HISTORY of SUSSEX
A Story of Contraband in Sussex: Page 2
That sheer piracy had far from lost its attraction for some of our forefathers
as late as the reign of Queen Elizabeth is shown by a number of old records.
In 1573 the Earl of Lincoln wrote to the Lord Treasurer " touching
the wreck in Sussex."
In this letter he refers to
"the dealing of Mr. Pelam and others, who take upon them to deal
with pirates' goods, in so much as they, where they find the goods stayed
for Her Majesty, they convey it from thence to such places as they may distribute
and convey it for their own use, and deceive Her Majesty; and for that you
may the better know their dealings, as well in Sussex as in the West Country,
I send you herewith such letters as I have received from thence, to the
end that you may take order for the reformation of their doings."
In 1586 Thomas Collins and William Randoll of Newhaven, were fined for
buying pirates' goods. Another sidelight on Sussex men's dealings with (channel
pirates " in good Queen Bess's glorious day's" is a letter written
by the Bishop of Chichester in 1574 saying that " the people begin
greatly to grudge at the prices of grain and the like dearth of other victuals.
Wheat is now sold at 4s. and 13 groats a bushel, and barley 2s. and 7
groats a bushel. The rovers upon the sea towards this coast do much hurt
both by the conveying away of corn and victuals by the good will of such
as dwell nigh the sea coast, whereof a great sort be thought to live by
these rovers, and also by spoiling of poor men, as well English as others,
which pass the seas this way."
There is extant a manuscript record of an investigation into the doings
of a certain Chichester privateer named William Tenner, who sailed off to;
"annoy" the Spaniards, and anyone else he could lay his ship
along side of, three years before the Great Armada was scattered. He was
summoned on March 30th, 1585, before " blaster Doctor Julius Caesar,
" to explain " his late being at the seas. "
Here follows the simple tale which honest Bill Fenner told the Court.
For the sake of convenience the spelling is modernised. Said Bill:—
"I, Edward Fenner, John Challice, and the rest of our company, to
the number of 70 persons, went to the seas in a ship called the Galleon
Fenner, belonging to me and to the said Edward Fenner, my uncle, with commission
granted us from Don Antonio, King of Portugal, to serve his Majesty against
the King of Spain and his subjects, and to make prize of any of their goods.
And being on our course towards the southernmost Cape, St. Vincent . . .
and sailing along the coast of Spain, we met and took a French ship of
Morbian laden with some corn and other commodities, out of which I and my
company took . . . 14 bags of wheat, one small hawser, one anchor, four
muskets, two flasks, two cases, 10 chambers, one hogshead of bread, one
iron to bake withal, one hogshead of meal, one cable, and nothing more to
my now remembrance, and so suffered the ship and company to depart with
risk of their lading. . . .
And sailing forward, about a month after my going abroad, we aboarded
and took on the coast of Spain without sight of land two French ships, one
of Croswicke and the other of Rosco, laden with canvas and diverse other
commodities.
Out of the ship of Rosco I and my company took four fardells of canvas,
one barrel of flax, 17 bags of wheat, and two hogsheads of pilchards, and
one butt of dry fish.
Out of the ship of Croswicke we took 13 boutles of poldavies(sacking),
12 boutles of canvas, eight pieces of narrow white cloth, one butt of bread,
4 fawkonettes (small cannon), and eight calivers (muskets), and after the
taking of the said goods I suffered the ships and company with their ladings
to depart.
Also we aboarded and took a ship of St. Mallowes (? St. Malo) bound for
Spain laden with linen cloth and other goods upon the coast of Spain, from
the which we took (here follows a similar catalogue of merchandise), and
then dismissed the ship and men with the rest of their lading.
About a fortnight later I and my company met with two hulks, and after
a long fight we aboarded and took one of them, being of Lubeck as I think,
and of the burden of 400 or 500 tons, bound for Spain, deep laden with copper,
wax, tin, masts, and sundry other commodities, of which hulk we took (another
list of plunder follows) is consideration of the spoil and damages which
I sustained in fight by the said hulk at the boarding of the same.
