazes, and one thousand two hundred
torquoises--all of which were liable to duty.
And thus the illegal practices continued all round the coast. From
Devonshire it was reported that smuggling was on the increase--this
was in the autumn of 1759--and that large gangs armed with loaded
clubs openly made runs of goods on the shore, the favourite _locale_
being Torbay, though previously the neighbourhood of Lyme had been the
usual aim of these men who had sailed as a rule from Guernsey. All
that the Collector could suggest was that an "impress smack" should be
sent to that district, as he promised that the notorious offenders
would make excellent seamen.
There was an interesting incident also off the north-east coast of
England, where matters were still about as bad as ever. We referred
some pages back to the capture of a Dutch dogger off the Isle of Man;
we shall now see another of these craft seized in the North Sea.
Captain Bowen of the sloop _Prince of Wales_, hearing that the dogger
_Young Daniel_ was running brandy on the coast near to Newcastle, put
to sea in search of her. He came up with a number of those
cobbles--open boats--which are peculiar to the north-east coastline,
though at one time they were used as far south as Great Yarmouth. The
cobbles which he was able to intercept had just been employed in
transferring the contraband from the dogger to the shore. Bowen
captured one of these small craft with a dozen casks aboard. Another
was forced ashore and secured by the land officers. Meanwhile, the
Dutchman stood out to sea so that he might be able to draw off the
spirits from large casks into smaller ones, which were the better
fitted for running ashore. It was found afterwards that he had large
numbers of these lesser casks, and during that evening she put about
and crept stealthily in towards the shore again until she approached
within about a mile of the mouth of the Tees. Her intention was to run
the rest of her cargo under cover of darkness, and her skipper had
arranged for large numbers of men to be on that coast ready to receive
and carry off these casks. But Bowen was determined to head her off
this project. An exciting chase followed, during which--to quote an
official report of the time--the dogger did her best "to eat the
sloop out of the wind," that is to say sailed as close to the wind as
she could travel in the hope of causing her adversary to drop to
leeward. For seven hours this chase continued, but after that duration
the _Prince of Wales_ captured the _Young Daniel_ eight leagues from
the shore. This is not a little interesting, for inasmuch as the chase
began when the dogger was a mile from the mouth of the river, the
vessels must have travelled about 23 statutory miles in the time,
which works out at less than 3-1/2 miles an hour. Not very fast, you
may suggest, for a Revenue cutter or for the Dutchman either. But we
have no details as to the weather, which is usually bad off that part
of the coast in February (the month when this incident occurred), and
we must remember that the doggers were too bluff of build to possess
speed, and the time had not yet arrived when those much faster Revenue
cutters with finer lines and less ample beam were to come into use.
FOOTNOTES:
[5] A snow was a vessel with three masts resembling the main and
foremast of a ship with a third and small mast just abaft the
mainmast, carrying a sail nearly similar to a ship's mizzen. The foot
of this mast was fixed in a block of wood or step but on deck. The
head was attached to the afterpart of the maintop. The sail was called
a trysail, hence the mast was called a trysail-mast. (Moore's
_Midshipman's Vocabulary_, 1805.)
[6] It was the frequent custom at this time to speak of sloops as
cruisers.
[7] A dogger was a two-masted Dutch fishing-vessel usually employed in
the North Sea off the Dogger Bank. She had two masts, and was very
similar to a ketch in rig, but somewhat beamy and bluff-bowed.
[8] These, of course, were not the light rowing-boats of the kind that
were in use on the Thames and elsewhere. The term wherry was applied
to various decked fishing-vessels belonging to England, Ireland, and
the Isle of Man.