King's Cutters and Smugglers 1700-1855 Part 7

But apart from all the manifold difficulties and anxieties, both general and detailed, which arose in connection with these cruisers so long as they were at sea or in the s.h.i.+pwrights' hands, in commission or out of commission, there were others which applied more strictly to their crews. Such an incident as occurred in the year 1785 needed very close attention. In that year the English Amba.s.sador at the Court of France had been informed by Monsieur de Vergennes that parties of sailors belonging to our Revenue cruisers had recently landed near Boulogne in pursuit of some smugglers who had taken to the sh.o.r.e.

Monsieur de Vergennes added that if any British sailors or other armed men should be taken in such acts of violence the French Government would unhesitatingly sentence them immediately to be hanged.

Of course the French Government were well within their rights in making such representations, for natural enough as no doubt it was to chase the smugglers when they escaped ash.o.r.e, yet the trespa.s.s was indefensible. The Board of Customs therefore instructed their cruisers, as well as those of the Admiralty "whose commanders are furnished with commissions from this Board," to make a note of the matter, in order that neither they nor their men might inadvertently expose themselves to the severity denounced against them by the French laws upon acts of the like nature.

In 1812 one of the mariners belonging to a cruiser happened to go ash.o.r.e, and whilst there was seized by the press-gang for his Majesty's Navy. Such an occurrence as this was highly inconvenient not only to the man but to the Board of Customs, who resolved that henceforth the commanders of cruisers were not to allow any of their mariners sh.o.r.e leave unless in case of absolute necessity "until the protections which may be applied for shall have been received and in possession of such mariners."

Another matter that required rectification was the practice of taking on board some of their friends and relatives who had no right to be there. Whether this was done for pleasure or profit the carrying of these pa.s.sengers was deemed to be to the great detriment of the service, and the Board put a stop to it. It was not merely confined to the cruisers, but the boats and galleys of the Waterguard were just as badly abused. The one exception allowed was, that when officers of the Waterguard were removing from one station to another, they might use such a boat to convey their families with them provided it did not interfere with the duties of these officers. So also some of the commanders of the cruisers had even taken on board apprentices and been dishonest enough to have them borne on the books as able seamen, and drawn their pay as such. The Board not unnaturally deemed this practice highly improper, and immediately to be discontinued. No apprentices were to be borne on the books except the boy allowed to all cruisers.

After a smuggling vessel's cargo had been seized and it was decided to send the goods to London, this was done by placing the tobacco, spirits, &c., in a suitable coaster and despatching her to the Thames.

But in order to prevent her being attacked on the sea by would-be rescuers she was ordered to be convoyed by the Revenue cutters. The commander of whatever cruiser was in the neighbourhood was ordered "to accompany and guard" her to the Nore or Sea Reach as the case might be. Every quarter the cruisers were also to send a list of the seizures made, giving particulars of the cruiser--her name, burthen, number of guns, number of men, commander's name, number of days at sea during that quarter, how many days spent in port and why, the quant.i.ty of goods and nature of each seizure, the number and names of all smuggling vessels captured, both when and where. There was also to be sent the number of men who had been detained, how they had been disposed of, and if the men had not been detained how it was they had escaped.

"Their Lords.h.i.+ps are induced to call for these returns," ran the instruction, "in order to have before them, quarterly, a comparative view of the exertions of the several commanders of the Revenue cruisers.... They have determined, as a further inducement to diligence and activity in the said officers, to grant a reward of 500 to the commander of the Revenue cruiser who, in the course of the year ending 1st October 1808, shall have so secured and delivered over to his Majesty's Naval Service the greatest number of smugglers; a reward of 300 to the commander who shall have secured and delivered over the next greatest number, and a reward of 200 to the commander who shall be third on the list in those respects." That was in September of 1887.

During the year ending October 1, 1810, Captain Gunthorpe, commander of the Excise cutter _Viper_, succeeded in handing over to his Majesty's Navy thirteen smugglers whom he had seized. As this was the highest number for that year he thus became ent.i.tled to the premium of 500. Captains Curling and Dobbin, two Revenue officers, were together concerned in transferring six men to the Navy, but inasmuch as Captain Patmour had been able to transfer five men during this same year it was he to whom the 300 were awarded. Captain Morgan of the Excise cutter and Captain Haddock of the Custom House cutter _Stag_ each transferred four men during that year.

