BY SEA AND LAND
Having now seen the evolution of the smuggling methods from brute
force and superiority of ships and crews to the point where the
landing of dutiable goods became a fine art, and having been able to
obtain an idea of the manifold changes which occurred in the
administration of the Preventive service between the years 1674 and
1856, we may now resume our narrative of the interesting encounters
which occurred between the smugglers on the one hand and the
Preventive force on the other. Up to the year 1822 we have dealt with
the different incidents which used to go on around our coast, and we
shall now be in a position to appreciate to their full the notable
exploits of cruisers and smugglers in that late period between the
years 1822 and 1856. This covers the epoch when improved architecture
in regard to the craft employed, greater vigilance on the part of the
cruisers, and a keener artfulness in the smugglers themselves were at
work. Consequently some of these contests represent the best incidents
in the whole history of smuggling.
But it was not always that the Revenue cruisers and Preventive boats
were in the right. There were occasions when the commanders suffered
from too much zeal, though certainly these were quite exceptional.
There is the case of the _Drencher_ which well illustrates this. She
was a Dutch vessel which had been on her voyage to Italy, and was now
returning home up the English Channel with a cargo of oil, bound for
Amsterdam. Being somewhat square and ample of form, with the
characteristic bluff bows much beloved by her countrymen, and being
also very foul on her bottom through long voyaging, she was only a
dull sailer.[23] And such being the case, when she fell in with head
winds her skipper and part-owner, Peter Crook, decided to let go
anchor under Dungeness, where many a sailing craft then, as to-day,
has taken shelter in similar circumstances.
Whilst she was at anchor waiting for a favourable slant, one of the
numerous fishing-boats which are always to be seen hereabouts came
alongside the _Drencher_[24] and asked the skipper if he required any
assistance. Crook replied that if the wind was still ahead, and he was
compelled to remain there till the next day, he would want some fuel
for his stove. The fisherman sold some of his catch to the Dutchman,
and then went on his way.
But soon after this a boat in the Preventive service, commanded by a
Mr. MacTavish, a midshipman, came alongside and boarded the
_Drencher_. The midshipman inquired what the Dutchman had had to do
with the fishing-boat, and Crook answered that he had done nothing
except to purchase some fish. But this did not satisfy Mr. MacTavish,
who proceeded now to examine what was on board. Of course he found
some casks of spirits, and asked Crook how they came to be there, to
which Crook answered that they had been found floating in a former
voyage and he had picked them up. This looked doubtful, but it was
quite probable, for often the weights of stones from sunken tubs broke
adrift and the tubs floated up to the surface. Especially was this the
case after bad weather.
We can well understand the midshipman's suspicions, and need not be
surprised to learn that he felt justified in seizing the ship because
of these tubs found on board. He had the anchor broken out, the sails
hoisted, and took her first into Dover, and afterwards from Dover to
Ramsgate, where most of her cargo was unloaded. But after a time she
was ordered to be released and allowed to proceed to Holland, and
later still her skipper brought an action against MacTavish for
having been wrongfully detained for thirty days, for which demurrage
he claimed four guineas a day, besides damage to her cable and other
things, amounting in all to £208.
The reader will recollect that in another chapter we saw a couple of
sailing craft dodging about suspiciously in West Bay, one of which
began to fire signals to the other in order to warn her of the
Preventive boat: and we saw that the crew of three men in the
offending craft were arrested and found guilty. One of these men, it
will be remembered, was John Bartlett, who had at one time been a boy
on a Revenue cutter. From the incident which led to his arrest in 1819
let us pass to the 14th of September 1823. The scene is again West
Bay, and the old passion is still strong in Bartlett notwithstanding
his sentence. A little to the west of Bridport (Dorset) is Seatown,
and just beyond that comes Golden Cape. On the night of the above date
one of the Seatown Revenue officers about 1 A.M. noticed flashes
coming from the cliff between Seatown and Golden Cape. He proceeded to
the cliff, which at high-water runs straight up out of the sea. It was
a dark night with no moon, a little breeze, and only slight surf on
the shore--ideal conditions for any craft bent on smuggling.
