THE SMUGGLERS AT SEA
Had you been alive and afloat in June of 1802 and been cruising about
near Falmouth Bay, or taken up your position on the top of one of
those glorious high cliffs anywhere between St. Anthony and the
Dodman, and remembered first to take with you your spyglass, you would
have witnessed a very interesting sight; that is to say, if you had
been able to penetrate through the atmosphere, which was not
consistently clear throughout the day. For part of it, at any rate,
was hazy and foggy just as it often is in this neighbourhood at that
time of year, but that was the very kind of conditions which the
smuggler loved. Between those two headlands are two fine bays, named
respectively Gerrans and Veryan, while away to the south-west the land
runs out to sea till it ends in the Lizard. A whole history could be
written of the smuggling which took place in these two bays, but we
must content ourselves with the one instance before us.
On this day it happened that his Majesty's frigate _Fisgard_ was
proceeding up Channel under the command of Captain Michael Seymour,
R.N. The time was three in the afternoon. In spite of the haziness it
was intermittent, and an hour earlier he had been able to fix his
position by St. Anthony, which then bore N. by W. distant six or seven
miles. He was then sailing by the wind close-hauled lying S.S.E.1/2E.,
in other words, standing away from the land out into mid-channel, the
breeze being steady. By three o'clock the _Fisgard_ had only travelled
about another six or seven miles, so that she was now about 12-1/2 miles
from St. Anthony or just to seaward of the Lizard. It was at this time
that the frigate sighted a smaller craft, fore-and-aft rigged and
heading N.N.W., also on a wind, the breeze being abaft her port, or,
as they called it in those days, the larboard-beam. This subsequently
turned out to be the cutter _Flora_, and the course the cutter was
taking would have brought her towards the Dodman. The haze had now
lifted for a time, since although the _Flora_ was quite eight miles
away she could be descried. Knowing that this cutter had no right to
be within a line drawn between the Lizard and Prawl Point, the
_Fisgard_ starboarded her helm and went in pursuit. But the _Flora's_
crew were also on the look-out, though not a little displeased that
the fog had lifted and revealed her position. When she saw that the
_Fisgard_ was coming after her she began to make off, bore up, and
headed due North. But presently she altered her tactics and hauled
round on the starboard tack, which would of course bring her away
from the land, make her travel faster because her head-sails would
fill, and she hoped also no doubt to get clear of the Prawl-to-Lizard
line. Before this she had been under easy sail, but now she put up all
the canvas she could carry.
But unfortunately the _Flora_ had not espied earlier in the day
another frigate which was also in the vicinity. This was the _Wasso_,
and the haze had hidden her movements. But now, even though the
weather was clearing, the bigger ship had been hidden from view
because she had been just round the corner in Mevagissey Bay. And at
the very time that the _Flora_ was running away from the _Fisgard_ and
travelling finely with every sail drawing nicely and getting clear of
the cliffs, the _Wasso_ was working her way round the Dodman. As soon
as the latter came into view she took in the situation--the cutter
_Flora_ foaming along out to sea and the _Fisgard_ coming up quickly
under a mountain of canvas. So now there were two frigates pursuing
the cutter, and the _Flora's_ skipper must have cursed his bad luck
for being caught in this trap. But that unkind haze was favouring the
King's ships to-day, for ere the chase had continued much longer, yet
a third frigate came in sight, whose name was the _Nymph_. This was
too much for the _Flora_ to be chased by three ships each bigger and
better armed than herself. The _Nymph_ headed her off, and the cutter
seeing it was all up reluctantly hove-to. On examination she was
found to have a cargo of gin, brandy, and tobacco, which she would
have succeeded in running ashore had the haze not played such tricks.
However, she had done her best for three exciting hours, for it was
not until six on that wintry evening that she was captured by the
_Nymph_, and if she had been able to hold on a little longer she might
have escaped in the night and got right away and landed her cargo
elsewhere before the sun came out. But, as it was, her skipper James
Dunn had to take his trial, when a verdict was given in favour of the
King, and Dunn was fined £200.
[Illustration: The _Flora_ with the _Fisgard_, _Wasso_, and _Nymph_.]
