King's Cutters and Smugglers 1700-1855 Part 2

It was reckoned that about this time there were at least 20,000 people in England employed in smuggling, and in some parts (as, for instance, the village of Hawkhurst, about which we shall have more to say presently) gangs of large numbers could be got together in a very short time. In Hawkhurst alone 500 smugglers could be collected within an hour. Folkestone, however, ran Hawkhurst fairly close with a similar notoriety. Such gangs, well armed as they were, went about with impunity, for notwithstanding that they were well known, yet no one dared to molest them.

We mentioned just now that the danger to the State of this import smuggling was not merely that goods were brought into the country without payment being made to the Customs, but that inasmuch as the contraband goods were purchased abroad partly by wool and partly by actual coin England was being robbed both ways. And as the wool exportation declined and the import smuggling rose, so the amount of gold that pa.s.sed out of the country seriously increased. At least 1,000,000 sterling were carried out of the kingdom each year to purchase these goods, and of this amount somewhere about 800,000 were paid for tea alone. At a later date the price of tea often went up, but the dealer still made a profit of 40s. on every 100 lbs. We alluded just now also to the dangers of seizure, and it is worth remarking that these were recognised by the smugglers as being greater in one district than in another. For instance, it was much more difficult to run goods into the counties of Kent and Suss.e.x than into Suffolk, owing to the fleet at sea and the troops on the coast. And as to the amount of support which could be relied on it was an admitted fact that there was not one person in ten in the country but would give the smugglers a.s.sistance, and even lend them horses and carts. For the use of these the smugglers made payment at an increased rate.

There was one witness before this Commission who stated that he knew of about sixty English cutters of from thirty to forty tons burthen each, and five or six vessels of the same burthen belonging to merchants at Flushing which were employed constantly in running goods across to England, and several of those who gave evidence confessed that they had for years been actively engaged in smuggling, but had taken advantage of the late Act of Indemnity. One reason alleged for smuggling tea was that the East India Company did not sufficiently supply the dealers with the low-priced kinds, whereas the Dutch did.

And it was further contended that if the price of tea were lessened sixpence per lb. it would put a stop to smuggling of the commodity, for at this date, although other articles such as spirits and tobacco were brought in, yet there was far more tea run than anything else.

But at the same time the smugglers rather liked to include a quant.i.ty of brandy casks among their cargo for the reason that they were heavy and made very good ballast. And as to the ships themselves, it was agreed that those of the smugglers were the best sailing fore-and-afters that were built in those days, and could easily out-sail both the King's ships and the Custom House sloops. Finally, it was shown that in spite of the large and tempting rewards that were offered by advertis.e.m.e.nt for the apprehension of those persons who had been concerned in smuggling, no one had come forward to give information for the reason that, even if he would, he dared not. And so fascinating was the call of smuggling, that although there were those who had willingly embraced the pardon granted them by the recent Act, forsaken this illegal trade and settled down on farms or devoted themselves to other occupations which were within the law, yet there were many others who had returned to their former practices.

After acc.u.mulating this evidence, the Committee issued their first report on March 24, 1745, and expressed themselves of the opinion that the high duties charged on tea and other commodities had certainly been one cause of smuggling. But they also added that the exposing for sale of those boats and vessels which had been seized from the smugglers was certainly another potent reason, for these craft were frequently bought back by the men; they therefore recommended that all captured craft should be burned. Furthermore, the Commission condemned the custom of allowing penalties to be compounded so easily. As an instance of this last-mentioned custom we might call attention to three smugglers belonging to the county of Hampshire. There is a reference to them in the Southampton Letters under date of April 28, 1730, from which it appears that Matthew Barton, John Gibort, and William Moadon of Fordingbridge were under prosecution for running goods ash.o.r.e. They subsequently offered to compound for the said offence on the following terms: Barton to pay the sum of 35, Gibort to pay 25, and Moadon 15. But before allowing the matter to be settled straight away the Collector and Comptroller at Southampton were ordered to look carefully into the affair and to inquire what these men were generally esteemed to be worth.

CHAPTER IV

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 bia.s.sed 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 princ.i.p.al 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 c.o.c.kburn, 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 acc.u.mulated 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 encyclopaedia 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 Suss.e.x. 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.

Pa.s.sing, then, to describe the methods employed by these men, he divided them into two cla.s.ses. 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 cla.s.s, 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 sh.o.r.e 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 ash.o.r.e 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 sh.o.r.e 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 a.s.sociated that made Captain c.o.c.kburn suggest that it was because the Dutchmen brought such large quant.i.ties 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 doc.u.ments it would certainly seem that c.o.c.kburn 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 quant.i.ties 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 c.o.c.kburn, "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. c.o.c.kburn admitted that he had done this himself and had run great quant.i.ties of brandies, teas, and Spanish liquorice even as much as nearly a ton of the latter at a time. But besides these two cla.s.ses 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 c.o.c.kets 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 quant.i.ty of French brandy equal to that which c.o.c.kburn 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 c.o.c.kburn the brandy which had come from Dunkirk. c.o.c.kburn 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 quant.i.ties 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 quant.i.ty to the British commodity which had been put ash.o.r.e 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 quant.i.ty 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 quant.i.ties 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 Pa.s.sage 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 ash.o.r.e 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 a.s.sisted 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 a.s.sistance of the dragoons, but it was infinitely worse when they had to contend alone. There is an almost pathetic pet.i.tion from the Folkestone riding-officers sent on New Year's Day 1744-45, begging for military a.s.sistance against the smugglers, as although there were soldiers stationed at Dover yet they were un.o.btainable, 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 a.s.semble together to scheme and drink to the d.a.m.nation 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 b.u.t.ter-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 sh.o.r.e. 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 sh.o.r.e 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 sh.o.r.e 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "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 a.s.sistance of two boat-loads of armed men who had rowed off from the sh.o.r.e, 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 ash.o.r.e, 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 sc.u.m 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 a.s.serted 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 Mitch.e.l.l should send ash.o.r.e 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 sh.o.r.e 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 quant.i.ties of French linings, wines, and brandies were being run ash.o.r.e 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 pa.s.sengers who had come across from the Continent were frequently stopped on the highway by the riding-officers and the pa.s.sengers 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 sh.o.r.e, 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 sh.o.r.e. Bowen captured one of these small craft with a dozen casks aboard. Another was forced ash.o.r.e 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 ash.o.r.e. 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 sh.o.r.e 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 sh.o.r.e. 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.