"But my Lords," states a Treasury minute of December 13, 1811, "understanding that the nature of the service at Deal frequently requires the Revenue vessels to co-operate with each other, do not think it equitable that such a circ.u.mstance should deprive Messrs.

Curling and Dobbin of a fair remuneration for their diligence, and are therefore pleased to direct warrants likewise to be prepared granting to each of those gentlemen the sum of 100." In spite of the above numbers, however, the Treasury were not satisfied, and did not think that the number of men by this means transferred to the Navy had been at all proportionate to the encouragement which they had held out.

They therefore altered the previous arrangement so as to embrace those cases only in which the exertions of the cruisers' commanders had been of an exceptionally distinguished nature. Thus during 1812 and the succeeding years, until some further provision might be made, it was decided that "the sum of 500 will be paid to such person commanding a Revenue cutter as shall in any one year transfer to the Navy the greatest number of smugglers, not being less than twenty." The sum of 300 was to be paid to the persons commanding a Revenue cutter who in any year should transfer the next greatest number of smugglers, not being less than fifteen. And 200 were to be paid to the commander who in one year should have transferred the third largest, not being less than ten. This decision was made in January of 1812, and in the following year it was directed that in future the rewards granted to the commanders of the Revenue cruisers for delivering the greatest number of smugglers should be made not exclusively to the commanders but distributed among the commander, officers, and crew according to the scale which has already been given on an earlier page in this volume. At the end of the year 1813 it was further decided that when vessels and boats of above four tons measurement were seized in ballast and afterwards broken up, not owing to their build, their construction, or their denomination, but simply because they had been engaged in smuggling, the seizing officers should become ent.i.tled to 30s. a ton.

There was also a system inst.i.tuted in the year 1808 by which the widows of supervisors and surveyors of Riding officers and commanders of cruisers were allowed 30 per annum, with an additional allowance of 5 per annum for each child until it reached the age of fifteen.

The widows of Riding officers, mates of cutters, and sitters of boats specially stationed for the prevention of smuggling were allowed 25 per annum and 5 for each child until fifteen years old. In the case of the widows of mariners they were to have 15 a year and 2, 10s.

for each child till the age of fifteen. And one finds among those thus rewarded Ann Sarmon, the widow, and the three children of the commander of the _Swan_ cutter stationed at Cowes; the one child of the mate of the _Tartar_ cutter of Dover; the widow of the mate of the _Dolphin_ of St. Ives; the widow of the Riding officer at Southampton; the widow and children of the commander of the cutter _Hunter_ at Yarmouth; and likewise of the _Hunter's_ mate.

After the 10th of October 1814 the allowance for victualling the crews of the Revenue cruisers was augmented as follows:--For victualling commander and mate, 3s. a day each and 1s. 6d. per lunar month for fire and candle. For victualling, fire, and candle for mariners, 1s.

10d. a day each. The daily rations to be supplied to each mariner on board the cruisers were to consist of 1-1/2 lbs. of meat, 1-1/2 lbs.

of bread, and two quarts of beer. If flour or vegetables were issued the quant.i.ty of bread was to be reduced, and if cheese were supplied then the amount was to be reduced in proportion to the value and not to the quant.i.ty of such articles. And, in order to obtain uniformity, a table of the rations as above was to be fixed up against the fore side of the mast under the deck of the cruiser, and also in some conspicuous place in the Custom House.

Very elaborate instructions were also issued regarding the use of the tourniquet, which "is to stop a violent bleeding from a wounded artery in the limbs till it can be properly secured and tied by a surgeon."

The medicine chest of these cruisers contained the following twenty articles: vomiting powders, purging powders, sweating powders, fever powders, calomel pills, laudanum, cough drops, stomach tincture, bark, scurvy drops, hartshorn, peppermint, lotion, Friar's balsam, Turner cerate, basilicon (for healing "sluggish ulcers"), mercurial ointment, blistering ointment, sticking-plaster, and lint.

In short, with its fleet of cruisers well armed and well manned, well found in everything necessary both for s.h.i.+p and crew; with good wages, the offer of high rewards, and pensions; with other privileges second only to those obtainable in the Royal Navy; the Customs Board certainly did their best to make the floating branch of its Preventive service as tempting and efficient as it could possibly be. And that there were not more captures of smugglers was the fault at any rate not of those who had the administration of these cutters.

[Ill.u.s.tration: H.M. CUTTER _WICKHAM_ Commanded by Captain John Fullarton, R.N. From a contemporary painting in the possession of Dr. Robertson-Fullarton of Kilmichael.]