Not long after, I and my company were met and chased on the high seas
off the coast of Spain bv two French ships of Newhaven, being ships of war,
and the captains thereof being brothers and called Burbownes, with whom
I and my company fought, and in fight took the admiral, about the beginning
of December last, having about a hundred chests of sugar and scarlets, broadcloths
and kerseys, which the French men had before spoiled from Portuguese and
Englishmen.
And after the subduing of the same I placed John Challice, my lieutenant,
in the said French ship, and took the captain thereof and 12 of his company
into the Galleon Fenner with intent to bring them to England.
Howbeit by great extremity and want of victuals which I was in, I was
forced to put them into a Brittany ship which I afterwards met withal, and
so let them go. . . . Shortly afterward I and my company with the said French
ship being determined to return for England there happened extreme foul
weather, wherein I and the said Challice with the said French ship were
separated. Before separating I and my company and the said Challice aboarded
and took a Portuguese ship laden with sugars, brasell (dyewood), pieces,
and other commodities.
I placed John Sawyer, one of my company, for captain thereof, and about
12 persons more to guide the same, out of which Portingall ship I caused
35 chests of sugar to be hoisted into the said Galleon Fenner, and three
pounds of ginger, one monkey, and certain parrots. . . ."
The bold seafarer was asked what had become of the various articles declared,
and said:
" There was brought into Sussex in the ship 35 chests of sugars,
whereof I bestowed three chests among my kinsfolk and friends at Chichester
and thereabouts," and among other particulars mentioned " about
20 ells of white cloth, which I bestowed for the most part on the maids
of my uncle's house, and some part to John Sawyer's wife of Chichester."
The golden age of smuggling as a Sussex industry dates from the time of
the Napoleonic Wars, when the autocrat of Europe issued his decree forbidding
trade with England, and the English Government retorted by declaring the
territories under the influence of Napoleon in a state of blockade. Smuggling
on a huge and organised scale went on not only all along the coast, but
was conducted by a series of posts far inland, and furnished the Emperor
with a valuable means of becoming acquainted with the doings of the country.
Sussex was peculiarly favourably situated for the development of the industry,
and all Sussex smuggled more or less - generally more. The bold coastwise
sailor, who with all lights covered, ran his contraband cargo along the
shores which he knew like the palm of his hand in the blackest night, and
who fought many a fight both by land and water with the revenue men, is
the traditional smuggler of romance, but with the men of the sea were allied
numerous gangs of landsmen, whose risks were probably in most cases greater
than those of the sailors.
For theirs it was to arrange for the safe disposal and distribution of
the cargoes. For this purpose they had a network of organisation, in which
all classes, from the magistrate on the bench and the parson in his pulpit
to the shepherd on the hills and the ploughman with his oxen, lent a willing
hand in return for consideration received.
The smugglers had their recognised sunken ways through the Sussex woodlands,
along which men and even horses might safely go in broad daylight without
much risk of discovery. Every Sussex sea-beach has its tales of the smuggling
days, but probably the special home of the art was the Cuckmere valley,
where the lonely coast gave access to a country whose hills and winding
ways might seem providentially constructed for the purpose.
One of the most famous of the smuggling bands was the Alfriston gang,
whose chief, Stanton Collins, was a power in the land for many years. The
last survivor of this gang, one Bob Hall, died in the Eastbourne workhouse
in 1895 at the green old age of 94.
Only a couple of days before Drake and the rest were in contact with the
Spanish Armada, a dastardly fellow called in the records of the time "
Wicked David," sailing in a small Brittany built ship, seized in the
Channel the household goods of a gentleman named Edward Burton, who was
travelling from London to Eastbourne by sea with all his furniture - probably
a much easier way in those days, despite the risk of pirates, than was afforded
by the Sussex roads.
