King's Cutters and Smugglers 1700-1855

FOOTNOTES:

CHAPTER XVIToC

ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS

By an Order in Council of May 5, 1821, it was directed that henceforth all sums which were awarded for arrests on shore of any person concerned in smuggling should be paid in the following proportions. He who made the arrest was to have three-quarters of the reward, which was to be divided into equal proportions if there were more than one person. If there were any officer or officers present at the time of arrest, these were to have one quarter of the reward. The officer commanding the party was to have two shares, each of the other officers having one share. The reward payable for a smuggler convicted and transferred to the Navy amounted to £20. And here let it be added that the persons liable to arrest in regard to smuggling were: (1) Those found on smuggling vessels; (2) Those found unloading or assisting to unload such craft; (3) Those found to be carrying away the landed goods or concerned in hiding the same. But before conviction it was essential to prove that the seized spirits were foreign; that the vessel had come from foreign parts; that the party who detained the smugglers was a Customs Officer; and that the offenders were taken before a proper magistrate.

We now come to the year 1821, when the Commissioners of Inquiry made an important report touching the Revenue service. They suggested that the Riding Officers were not valuable in proportion to their cost, and so it came about that the Inspectors and superior officers, as well as a large number of the inferior classes, were dispensed with, but a small percentage of the lowest class was retained as a Preventive Mounted Guard, the annual cost of this being only the modest sum of £5000. This Preventive Guard was to be employed in watching for any gatherings of smugglers, and whenever any goods might be landed and carried up into the country, they were to be followed up by the members of this guard. They were also to maintain a communication between the different stations.

Up to the year 1821, from those early days of the seventeenth century and earlier, the Revenue cruisers were the most important of all the means employed for suppressing smuggling. But the same inquiry which had made its recommendations regarding the Riding Officers also reported that the efficacy of the vessels employed in protecting the Revenue was not proportionate to the expense incurred in their maintenance. They advised, therefore, that their numbers should be reduced, and that whereas they had in 1816 come under the care of the Admiralty, they should now be restored to the control of the Customs. But the officers and crews of these cruisers were still to be selected by the Admiralty. And thus in the year 1822 these recommendations were carried into effect, and a new order inaugurated.

It was by a Treasury Minute of February 15, 1822, that it was directed that the whole of the force employed for the prevention of smuggling "on the coast of this kingdom," was to be consolidated and transferred, and placed under the direction of the Customs Board. This force was to consist of the cruisers, Preventive Water-guard, and Riding Officers. And henceforth the commanders of cruisers were to receive their orders from the Controller-General of the Coastguard, who was to be responsible to the Board of Customs. The one exception to this change was that the Coast Blockade on the coast of Kent and Sussex, which had shown itself so satisfactory that it was left unaltered. The Preventive Water-guard became the Coastguard, and this—rather than the cruisers—should form the chief force for prevention of smuggling, the Riding Officers, or Preventive Mounted Guard, being merely auxiliary by land, and the cruisers merely auxiliary by sea. To what extent the number of cruisers were reduced can be estimated by stating that whereas there were forty-seven of these Revenue craft employed in England in 1821, there were only thirty-three two years later, these consisting of the Mermaid, Stag, Badger, Ranger, Sylvia, Scout, Fox, Lively, Hawk, Cameleon, Hound, Rose, Scourge, Repulse, Eagle, Tartar, Adder, Lion, Dove, Lapwing, Greyhound, Swallow, Active, Harpy, Royal George, Fancy, Cheerful, Newcharter, Fly, Seaflower, Nimble, Sprightly, Dolphin.

The first-class cruisers were of 140 tons and upwards, the second class of from 100 to 140 tons, and the third class were under 100 tons. In 1824 the cruisers on the Irish coast and the Scotch coast were also transferred to the Customs Board, and from that date the entire Coastguard service, with the exception of the Coast Blockade, was directed, as stated, by the Controller-General.

In the year 1829, the instructions were issued to the Coastguard. Afloat, these applied to the commanders, mates, gunners, stewards, carpenters, mariners, and boys of the cruisers. Ashore, they were applicable to the Chief Officers, Chief Boatmen, Mounted Guard, Commissioned Boatmen, and Boatmen, both sections being under their respective commanders. Each member of the Mounted Guard was provided with a good horse and sword, with an iron scabbard of the Light Cavalry pattern, as well as a couple of pistols and ammunition. The cruiser commanders were again enjoined to keep the sea in bad weather and at night, nor were they permitted to come to harbour except when really necessary.