A very good idea as to the appearance of a nineteenth century Revenue cruiser may be obtained by regarding the accompanying photographs of his Majesty's cutter _Wickham_. These have been courteously supplied to me by Dr. Robertson-Fullarton of Kilmichael, whose ancestor, Captain Fullarton, R.N., had command of this vessel. The original painting was made in 1806, and shows a fine, able vessel with ports for seven guns a-side, being painted after the manner of the contemporary men-of-war. To facilitate matters the central portion of the picture has been enlarged, and thus the rigging and details of the _Wickham_ can be closely examined. It will be observed that this cutter has beautiful bows with a fine, bold sheer, and would doubtless possess both speed and considerable seaworthiness essential for the west coast of Scotland, her station being the Island of Arran. In the picture before us it will be seen that she has exceptionally high bulwarks and appears to have an additional raised deck forward. The yard on which the squaresail was carried when off the wind is seen lowered with its foot-ropes and tackle. The mainsail is of course loose-footed, and the tack is seen well triced up. Two things especially strike us. First, the smallness of the yard to which the head of the gaff-topsail is laced; and secondly, the great size of the headsail. She has obviously stowed her working jib and foresail and set her balloon jib. When running before a breeze such a craft could set not merely all plain sail, but her squaresail, square-topsail and even stun'sls. Therefore, the smuggling vessel that was being chased must needs be pretty fleet of foot to get away.

[Ill.u.s.tration: H.M. Cutter Wickham This shows an early Nineteenth Century King's Cutter (_a_) running before the wind with square sails and stuns'ls set, (_b_) on a wind with big jib set.]

Campbeltown in those days was the headquarters of no fewer than seven large Revenue cruisers, all being commanded by naval officers. They were powerful vessels, generally manned by double crews, each having a smaller craft to act as tender, their chief duties being to intercept those who smuggled salt, spirits, and tea from the Isle of Man. The officers and men of the cutters made Campbeltown their home, and the houses of the commanders were usually built opposite to the buoys of the respective cutters. The merits of each cutter and officer were the subject of animated discussion in the town, and how "old Jack Fullarton had carried on" till all seemed to be going by the board on a coast bristling with sunken rocks, or how Captain Beatson had been caught off the Mull in the great January gale, and with what skill he had weathered the headland--these were questions which were the subjects of many a debate among the enthusiasts.

This Captain John Fullarton had in early life served as a mids.h.i.+pman on a British man-of-war. On one occasion he had been sent under Lord Wickham to France on a certain mission in a war-vessel. The young officer's intelligence, superior manners, and handsome appearance so greatly pleased Lord Wickham, that his lords.h.i.+p insisted on having young Fullarton alone to accompany him ash.o.r.e. After the mission was over Lord Wickham suggested procuring him some advancement in the service, to which Fullarton replied, "My lord, I am sincerely grateful for your undesired kindness, and for the interest you have been pleased to show in regard to my future prospects. Since, however, you have asked my personal views, I am bound to say I am not ambitious for promotion on board a man-of-war. I have a small property in Scotland, and if your lords.h.i.+p could obtain for me the command of one of his Majesty's cutters, with which I might spend my time usefully and honourably in cruising the waters around my native island of Arran, I should feel deeply indebted to you, and I should value such an appointment above all others."

Soon afterwards, the cutter _Wickham_ was launched, and Mr. Fullarton obtained his commission as captain, the mate being Mr. Donald Fullarton, and most of the crew Arran men.[18]

FOOTNOTES:

[11] The use of the petticoat as a seaman's article of attire dates back to the time of Chaucer:

"A s.h.i.+pman was ther, woning fer by weste: For aught I woot, he was of Dertemouthe.

He rood up-on a rouncy, as he couthe, In a gowne of falding to the knee."

"Falding" was a coa.r.s.e cloth.

[12] See Appendix VIII.

[13] See Captain Robinson's, _The British Fleet_, p. 503.

[14] _Ibid._, p. 502.

[15] I am indebted to a suggestion made on p. 183, vol. i. No. 7 of _The Mariner's Mirror_.

[16] See article by Captain R. Hudleston, R.N., in _The Mariner's Mirror_, vol. i. No. 7.

[17] _Victoria County Hist.: Suss.e.x_, vol. ii. p. 199.

[18] For these details I am indebted to the kindness of Dr.

Robertson-Fullarton, who has also called my attention to some information in an unlikely source--_The Memoirs of Norman Macleod, D.D._, by Donald Macleod, 1876.

