King's Cutters and Smugglers 1700-1855 Part 15

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 ill.u.s.trates 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 circ.u.mstances.

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 a.s.sistance. 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 pa.s.s to the 14th of September 1823. The scene is again West Bay, and the old pa.s.sion 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 sh.o.r.e--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 a.s.sist 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 sh.o.r.e.

By this time, also, there were ten or twelve men coming towards the officers, and Bartlett managed to run down to the sh.o.r.e, 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 sh.o.r.e, 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 sh.o.r.e 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 ash.o.r.e.

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 sh.o.r.e. 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 windla.s.s at the time, and died instantly.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "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 a.s.sumed, but witnesses at the trial were able to a.s.sign 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 circ.u.mstances 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 sh.o.r.e. Unfortunately it fell very calm, so that it took them some time to reach the trawling ground, and even when with the a.s.sistance 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 Lips...o...b.. who had been sent by Lieutenant Gammon, R.N., from the revenue cruiser _Cameleon_. The cutter's boat b.u.mped alongside Field's craft, which was called the _Diamond_. After making fast, Lips...o...b..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. Lips...o...b..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. Lips...o...b..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 Lips...o...b.. 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 Lips...o...b..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. Lips...o...b..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 ash.o.r.e in the cutter's boat, and later on fetched him back. The object, no doubt, was to send the _Diamond's_ papers ash.o.r.e 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 ash.o.r.e 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, Lips...o...b..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 Lips...o...b..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 a.s.sault 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 spygla.s.ses 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 gla.s.s 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 pa.s.sed. And, inasmuch as there was no other vessel within six miles distance, the _Admiral Hood_ beyond a shadow of doubt was carrying contraband.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "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-gla.s.s, 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.