On the cliff the officer, named Joseph Davey, espied a man. He hailed
him, thinking it was some one else, and asked him if he were Joey
Foss. "Yes," came back the answer, but when the officer seized him he
discovered it was not Foss but the notorious John Bartlett. Up came
another Revenue man named Thomas Nines to assist Davey, but in a few
minutes Bartlett gave a loud whistle, whereupon Nines looked out
seaward and exclaimed, "There's a boat."
"I sees him," answered Davey as the craft was approaching the shore.
By this time, also, there were ten or twelve men coming towards the
officers, and Bartlett managed to run down to the shore, shouting
"Keep off!" "Keep off!" as loudly as he could. The officers ran too,
but the boat turned round and put off to sea again. In the course of a
few minutes there rose up a large fire on the cliff, about a hundred
yards from where the officers were. It was another signal of warning
to the boat. For Bartlett, having got away from the officers, had
doubtless lit this, since it flared up near to where he was seen to
run. The officers remained on the coast until daylight, and then
launching their boat rowed a little way from the shore, and found a
new buoy moored just by the spot where the lugger had been observed to
turn round when hailed and warned. It was clear, on examination, that
the buoy had not been in the water many hours, and after "creeping"
along the sea bottom hereabouts they brought up sixty kegs, which were
also quite new, and had evidently only been sunk when Bartlett sung
out his warning. The latter was again arrested, and found guilty when
subsequently tried. So again Bartlett had to retire from smuggling.
It happened only a few weeks before this incident that a seaman named
Willis was on shore with his officer. Willis belonged to H.M.S.
_Severn_, which was moored off Dover for the prevention of smuggling.
The officer was a naval midshipman named Hope, stationed ashore.
Whilst on their duty they began to notice a man, whose name was
William Clarke, near Chalk Fall, carrying a basket of nets and fishing
lines. For a time both Willis and Hope took shelter under the Chalk
Cliff as it was raining, but presently Willis separated from his
officer to go to his appointed station. It occurred to him that Clarke
appeared to be unnecessarily stout, and he was sure that he was trying
to smuggle something. Willis went up to him and said he intended to
search him, to which Clarke replied, "Certainly." He admitted he had
some liquor there, but he hoped Willis would take no notice of it. The
seaman insisted that he must take notice, for if it turned out to be
foreign spirits he must seize it: whereupon Clarke flung down a couple
of half-crowns and asked him to say nothing about it.
Willis again protested that he must see what the man had beneath his
gabardine. But at this Clarke took a knife from his pocket and cut a
large bladder which he had under his clothes, containing half a
gallon of spirits, and a spirituous liquor poured out on to the
ground. Willis put his finger to it and found that it was foreign
brandy. But the amusing legal aspect of this incident was that this
foreign liquor could not be seized, nor could the man be prosecuted
for having it, and it could not be condemned. But Clarke had indeed
destroyed that which he had so early brought safely home. This was
just one instance of the good work which the Coast Blockade was
performing, Willis and other seamen being landed every night from
H.M.S. _Severn_ to act as guard at different points along the coast.
In the annals of smugglers and cruisers there are few more notable
incidents than that which occurred on the 13th of January 1823, in the
English Channel. On this day the Revenue cutter _Badger_ was cruising
off the French coast under the command of Lieutenant Henry Nazer, R.N.
He was an officer of the Excise, but the cutter at that time was in
the service of the Customs, her station being from the South Foreland
to Dungeness. About 7.30 A.M. the officer of the watch came below and
told him something, whereupon Nazar hurried on deck and observed a
suspicious sail on the starboard tack, the wind being E.S.E. The
_Badger_ was at that time about nine or ten miles off the French
coast, somewhere abreast of Etaples, and about six or seven leagues
from the English shore. The craft which was seen was, to use the
lieutenant's own language, "a cutter yawl-rigged," which I understand
to signify a cutter with a small lug-sail mizzen, as was often found
on smugglers. At any rate, he had every reason to believe that this
was a smuggling craft, and he immediately made sail after her. At that
hour it was just daybreak, and the smuggler was about three or four
miles off--to the eastward--and to windward, but was evidently running
with sheets eased off in a westerly direction.