In 1831 came the next change, when the Coastguard took the place of the Coast Blockade, which had done excellent duty for so many years in Kent and Sussex. The aim was to make the Coastguard service national rather than departmental. To promote the greatest efficiency it was become naval rather than civil. It was to be for the benefit of the country as a nation, than for the protecting merely of its revenues. Thus there was a kind of somersault performed; and the whole of the original idea capsized. Whereas the Preventive service had been instituted for the benefit of the Customs, and then, as an after-thought, became employed for protection against the enemy across the Channel, so now it was to be exactly the other way on. The Revenue was to be subservient to the greater and national factor.

In this same 1831, the number of cruisers had risen to thirty-five in England, but many of them had tenders. There were altogether twenty-one of these latter and smaller craft, their tonnage varying from twenty-five to sixty. And the next year the Mounted Guard was reorganised and the Riding Officers disappeared. With the cordon of cruisers afloat, and the more efficient Coastguard service ashore, there was a double belt round our coasts, which could be relied upon both for national and Revenue services. By this time, too, steam was invading the domain of the ship, and in 1839, besides the old-fashioned sailing cutters and tenders, there was a steamer named the Vulcan, of 200 tons, taken into the service, her duty being to cruise about and search for suspicious vessels. In some parts of the country, also, there was assistance still rendered by the Mounted Guard for watching the roads leading inland from the beach to prevent goods being brought up.

With this increased efficiency it was but natural that a change should come over the character of the smuggling. Force was fast going out of date. Except for a number of rather startling occasions, but on the whole of exceptional occurrence, violence had gone out of fashion. But because of the increased vigilance along the coast the smuggler was hard put to devise new methods of running his goods into the country without being surprised by the officials. Most, if not all, of the old syndicates of French and Englishmen, who made smuggling a roaring trade, had died out. The armed cutters had long since given way to the luggers as the smuggling craft. Stealth had taken the place of violence, concealments and sunken goods were favoured rather than those daring and outrageous incursions which had been in the past wont to take place.

And yet, just as a long-standing illness cannot be cured at once, but keeps recurring, so there were periods when the smuggling disease kept breaking out and seemed to get worse. Such a period was that between 1825 and 1843, but it was pointed out to the Treasury that so long as the high duties continued, "Your Lordships must look only to the efficiency of the Coastguard for the continued absence of successful enterprises, and that smuggling would immediately revive upon the slightest symptom of relaxation on the part of the Commissioners of Customs." The service was therefore glad to encourage Naval Lieutenants to serve as Chief Officers of the Coastguard.

Among the general instructions issued to the Coastguard of the United Kingdom in 1841, were definite orders to the commanders of cruisers. Thus, if ever a cruiser ran aground the commander was to report it, with full particulars of the case and extent of damage. During the summer season the Inspecting Commanders were to take opportunities for trying the comparative speeds of these cruisers. Whenever cruisers should meet at sea, in any roadstead or in any harbour, they were to hoist their ensigns and pendants as an acknowledgment that each had seen the other; and when both had thus hoisted their colours they might immediately be hauled down. This was also to be done when one cruiser should pass another at anchor.

Cruisers were again reminded that they were to wear only the ensigns and pendants appointed for the Revenue service, and not such as are used in the Royal Navy. Nor were salutes to be fired by cruisers except on particular and extraordinary occasions. It was further ordered that no alteration was to be made in the hull, masts, yards, sails, or any fitments of the cruisers, without the sanction of the Controller-General. To prevent unnecessary expense on fitting out or refitting of any of the cruisers, the use of leather was to be restricted to the following: the leathering of the main pendants, runners in the wake of the boats when in tackles, the collar of the mainstay, the nip of the main-sheet block strops, leathering the bowsprint traveller, the spanshackle for the bowsprit, topmast iron, the four reef-earings three feet from the knot. All old copper, copper-sheathing, nails, lead, iron and other old materials which were of any value, were to be collected and allowed for by the tradesmen who perform the repairs. New sails were to be tried as soon as received in order to ascertain their fitness. Both boats and cruisers were also to be painted twice a year, above the water-line, this to be done by the crews themselves.