CHAPTER X

THE INCREASE IN SMUGGLING

By an Order in Council, dated September 9, 1807, certain rewards were to be paid to the military for aiding any officer of the Customs in making or guarding any seizure of prohibited "or uncustomed goods." It was further directed that such rewards should be paid as soon as possible, for which purpose the Controllers and Collectors were to appraise with all due accuracy all articles seized and brought to his Majesty's warehouse within seven days of the articles being brought in. The strength of all spirits seized by the Navy or Military was also to be ascertained immediately on their being brought into the King's warehouse, so that the rewards might be immediately paid. The tobacco and snuff seized and condemned were ordered to be sold. But when these articles at such a sale did not fetch a sum equal to the amount of the duty chargeable, then the commodity was to be burnt.

Great exertions were undoubtedly made by the soldiers for the suppression of smuggling, but care had to be taken to prevent wanton and improper seizures. The men of this branch of the service were awarded 40s. for every horse that was seized by them with smuggled goods.

Everyone is aware of the fact that, not once but regularly, the smugglers used to signal to their craft at night from the sh.o.r.e as to whether the coast were clear, or whether it were better for the cutter or lugger to run out to sea again. From a collection of authentic incidents I find the following means were employed for signalling purposes:--

1. The commonest signal at night was to wave a lantern from a hill or some prominent landmark, or from a house suitably situated.

2. To take a flint and steel and set fire to a bundle of straw near the edge of a cliff.

3. To burn a blue light.

4. To fire a pistol.

5. The above were all night-signals, but for day-work the craft could signal to the sh.o.r.e or other craft by lowering and raising a certain sail so many times.

There were very many prosecutions for signalling to smuggling craft at many places along our coast. A sentence of six months' imprisonment was usually the result. Similarly, the Preventive officers on sh.o.r.e used to fire pistols or burn a blue light in signalling to themselves for a.s.sistance. The pistol-firing would then be answered by that of other Customs men in the neighbourhood. And with regard to the matter of these signals by the friends of smugglers, the Attorney-and Solicitor-General in 1805 gave their opinion to the effect that it was not even necessary for the prosecution to prove that there was at that time hovering off the coast a smuggling craft, or that one was found to have been within the limits; but the justice and jury must be satisfied from the circ.u.mstances and proof that the fire was lit for the purpose of giving a signal to some smugglers.

By the summer of 1807 smuggling in England and Wales had increased to what the Commissioners of Customs designated an "alarming extent." An Act was therefore pa.s.sed to ensure the more effectual prevention of this crime, and once again the Revenue officers were exhorted to perform their duty to its fullest extent, and were threatened with punishment in case of any dereliction in this respect, while rewards were held out as an inducement to zealous action. Under this new Act powers were given to the Army, Navy, Marines, and Militia to work in concert with each other for the purpose of preventing smuggling, for seizing smuggled goods, and all implements, horses, and persons employed or attempting to bring these ash.o.r.e. The lack of vigilance, and even the collusion with smugglers, on the part of Revenue officials was still too real to be ignored. Between Dover and Rye, especially, were tobacco, snuff, spirits and tea run into the country to a very considerable extent. And the Government well knew that "in some of the towns on the coast of Kent and Suss.e.x, amongst which are Hastings, Folkestone, Hythe, and Deal, but more especially the latter, the practice of smuggling is carried on so generally by such large gangs of men, that there can exist no hope of checking it but by the constant and most active vigilance of strong military patrols, with parties in readiness to come to their a.s.sistance." So wrote Mr. W.

Huskisson, Secretary of the Treasury, to Colonel Gordon in August 1807.

The Deal smugglers went to what Mr. Huskisson called "daring lengths,"

and for this reason the Treasury suggested that patrols should be established within the town of Deal, and for two or three miles east and west of the same. And the Treasury also very earnestly requested the Commander-in-chief for every possible a.s.sistance from the Army. It was observed, also, that so desperate were these smugglers, that even when they had been captured and impressed, they frequently escaped from the men-of-war and returned to their previous life of smuggling.

To put a stop to this the Treasury made the suggestion that such men when captured should be sent to s.h.i.+ps cruising at distant foreign stations. Some idea of the violence which was always ready to be used by the smugglers may be gathered by the incident which occurred on the 25th of February 1805. On this day the cutter _Tartar_, in the service of the Customs, and the Excise cutter _Lively_ were at 10 P.M.