But when the smuggler saw the _Badger_ was giving chase he also
altered his course. It was a fine, clear, frosty morning, and the
_Badger_ quickly sent up his gaff topsail and began to overhaul the
other, so that by nine o'clock the two vessels were only a mile apart.
The _Badger_ now hoisted his Revenue pendant at the masthead,
consisting of a red field with a regal crown at the upper part next
the mast, and he also hoisted the Revenue ensign (that is to say "a
red Jack with a Union Jack in a canton at the upper corner and a regal
crown in the centre of the red Jack") at his peak. These signals
instantly denoted that the ship was a Revenue cruiser. Lieutenant
Nazar also ordered an unshotted gun to be fired as a further signal
that the smuggler was to heave-to, but the stranger paid no attention
and hoisted no colours. Ten minutes later, as it was perceived that
his signals were disregarded, the _Badger's_ commander ordered a shot
to be fired at her, and this was immediately returned by the smuggler
with one of her stern guns. From this time a running fire was kept up
for nearly three hours, but shortly before midday, whilst the cutter
was still chasing her and holding on the same course as the other, the
_Badger_ came on at such a pace that she ran aboard the smuggler's
starboard quarter whilst both ships were still blazing away at each
other.
The smuggler's crew then cried out for quarter in English. This was
granted by the _Badger's_ commander, who had a boat lowered, but
whilst in the act of so doing the treacherous smuggling craft
recommenced firing. It was a cowardly thing to do, for Reymas, their
own captain, had particularly asked the _Badger's_ commander to
forgive them and overlook what they had done, whilst other members of
the crew cried out to the same effect. This had caused a cessation of
fire for about five minutes, and was only reopened by the smugglers'
treachery. One of the _Badger's_ mariners named William Cullum, was in
consequence shot dead by a musket aimed at him by one of the
smugglers. Cullum was standing by the windlass at the time, and died
instantly.
[Illustration: "The Cruiser's Guns had shot away the Mizzen-Mast."]
The _Badger_, therefore, again began to fire into the other ship, but
in about another five minutes the smuggler again called for quarter,
and this was again granted. The cruiser sent her boat aboard her, and
brought off the smuggler's crew, amounting to twenty-three men, though
two others had been killed in the affray. The _Badger's_ chief mate,
on boarding the smuggler, sent away the latter's crew in their own
boat, and seven of these men were found to be wounded, of whom one
died the following morning. The name of the vessel was seen to be the
_Vree Gebroeders_. She was of 119 tons burthen, and had the previous
day started out from Flushing with a cargo of 42 gallons of brandy,
186 gallons of Geneva--these all being in the 3-1/2 gallon
half-ankers. But there was also a good deal of other cargo, consisting
of 856 bales of tobacco which contained 51,000 lbs., thirteen boxes of
tea, and six bags of sugar. All these goods were made up in
illegal-sized packages and she had nothing on board except what was
contraband. The chests of tea were found all ready slung for landing
with small ropes.
The _Vree Gebroeders_ was provisioned for three months, and was armed
with four carronades, 9-pounders, and two swivel muskets, bayonets,
and other arms of different kinds. Her destination had been for
Ireland. When the chief mate of the _Badger_ boarded her he found that
the cruiser's guns had shot away the mizzen-mast, but the smuggler's
skipper remarked to the chief mate that the spare topmast on deck
would serve for a mizzen and that the square-sail boom would make an
outrigger, and that the trysail would be found below, but so far, he
said, this sail had never been bent. Later on the chief mate found
also the deck-log of the _Vree Gebroeders_, which had been kept on two
slates, and it was a noticeable fact that these were kept in English.
They read thus:--
+-------------------------------+
| N.W. by N. |
| Remarks, Monday 13th. |
| N.W. by W. At 6.30 Ostend |
| Light bore S.E. distant |
| 12 miles. |
| At 4 a.m. Calais Light |
| bore E. by S. |
+-------------------------------+
So when the _Badger_ first sighted this craft the latter had made her
last entry in the log, only three and a half hours before. It was
significant that English charts were also found among the ship's
papers, though her manifest, her certificate, her bill of lading, and
other certificates were all in Dutch. The books found included
Hamilton Moore's _Navigation_, another similar work by Norie, the
_British Channel Pilot_, and _Navigation of the North Seas_. There was
also found a Dutch ensign and a Dutch Jack on board, but there was
even an English Prayer-book.