A general pilot was allowed for two months when a cruiser arrived on a new station, and an occasional pilot was permissible in cases of necessity, but only licensed pilots were to be employed. General pilots were paid 6s. a day as well as the usual rations of provisions. The cruisers were provided with charts of the coast off which they were employed. Naval officers holding appointments as Inspecting Commanders of cruisers, Chief Officers of stations and Mates of cruisers were ordered to wear the greatcoat established by any Admiralty regulation in force for the time being, with epaulettes, cap, and side-arms, according to their ranks. Commanders of cruisers, if not naval officers, were to wear a blue lappel-coat, buttoned back with nine Coastguard uniform buttons and notched button-holes, plain blue stand-up collar with gold lace loop and button on each side thereof—the loop to be five inches long, and the lace three-quarters of an inch in breadth. There were also to be three buttons and notched button-holes on each cuff and pocket, as well as three buttons in the folds of each skirt.

The waistcoat was to be white or blue kerseymere, with uniform buttons, white or blue pantaloons or trousers, with boots, a blue cloth cap similar in shape to those worn in the Royal Navy, with two bands of gold lace three-quarters of an inch broad, one at the top and the other at the bottom of the headpiece. The sword was to have a plain lace knot and fringe tassel, with a black leather belt. White trousers were worn on all occasions of inspection and other special occasions between April 23 and October 14. Blue trousers were to be worn for the other months.

In 1849 the Select Committee on the Board of Customs expressed the opinion that the number of cruisers might be reduced, and the Landguard practically abolished; but it was deemed advisable that these protections being removed, the coastline of defence ought to be strengthened by securing the services of Naval Lieutenants who had retired from the Navy on half-pay. So the number of cruisers and tenders which in 1844 had reached seventy-six, and in 1849 were fifty-two, had now sunk to fifty in the year 1850. In 1854, on the outbreak of war with Russia, 3000 men were drafted into the Navy from the Coastguard, their places being filled by pensioners. During the war considerable service was also rendered by the Revenue cruisers, by capturing the Russian ships in the Northern Seas, for we must recollect that, just as in the wars with France, there were two centres to be dealt with, viz., in the north and south. The war with Russia, as regards the sea service, was prosecuted both in the Narrow Seas and in the Black Sea, and the Russian trade was badly cut up. As many as eleven Russian ships were captured by means of these British cutters, and no less than eight of these prizes were condemned. The fact is worthy of being borne in mind when considering the history of these craft which have long since passed from performing active service.

The next modification came in 1856, when it was resolved to transfer the control of the Coastguard to the Admiralty; for in spite of the great change which had been brought about in 1831, all the Coastguard officers and men while being appointed by the Admiralty, were none the less controlled by the Customs. However, this condition was now altered, but in the teeth of opposition on the part of the Customs, who represented to the Treasury that considerable inconvenience would result from this innovation. But on the 1st of October 1856, the control of the Coastguard was transferred to the Admiralty, as it had been foreshadowed. And with that we see practically the last stage in the important development which had been going on for some years past. It was practically the finale of the tendency towards making the service naval rather than civil.

For the moment, I am seeking to put the reader in possession of a general idea of the administrative features of the service, which is our subject, during the period between 1822-1856. At the last-mentioned date our period devoted to cutters and smugglers practically ends. But before proceeding to deal with the actual incidents and exciting adventures embraced by this period, it may be convenient just to mention that these changes were followed in 1869, when the services of civilians employed in any capacity in the Coastguard were altogether dispensed with, and since then the general basis of the Coastguard development has been for the better defence of our coasts, so as to be vigilant against any disembarkation by a foreign power, at the same time providing to a certain extent for the manning of the ships of the Royal Navy when required. Thus, the old organisation, with which the Customs Board was so closely and for so long a time connected, changed its character when its sphere became national rather than particular. Its duty henceforth was primarily for the protection of the country than for the prevention of smuggling. But between 1822—when the Admiralty yielded up their responsibilities to the Customs Board—and the year 1856, when again the control was returned to the Admiralty, no material alterations were made in the methods of preventing smuggling, the most important event during that period—apart altogether from the actual smuggling incidents—was the change which had been brought about in 1831.