We must pass over the next two years and travel from one end of the
English Channel to the other till we find ourselves again in Kentish
waters. The year is 1804, and the 14th of June. On this summer's day
at dawn the gun-brig _Jackal_, commanded by Captain Stewart, R.N., was
cruising about to the Nor'ard of the Goodwins. As day broke he was
informed that three smuggling vessels had just been espied in the
vicinity. The latter certainly was not more than three miles from the
land, and it was fairly certain what their intention was. When Captain
Stewart came on deck and convinced himself of their identity he
ordered out his boats, he himself going in one, while one of his
officers took command of another, each boat having about half-a-dozen
men on board.
We mentioned just now how important it was in such cases as this that
the position should be defined as accurately as possible. Immediately
the boats had left the _Jackal_ the pilot of the latter and one of the
crew on board took bearings from the North Foreland and found the
_Jackal_ was about 7-3/4 miles from this landmark. They also took
bearings of the position of the three smuggling luggers, and found
these were about three or four miles off and bore from the _Jackal_ E.
by S.
To return to Captain Stewart and the two boats: for the first twenty
minutes these oared craft gained on the luggers owing to the absence
of wind, and the smugglers could do nothing. The dawn had revealed the
presence of the _Jackal_ to the smugglers no less than the latter had
been revealed to the gun-brig. And as soon as the illicit carriers
realised what was about to happen they, too, began to make every
effort to get moving. The early morning calm, however, was less
favourable to them than to the comparatively light-oared craft which
had put out from the _Jackal_, so the three luggers just rolled to the
swell under the cliffs of the Foreland as their canvas and gear
slatted idly from side to side.
But presently, as the sun rose up in the sky, a little breeze came
forth which bellowed the lug-sails and enabled the three craft to
stand off from the land and endeavour, if possible, to get out into
the Channel. In order to accelerate their speed the crews laid on to
the sweeps and pulled manfully. Every sailorman knows that the tides
in that neighbourhood are exceedingly strong, but the addition of the
breeze did not improve matters for the _Jackal's_ two boats, although
the luggers were getting along finely. However, the wind on a bright
June morning is not unusually fitful and light, so the boats kept up a
keen chase urged by their respective officers, and after three hours
of strenuous rowing Captain Stewart's boat came up with the first of
these named the _I.O._ But before he had come alongside her and was
still 300 yards away, the master and pilot of this smuggler and six of
her crew was seen to get into the lugger's small boat and row off to
the second lugger named the _Nancy_, which they boarded. When the
_Jackal's_ commander, therefore, came up with the _I.O._ he found only
one man aboard her. He stopped to make some inquiries, and the
solitary man produced some Bills of Lading and other papers to show
that the craft was bound from Emden to Guernsey, and that their cargo
was destined for the latter place.
The reader may well smile at this barefaced and ingenuous lie. Not
even a child could be possibly persuaded to imagine that a vessel
found hovering about the North Foreland was really making for the
Channel Isles from Germany. It was merely another instance of
employing these papers if any awkward questions should be asked by
suspecting Revenue vessels or men-of-war. What was truth, however, was
that the _I.O._ was bound not to but from Guernsey, where she had
loaded a goodly cargo of brandy and gin, all of which was found on
board, and no doubt would shortly have been got ashore and placed in
one of the caves not far from Longnose. Moreover, the men were as good
as convicted when it was found that the spirits were in those small
casks or tubs which were only employed by the smugglers; and indeed
never had such a cargo of spirits to Guernsey been carried in such
small-sized kegs, for Guernsey always received its spirits in casks of
bold dimensions.
It was further pointed out at the trial that the luggers could not
have been bound on the voyage alleged, for they had not enough
provisions on board. The Solicitor-General also demonstrated the fact
that when these luggers were approached in deep water--that is, of
course after the three hours' chase--they could not possibly have been
making for Guernsey. The farther they stood from the shore the greater
would be their danger, for they would be likely at any hour to fall in
with the enemy's privateers which were known to be cruising not far
off.
But to return to the point in the narrative when we digressed. Captain
Stewart, a quarter of an hour before finally coming up with the
_I.O._, had fired several times to cause her to heave-to, but this
they declined to do, and all her crew but one deserted her as stated.