The catalogue of Mr. Burton's goods thus stolen, as recounted before "
the right worshipful Julius Caesar, Judge," included his wainscot chest,
filled with tapestry and curtains, his "great chest," containing
£150 worth of linen, his long carpet of Arras, worth £60, his
" great chest " full of pewter and candlesticks, a "trunk
of apparel for a woman," damask and silk, worth £60, eight feather
beds, and all kinds of other household goods. "Wicked David" and
his felonious associates carried their plunder to Studland, the Isle of
Wight, and other places - seemingly clean through the ranks of the on-sailing
Armada and the English Fleet - and there sold them.
At least one of the pirates, Zacchary, was eventually caught and landed
in Winchester Gaol, where it is to be hoped he came by his deserts. There
was formerly at Seaford a house name Corsica Hall, built by an old gentleman
named Whitfield, who contrived to amass a considerable fortune by smuggling
Corsican wines. Information of his doings at length reached the Government,
and he fled in time to the Low Countries, where he died.
There is a curious story, not particularly related to smuggling, but worth
mentioning here, attaching to a cavern which was hewn in the early eighteenth
century out of the solid rock of the cliffs near Birling Gap. It is said
to have been formed by the almost incredible labour of a clergyman, who
was parson of East Dean. It was ascended by a staircase about six feet from
the base, and terminated in very lofty rooms. Near the head of the stairs
was a room, outside which ran a balcony facing the sea. One version of the
construction is that the parson was cursed with a talkative wife, and resorted
to this desperate expedient as a refuge from her tongue.
Another more charitable account refers it to his pity for the Dutch sailors
who at that date used to suffer greatly from shipwreck on the dangerous
rocks about this part of the coast. Jonathan Darby (the reverend gentleman's
name) used to repair to his eyrie in stormy weather and hang out warning
lights to guide the shipping. It is related that once a large ship ran its
high bowsprit right into the cave thanks to his lights, and 12 men were
saved from her. Mr. Darby is said to have died in 1728 from a chill contracted
during one of these charitable ascents.
The smugglers were very open-handed to their friends, conscious or unconscious.
A Hastings clergyman of those times, the Rev. Webster Whistler, records
that he was awakened one night to receive a cask of brandy as his share
of the spoil which, all unknown to him, had been stored in the tower of
his church. At other times the " runners " would leave their contribution
on their friends' doorsteps, or between rows of potatoes in their back gardens,
trenched deep for the purpose !
A humorous smuggling incident is related by Mark Anthony Lower about a
Sussex blacksmith who was on his way to Ditchling with a keg when he was
accosted by an Excise man. "I must have that tub of yours, I reckon," said the officer. "
Worse luck, I suppose you must," answered Nick Cossum, the blacksmith, in a civil way, "
though it's rather against the grain to be robbed like this. However, I'm going your road, so we can walk together.
Ther's no law again' that, I expect."
The customs officer said there was not, so he took the tub on his shoulders,
and they went along, chatting quite friendly and "chucker," as
the Sussex word was, till they came to a crossroad, where the blacksmith
wished the customs man goodbye. Then turning back, he called out: "
Oh, there's one thing I forgot. Here's a little bit of paper that belongs
to the keg. " The officer examined the paper. "
Why! " he exclaimed. " This is a permit ! Why didn't you show
me that when I took the hollands? "
" Oh," said the blacksmith, " why, if I had done that,
you wouldn't a-carried my tub for me all this way, would you!"
Another good story is told in reference to the ecclesiastical connection
of the parishes of Hove and Preston. These were, in the days before Hove
grew up, served by one parson, the services being taken at each Parish Church
on alternate Sundays.
The story goes that one " Hove Sunday " the vicar in full canonicals
went to the church to do his office.
To his surprise, the bell was not ringing, and on his inquiring the reason
of the sexton, that artist calmly informed him that he had made a mistake,
and that it was "Preston Sunday. " The vicar stuck to it that
he was right, and the sexton as stoutly maintained that he was wrong. The
vicar would not admit that he was in error, and ordered the bell to be rung
for service.
"It's no use, sir," said the sexton at last. " You can't
preach today." "Why not?" demanded the angry parson. "
Because the church is full of tubs, and the pulpit's full of tea "
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