The prisoners remained on board the _Badger_ until next day, when they
were transferred to H.M.S. _Severn_. The _Vree Gebroeders_ was taken
into Dover, and was valued, together with her cargo, at the handsome
sum of £11,000, which would have been a fine amount of prize money;
but in spite of the clear evidence at the trial, the jury were so
prejudiced in favour of the smugglers that they found the prisoners
not guilty, their contention being that the ship and cargo were wholly
foreign, and that more than half of the crew were foreigners.
It had been an unfortunate affair. Besides the death of Cullum and the
two smugglers killed and the seven smugglers wounded, Lieutenant
Nazer, James Harper, William Poppedwell, Daniel Hannibel, and James
Giles were all wounded on the _Badger_, Nazer being wounded on the
left shoulder by a musket ball. The smuggler's crew had made ludicrous
efforts to pretend they were Dutch. Dutch names were assumed, but
witnesses at the trial were able to assign to them their proper
appellations, and it was significant that the crew spoke English
without a foreign accent. Her commander insisted his name was Reymas,
but his real name was Joseph Wills, and he had been foremost in the
calling for quarter. Another of the crew, who pretended his name was
Jan Schmidt, was found to be an Englishman named John Smith. The
vessel herself had been built by a Kentishman, living at Flushing, the
previous year.
And here is another of those occasions when there was displayed an
excess of zeal, though under the circumstances who would blame the
Preventive officer for what he did? In February of 1824, a man named
Field and his crew of three came out from Rye--that hotbed of
smugglers--and intended to proceed to the well-known trawling ground
about fifteen miles to the S.W. of Rye, abreast of Fairlight, but
about five or six miles out from that shore. Unfortunately it fell
very calm, so that it took them some time to reach the trawling
ground, and even when with the assistance of the tide they did arrive
there, the wind was so scant that it was useless to shoot the trawl in
the water. Naturally, therefore, it was a long time before they had
obtained their cargo of flat fish, and when a little breeze sprang up
they had to get back to Rye, as their provisions had run short.
On their way back, when they were only about four or five miles from
their harbour, they fell in with a small open sailing-boat named the
_Rose_, containing four or five men. Field's bigger craft was hailed
by the _Rose_ and asked to be taken in tow, as they also had run short
of provisions, and were anxious to get back to harbour at once.
Field's boat took one of their crew on board, whilst the rest remained
in the _Rose_ and were towed astern. It was now about four or five in
the morning, and they had not proceeded more than another couple of
miles before they were hailed again, but this time by a boat under the
command of a Preventive officer named Lipscomb, who had been sent by
Lieutenant Gammon, R.N., from the revenue cruiser _Cameleon_. The
cutter's boat bumped alongside Field's craft, which was called the
_Diamond_. After making fast, Lipscomb and his boat's crew jumped
aboard, and announced that they suspected the _Diamond_ was fitted
with concealments, and he wished to examine her. But after rummaging
the ship nothing suspicious was found. Lipscomb then explained that he
had been ordered by Lieutenant Gammon to take the _Diamond_ and to
bring her alongside the _Cameleon_ and then to order Field and his
crew to go aboard the cruiser as prisoners.
This, of course, did not lead to harmony on board. Lipscomb attempted
to seize hold of the tiller, so as to steer the vessel back to
Hastings Roads, where the cruiser was lying. But Field turned to him
and said--
"I don't know about your having the helm. You don't know where the
cutter is any more than I do."
With that, Field pushed the man aside, grasped hold of the tiller, and
shoved it hard up, and bearing away, ran the vessel out seawards. But
after keeping on this course for twenty minutes they fell in with the
_Cameleon_, and the two vessels came near to each other. The cruiser's
commander shouted to Lipscomb, and ordered him to get into the
cruiser's galley, which had been towing astern of the _Diamond_ all
this time, and to row to the cruiser. This was done, and then Lipscomb
received his orders. He was to return to the trawler and seize the
hands and bring them to the _Cameleon_. So the galley returned again
and brought the _Diamond's_ crew as ordered. It was now 7 A.M., and
they were kept as prisoners on the cutter till 9 A.M. the following
day. Lipscomb and his boat's crew of four now took charge of the
_Diamond_, and began to trim sheets, and before long the two craft got
separated.