Leaving one of his own men on board her the naval officer, after
marking her with a broad arrow to indicate she had been seized, went
with his four remaining men in pursuit of the second lugger, which was
rowing away with all haste, and alongside which the _I.O.'s_ boat was
lying. But, as soon as Stewart began to approach, the men now quitted
the lugger and rowed back to the _I.O._ He opened fire at them, but
they still persisted, and seeing this he continued to pursue the
second lugger, boarded her and seized her, the time being now about
6.30 A.M.
Afterwards he waited until his other boat had come up, and left her
crew in charge of this second lugger, and then rowed off to the first
lugger again, but once more the _I.O.'s_ people deserted her and rowed
towards the shore. Undaunted he then went in pursuit of the third
lugger, but as a breeze came up she managed to get away. Presently he
was able to hail a neutral vessel who gave him a passage back, and at
midday he rejoined the _I.O._, which was subsequently taken captive
into Dover, and at a later date ordered to be condemned. She had
belonged to Deal and was no doubt in the regular smuggling industry.
Then there was the case of the lugger _Polly_, which occurred in
January of 1808. Because vessels of this kind were, from their
construction, their size, and their rig especially suitable for
running goods, they were now compelled to have a licence before being
allowed to navigate at all. This licence was given on condition that
she was never to be found guilty of smuggling, nor to navigate outside
certain limits, the object of course being to prevent her from running
backwards and forwards across the English and Irish Channels. In the
present instance the _Polly_ had been licensed to navigate and trade,
to fish and to carry pilots between Bexhill and coastwise round Great
Britain, but not to cross the Channels. To this effect her master,
William Bennett, had entered in a bond. But on the date mentioned she
was unfortunately actually discovered at the island of Alderney, and
it was obvious that she was there for the purpose of loading the
usual cargo of goods to be smuggled into England. Six days later she
had taken on board all that she wanted, but just as she was leaving
the Customs officer examined her licence; and as it was found that she
was not allowed to "go foreign," and that to go to Alderney had always
been regarded a foreign voyage, she was promptly seized. Furthermore,
as there was no suggestion of any fishing-gear found on board it was a
clear case, and after due trial the verdict was given for the King and
she was condemned.
There is existing an interesting application from the boat-masters and
fishermen of Robin Hood's Bay (Yorkshire) in connection with the
restrictions which were now enforced regarding luggers. These poor
people were engaged in the Yarmouth herring-fishery, and prayed for
relief from the penalties threatened by the recent Act of Parliament,
which stipulated that luggers of a size exceeding 50 tons burthen were
made liable to forfeiture. As their North Sea craft came under this
category they were naturally in great distress. However the Customs
Board pointed out that the Act allowed all vessels and boats of the
above description and tonnage "which were rigged and fitted at the
time of the passing thereof and intended for the purpose of fishing"
to be licensed.
Whenever those tubs of spirits were seized from a smuggling craft at
sea they were forwarded to the King's warehouse, London, by those
coasting vessels, whose masters were "of known respectability." And by
a different conveyance a sample pint of every cask was to be
transmitted to the same address. The bungs of the casks were to be
secured with a tin-plate, and under a seal of office, each cask being
branded with the letters "G.R.," and the quantity given at the head of
each cask. But those spirits which were seized on land and not on sea
were to be sold by public auction. All smuggling transactions of any
account, and all seizures of any magnitude, and especially all those
which were attended by any attempt to rescue, were to be reported
separately to the Customs Board. Small casks which had contained
seized spirits were, after condemnation, sometimes allowed to fall
into the hands of the smugglers, who used them again for the same
purpose. To put a stop to this it was ordered that these tubs were in
future to be burnt or cut to pieces "as to be only fit for firewood."
Even as early as 1782 considerable frauds were perpetrated by stating
certain imports to be of one nature when they were something entirely
different. For instance a great deal of starch had been imported under
the denomination of flour from Ireland. The Revenue officers were
therefore instructed to discriminate between the two articles by the
following means. Starch "when in flour" and real flour could be
differentiated by putting some of each into a tumbler of water. If the
"flour" were starch it would sink to the bottom and form a hard
substance, if it were real flour then it would turn into a paste.