During the different reigns and centuries in which the smuggling evil had been at work, all sorts of anti-smuggling acts had been passed. We can well understand that a certain amount of hasty, panic-driven legislation had from time to time been created according to the sudden increase of contraband running. But all these laws had become so numerous, and their accumulation had made matters so intricate, that the time had come for some process of unravelling, straightening out, and summarising. The systematising and clarification were affected by the Act of January 5, 1826 (6 Geo. IV. cap. 108). And one of the most important features of this was to the effect that any vessel belonging wholly or in part to his Majesty's subjects, found within four leagues of the coast of the United Kingdom, with prohibited goods on board, and not proceeding on her voyage, was to be forfeited. Any vessel or boat, not square-rigged, belonging wholly or in part to his Majesty's subjects, and found in the British (as it was then frequently designated) Channel or Irish Channel, or elsewhere within 100 leagues of the coast, with spirits or tobacco in casks or packages of less size than 40 gallons; or tea, tobacco, or snuff, in any package containing less than 450 lbs. in weight—this craft was to be forfeited. And vessels (not square-rigged), if found unlicensed, were also to be forfeited. But whale-boats, fishing-boats, pilot's boats, purely inland boats, and boats belonging to square-rigged ships were exempt.

But, of course, smuggling was still very far from being dead, and the Revenue cruisers had always to be on the alert. Some idea of the sphere of activity belonging to these may be gathered from the following list of cruiser stations existing in the early 'twenties. The English cruiser stations consisted of: Deptford, Chatham, Sheerness, Portsmouth, Cowes, Weymouth, Exmouth, Plymouth, Fowey, Falmouth, Penzance, Milford, Berwick, Grimsby, Boston, North Yarmouth, Harwich, Gravesend, Dover, Poole, Brixham, Ilfracombe, Douglas (Isle of Man), Alderney, Dover, Seaford, Dartmouth, Holyhead, Southend (in the port of Leigh). In Scotland there were: Leith, Montrose, Stranraer, Stornoway, Aberdeen, Cromarty, Campbeltown, Greenock. In Ireland there were: Kingstown, Larne, Killibegs, Westport, Galway, Cork, and Dunmore East.

It was to such places as the above that the cruisers repaired for their provisions. When smugglers had been captured and taken on board these cruisers they were allowed not to fare as well as the crew, but to have only two-thirds of the victuals permitted to the mariners. In 1825 additional instructions were issued relating to the victualling of his Majesty's Revenue Cruisers, and in future every man per diem was to have:—

One pound of biscuit, 1/3 of a pint of rum (wine measure), until the establishment of the imperial measure, when 1/4 of a pint was to be allowed, the imperial gallon being one-fifth greater than the wine gallon. Each man was also to have 1 lb. beef, 1/2 lb. flour, or in lieu thereof 1/2 pint of oatmeal, 1/4 lb. suet, or 1-1/2 oz. of sugar or 1/4 oz. of tea, also 1 lb. of cabbage or 2 oz. of Scotch barley. They were to be provided with pure West India rum, of at least twelve months old. Further regulations were also taken as to the nature of the men's grog. "As it is considered extremely prejudicial to the health of the crew to suffer the allowance of spirits to be drank raw, the Commanders are to cause the same to be served out to them mixed with water, in the proportion of three parts water and one part spirits, to be so mixed and served out in presence of one of the mates, the boatswain, gunner, or carpenter, and one or two of the mariners."

Smugglers detained on board were not to have spirits. Before proceeding to sea each cruiser was to have on board not less than two months' supply of salt beef, spirits; suet or sugar and tea in lieu, as well as Scotch barley. With reference to the other articles of food, they were to carry as large a proportion as could be stowed away, with the exception of fresh beef and cabbages. But two years prior to this, that is to say on April 5, 1823, the Board of Customs had reduced the victualling allowances, so that Commander and mates and superintendents of Quarantine received 2s. 6d. a day each; mariners 1s. 3d.; and mariners of lazarettes (hospitals 1s. for quarantine) 1s. 3d. a day.

As to the methods of the smugglers, these continued to become more and more ingenious, though there was a good deal of repetition of successful tricks until the Revenue officers had learnt these secrets, when some other device had to be thought out and employed. Take the case of a craft called the Wig Box, belonging to John Punnett. She was seized at Folkestone in the spring of 1822 by a midshipman of the Coast Blockade. There were found on her six gallons of spirits, which were concealed in the following most ingenious manner. She was quite a small vessel, but her three oars, her two masts, her bowsprit, and her bumpkin, had all been made hollow. Inside these hollows tin tubes had been fitted to contain the above spirits, and there can be little doubt but that a good many other small craft had successfully employed these means until the day when the Wig Box had the misfortune to be found out. There is still preserved in the London Custom House a hollow wooden fend-off which was slung when a ship was alongside a quay. No one for a long time ever thought of suspecting that this innocent-looking article could be full of tobacco, lying as it was under the very eyes of the Customs officers of the port. And in 1820 three other boats were seized in one port alone, having concealed prohibited goods in a square foremast and outrigger, each spar being hollowed out from head to foot and the ends afterwards neatly plugged and painted. Another boat was seized and brought into Dover with hollow yards to her lugsails, and a hollow keel composed of tin but painted to look like wood, capable of holding large quantities of spirits.