When Field proceeded on board the _Cameleon_ he took with him his
ship's papers at the lieutenant's orders. He then ventured to ask how
it was that his smack had been detained, to which Gammon replied that
he had received information from the Collector of Customs at Rye.
Field, however, was incredulous. "I rather doubt your word," he said,
whereupon the officer took out of his pocket a letter, doubled the
page down one or two lines, and showed the doubting skipper that it
was as the lieutenant had stated. Gammon then went below and took
Field's papers with him, and there they remained till the following
morning.
The _Cameleon_ went jogging along, and having arrived abreast of
Hastings, Gammon sent one of his crew ashore in the cutter's boat, and
later on fetched him back. The object, no doubt, was to send the
_Diamond's_ papers ashore to be examined as to their veracity, though
nothing was said to Field on the subject. It is clear that the reply
from the authorities came back that the papers were found in order,
and that Field was not known as a smuggler; for after the man who had
been sent ashore returned, the _Cameleon_ made sail, and stood out to
sea for a distance of eighteen miles. She had lost sight of the
_Diamond_ and her prize crew, and it was not till about breakfast time
the following day that the cruiser found the smack again. When at
length the two craft did come together, Lipscomb was called on board
the cruiser and summoned below to Gammon. What exactly the
conversation was never came out, but from subsequent events it is
fairly clear that Gammon asked what opinion Lipscomb had been able to
form of the _Diamond_, and that the latter had to admit she was a
genuine trawler; for soon after, the lieutenant sent the steward for
Field and one of his men to go below. The two men did as they were
ordered.
"Good morning," said the cruiser's commander as they came into the
cabin, "here are your papers, Field."
Field hesitated for a moment; then answered--
"I don't know, sir, as to taking them. I'm not altogether satisfied
about being detained so long. And had I been aboard the smack, and you
had refused to let me have the tiller," he continued, getting angrier
every moment, "I would have shot you as sure as you had been a man."
"You may do as you please," came the commander's cool reply, "about
taking them, but if you do not choose to take them, I shall take you
away to Portsmouth and give you up to the Port Admiral, and let him do
with you as he thinks proper."
Thinking therefore that it were better to be discreet and hold his
tongue, Field took the papers, went up again on deck, collected his
men, went back to his smack, and the incident ended--for the present.
But the Revenue men had clearly made an error this time, and had acted
_ultra vires_. About a year later Field, as a master and part-owner of
the _Diamond_, brought an action against Gammon for assault and
detention, and was awarded a verdict and £5 damages.
It is curious to find what sympathy the smugglers sometimes received
in a section of society where one would hardly have expected this to
exist. There are at least three instances of men of position and
wealth showing their feelings undisguisedly in favour of these lawless
men. There was a Lieut.-Colonel Chichester, who was called upon for
explanations as to his conduct in this respect; there was the case
also of the naval officer commanding H.M. sloop _Pylades_ being
convicted and dismissed the service for protecting smugglers, and,
most interesting of all, was the incident which centred round Sir
William Courtenay.
The facts of this case may be summarised as follows. On Sunday
afternoon, the 17th of February 1833, the Revenue cutter _Lively_ was
cruising at the back of the Goodwins, when about three o'clock she
descried a vessel about five or six miles off which somehow aroused
suspicions. The name of the latter was eventually found to be the
_Admiral Hood_. At this time the sloop was about midway between
England and France, her commander being Lieutenant James Sharnbler,
R.N. The _Admiral Hood_ was a small dandy-rigged fore-and-after, that
is to say, she was a cutter with a small mizzen on which she would set
a lugsail. The _Lively_ gave chase, and gradually began to gain on the
other. When the _Admiral Hood_ was within about a mile of the
_Lively_, the former hauled across the latter, and when she had got
on the _Lively's_ weather-bow the Revenue craft immediately tacked,
whereupon the _Admiral Hood_ put about again and headed for the French
coast. After vainly attempting to cause her to heave-to by the usual
Revenue signals, the _Lively_ was compelled to fire on her, and one
shot was so well placed that it went clean through the dandy's sail,
and thinking that this was quite near enough the _Admiral Hood_
hove-to.