Starch was also much whiter than flour. And a good deal of spirits,
wine, tea, and tobacco brought into vessels as ship's stores for the
crew were also frequently smuggled ashore. Particularly was this the
case in small vessels from Holland, France, Guernsey, Jersey, and
Alderney.
One day in the month of May, 1814, a fine West Indian ship named the
_Caroline_ set sail from the Island of St. Thomas with a valuable
cargo of dutiable goods, and in due time entered the English Channel.
Before long she had run up the coast and found herself off Fairlight
(between Hastings and Rye). The people on shore had been on the
look-out for this ship, and as soon as the _Caroline_ hove in sight a
boat put off to meet her. Some one threw down a line which was made
fast to the boat, and from the latter several men clambered aboard.
After the usual salutations they accompanied the master of the ship
and went below to the cabin, where some time was spent in bargaining.
To make a long story short, they arranged to purchase from the
_Caroline_ 25 gallons of rum and some coffee, for which the West
Indiaman's skipper was well paid, the average price of rum in that
year being about 20s. a gallon. A cask of rum, 3 cwt. of coffee in a
barrel and 2 cwt. in a bag were accordingly lowered over the ship's
side into the boat and away went the little craft to the shore,
having, as it was supposed, cheated the Customs. The _Caroline_
continued her course and proceeded to London. The Customs authorities,
however, had got wind of the affair and the matter was brought to a
conclusion before one of his Majesty's judges.
[Illustration: "The _Caroline_ continued her course and proceeded to
London."]
But East Indiamen were just as bad, if not a great deal worse, for it
was their frequent practice to arrive in the Downs and sell quantities
of tea to the men who came out from Deal in small craft. The
commodity could then be kept either for the use of their families and
sold to their immediate friends, or sent up to London by the "duffers"
in the manner we spoke of in an earlier chapter. In the instances when
spirits were smuggled into the country there was usually some
arrangement between the publicans and the smugglers for disposing of
the stuff. But, you may ask, how did the Deal boatmen manage to get
the tea to their homes without being seen by the Customs officers? In
the first place it was always difficult to prove that the men really
were smugglers, for they would be quite wide-awake enough not to bring
obvious bales ashore; and, secondly, the Deal men had such a
reputation as desperate characters that no officer, unless he was
pretty sure that a smuggling transaction was being carried on and
could rely, too, on being well supported by other Customs men and the
soldiers, would think of meddling in the matter. But, lastly, the men
who came ashore from the East Indiamen had a smart little dodge of
their own for concealing the tea.
[Illustration: How the Deal Boatmen used to Smuggle Tea Ashore.]
The accompanying picture is no imaginary instance, but is actually
taken from an official document. The figure is supposed to represent
one of these Deal boatmen, and the numerals will explain the methods
of secreting the tea. (1) Indicates a cotton bag which was made to fit
the crown of his hat, and herein could be carried 2 lbs. of tea. He
would, of course, have his hat on as he came ashore, and probably it
would be a sou'wester, so there would be nothing suspicious in that.
(2) Cotton stays or a waistcoat tied round the body. This waistcoat
was fitted with plenty of pockets to hold as much as possible. (3)
This was a bustle for the lower part of the body and tied on with
strings. (4) These were thigh-pieces also tied round and worn
underneath the trousers. When all these concealments were filled the
man had on his person as much as 30 lbs. of tea, so that he came
ashore and smuggled with impunity. And if you multiply these 30 lbs.
by several crews of these Deal boats you can guess how much loss to
the Revenue the arrival of an East Indiamen in the Downs meant to the
Revenue.
Another old dodge, though different in kind, was employed by a
smuggling vessel when at sea and being chased towards evening, or on
one of those days when the atmosphere is hazy or foggy. To prevent her
canvas being a mark against the horizon, the lugger would lower her
sail, and her black hull was very difficult to distinguish in the
gathering gloom. This happened once when the smuggling cutter
_Gloire_, a vessel of 38 tons burthen belonging to Weymouth, was being
chased about midnight in January of 1816 by the Revenue cutter _Rose_.
The smuggler had hoped to have been able to run his goods ashore at
Bowen Bottom, Dorset, but the _Rose_ was too smart for him, launched
her galley, and seized her with a full cargo of half-ankers.