But there was a very notorious vessel named the Asp, belonging to Rye, her master's name being John Clark, her size being just under 24 tons. In 1822 she was seized and found to have a false bow, access to which was by means of two scuttles, one on each side of the stem. These scuttles were fitted with bed-screws fixed through false timbers into the real timbers, and covered with pieces of cork resembling treenails. The concealment afforded space for no fewer than fifty flat tubs besides dry goods. But in 1824 another vessel of the same name and port, described as a smack, was also arrested at Rye, and found to have both tobacco and silk goods concealed. This was effected by means of a false bottom to the ship, which extended as far aft as the ballast bulkhead. The entrance to the concealment was by means of a couple of scuttles on each side of her false keelson, these scuttles being screwed down in such a manner as also to be imperceptible. Also on either side of her cabin there were other hiding-places underneath the berths, and so constructed that they deceived more than one Revenue officer who came aboard to rummage her. The latter had bored holes through the lining, so as to try the distance of that lining from the supposed side of the vessel. Finding this distance not to exceed the fair allowance for the vessel's scuttling, the officers had gone ashore quite satisfied. From the number of gimlet-holes in the lining it was clear that the officers had been imposed upon considerably. But what these officers had taken for the side of the ship was only an intermediary planking, the actual concealment being between that and the vessel's side.

To get to the entrance of these concealments, the bedding had to be taken out, which they had no doubt omitted to do. But if they had done this they would have been able properly to get to the lining, when two small pieces of wood about an inch square let into the plank made themselves apparent. And these, if removed with the point of a knife or chisel, brought small pieces of cork (circular in shape) to become visible. As soon as these corks were removed, the heads of bed-screws were observable, and these being unscrewed allowed two boards running the whole lengths of the berths to be taken up, by which means were revealed the concealments capable of containing a considerable quantity of dry goods.

Somewhat reminiscent of this ship was the French vessel, St. Antoine, which was seized at Shoreham. She had come from Dieppe, and her master was named A. Fache. The after part of her cabin was fitted with two cupboards which had shelves that took down, the back of which was supposed to be the lining of the transom. But on taking the same up, timbers showed themselves. On examining the planks closely, it was noticed that they overlapped each other, the timbers being made to act as fastenings. On striking the lower end of the false timbers on one side, it moved round on a bolt, and one plank with a timber was made to shift on each side of the false stern-post, forming a stern-frame with the other. Below the cupboards down to the run of the vessel the same principle was followed. The entrance to this was by taking down the seats and lockers in the cabin, and a false stern-post appeared to be fastened with a forelock and ring, but by unfastening the same, the false stern-post and middle plank could be taken down.

Two ingenious instances of the sinking of contraband goods were found out about the year 1823, and both occurred within that notorious south-east corner of England. The first of these belongs to Sandwich, where three half-ankers of foreign spirits were seized floating, being hidden in a sack, a bag of shingle weighing 30 lbs. being used to act as a sinker. Attached to the sack were an inflated bladder and about three fathoms of twine, together with a small bunch of feathers to act as a buoy to mark the spot. When this arrangement was put into use it was found that the bladder kept the sack floating one foot below the surface of the water. The feathers were to mark the spot where the sack, on being thrown overboard, might bring up in case any accident had occurred to the bladder. At spring tides the rush of the water over the Sandwich flats causes a good deal of froth which floats on the surface. The reader must often have observed such an instance on many occasions by the sea. The exact colour is a kind of dirty yellow, and this colour being practically identical with that of the bladder, it would be next to impossible to tell the difference between froth and bladder at any distance, and certainly no officer of the Revenue would look for such things unless he had definite knowledge beforehand.

In the sack were three half-ankers. A bag of shingle acted as sinker, and the bladder kept the sack floating.]