But just prior to this, Lieutenant Sharnbler had ordered an officer
and two men to take spyglasses and watch her. At this time they were
about fifteen or sixteen miles away from the North Foreland. One of
the men looking through his glass observed that the _Admiral Hood_ was
heaving tubs overboard, and it was then that the first musket was
fired for her to heave-to, but as the tubs were still thrown overboard
for the next three-quarters of an hour, the long gun and the muskets
were directed towards her. The two vessels had sailed on parallel
lines for a good hour's chase before the firing began, and the chase
went on till about a quarter to five, the tide at this time ebbing to
the westward and a fine strong sailing breeze. There was no doubt at
all now that she was a smuggler, for one of the _Lively's_ crew
distinctly saw a man standing in the _Admiral Hood's_ hatchway taking
tubs and depositing them on deck, whilst some one else was taking them
from the deck and heaving them overboard, the tubs being painted a
dark green so as to resemble the colour of the waves. As the _Lively_
came ramping on, she found numbers of these tubs in the wake of the
_Admiral Hood_, and lowered a boat to pick them up, and about
twenty-two were found a hundred yards from the smuggler, and the
_Lively_ also threw out a mark-buoy to locate two other tubs which
they passed. And, inasmuch as there was no other vessel within six
miles distance, the _Admiral Hood_ beyond a shadow of doubt was
carrying contraband.
[Illustration: "The _Admiral Hood_ was heaving tubs overboard."]
After the vessel was at length hove-to, she was seized and ultimately
taken into Rochester, and information was duly laid against the
persons who had been engaged in this smuggling adventure. But it is
here that Sir William Courtenay comes into the story. This gentleman,
who had his seat at Powderham Castle, Devon, came forward and swore
positively that the tubs, which the _Lively_ was supposed to have
picked up, had been seen floating off the coast. He himself was
staying on a visit to Canterbury, and on that Sunday afternoon
happened to be sailing about off the Kentish coast, and sighted the
_Lively_ about two o'clock. He kept her in sight, he said, until four
o'clock. He also saw the _Admiral Hood_, and witnessed her being
chased by the _Lively_, but he had seen the tubs for most of the day,
as they had come up with the tide from the westward. With his own
eyes, and not through a spy-glass, he witnessed the _Admiral Hood_
being captured by the cruiser, and followed up this evidence by
remarking that "the tubs I saw picked up did not come out of the _Lord
Hood_. I say so sterling and plump."
This was exactly the reverse of the testimony as given by the crew of
the _Lively_, so it was evident that some one was lying. But to make a
long story short, it was afterwards found that Sir William was not
only _not_ afloat that afternoon, did not see the tubs, did not see
the two crafts, but was miles away from the scene, and at the time of
the chase was in church. He was accordingly brought for trial, found
guilty, and sentenced to be imprisoned for three calendar months, and
after the expiration of this, he was to be "transported to such a
place beyond the seas as his Majesty may direct, for the term of seven
years."
He was convicted on unmistakable testimony of having committed
perjury; in fact, Mr. Justice Parke, in giving judgment at the time,
remarked that it was the clearest evidence in a perjury case that had
ever fallen to his lot to try. As to the motive, it was thought that
it was done solely with a desire to obtain a certain amount of
popularity among the smugglers. Sir William saw that the case would go
against the latter unless some one could give evidence for their side.
Therefore, abusing his own position and standing, he came forward and
perjured himself. It is a curious case, but in the history of crime
there is more than one instance of personal pride and vanity being at
the root of wrong-doing.
FOOTNOTES:
[23] How slow she was may be guessed by the fact that she took seven
hours to go from Dover to the Downs even under the expert handling of
MacTavish's crew.
[24] She was officially described as a dogger.