The second occurrence took place at Rye. A seizure was made of twelve tubs of spirits which had been sunk by affixing to the head of each a circular piece of sheet lead which just fitted into the brim of the cask, and was there kept in its place by four nails. The weight of the lead was 9 lbs., and the tubs, being lashed longitudinally together, rolled in a tideway unfettered, being anchored by the usual lines and heavy stones. The leads sank the casks to the bottom in 2-1/2 fathoms of water, but at that depth they in specific gravity so nearly approximated to their equal bulk of fluid displaced that they could scarcely be felt on the finger. The leads were cast in moulds to the size required, and could be repeatedly used for the same purpose, and it was thought that the smuggling vessels, after coming across the Channel and depositing their cargoes, would on a later voyage be given back these pieces of lead to be affixed to other casks.

A clinker-built boat of about 26 tons burthen named the St. François, the master of which was named Jean Baptiste La Motte, of and from Gravelines, crossed the North Sea and passed through the Forth and Clyde Canal in the year 1823 to Glasgow. Nominally she had a cargo of apples and walnuts, her crew consisting of six men besides the master. She was able to land part of her cargo of "apples" at Whitby and the rest at Glasgow, and afterwards, repassing safely through the canal again, returned to Gravelines. But some time after her departure from Scotland it was discovered that she had brought no fruit at all, but that what appeared to be apples were so many portions of lace made up into small boxes of the size of apples and ingeniously painted to resemble that fruit.

As showing that, even as late as the year 1824, the last of the armed cutters had not been yet seen, we may call attention to the information which was sent to the London Custom House through the Dublin Customs. The news was to the effect that in February of that year there was in the harbour of Flushing, getting ready for sea, whither she would proceed in three or four days, a cutter laden with tobacco, brandy, Hollands, and tea. She was called the Zellow, which was a fictitious name, and was a vessel of 160 tons with a crew of forty men, copper-bottomed and pierced for fourteen guns. She was painted black, with white mouldings round the stern. Her boom also was black, so were her gaff and masthead. The officers were warned to keep a look-out for her, and informed that she had a large strengthening fish on the upper side of the boom, twenty cloths in the head, and twenty-eight in the foot of the mainsail. It was reported that she was bound for Ballyherbert, Mountain Foot, and Clogher Head in Ireland, but if prevented from landing there she was consigned to Ormsby of Sligo and Burke of Connemara. In the event of her failing there also she had on board two "spotsmen" or pilots for the coast of Kerry and Cork. There was also a lugger at the same time about to proceed from Flushing to Wexford. This vessel was of from 90 to 100 tons, was painted black, with two white mouldings and a white counter. She carried on her deck a large boat which was painted white also.

Tobacco was discovered concealed in rather a curious manner on another vessel. She had come from St. John, New Brunswick, with a cargo of timber, and the planks had been hollowed out and filled with tobacco, but it was so cleverly done that it was a long time before it was detected. All sorts of vessels and of many rigs were fitted with places of concealment, and there was even a 50-ton cutter named the Alborough, belonging to London, employed in this business, which had formerly been a private yacht, but was now more profitably engaged running goods from Nieuport in Belgium to Hull. The descriptions of some of these craft sent to the various outports, so that a smart look-out for them might be kept up, are certainly valuable to us, as they preserve a record of a type of craft that has altered so much during the past century as almost to be forgotten. The description of the sloop Jane, for instance, belonging to Dumbarton in 1824, is worth noting by those who are interested in the ships of yesterday. Sloop-rigged, and carvel built, she had white mouldings over a yellow streak, and her bulwark was painted green inside. Her cross-jack yards,[21] as they are called, her bowsprit-boom, her gaff and studding-sail boom were all painted white, and she had three black hoops on the mast under the hounds. Her sails were all white, but her square topsail and topgallant-yards were black. The Jane was a 90-tonner.

The reader will remember considering some time back an open boat which was fitted with hollow stanchions under the thwarts, so that through these stanchions ropes might pass through into the water below. I have come across a record of a smack registered in the port of London under the singularly inappropriate name of the Good Intent. She was obviously built or altered with the sole intention of being employed in smuggling. I need say nothing of her other concealments under the cabin berths and so on, as they were practically similar to those on the Asp. But it was rather exceptional to find on so big a craft as the Good Intent a false stanchion immediately abaft the fore scuttle. Through this stanchion ran a leaden pipe about two inches in diameter, and this went through the keelson and garboard strake, so that by this means a rope could be led through and into the vessel, while at the other end a raft of tubs could be towed through the water. By hauling tightly on to this line the kegs could be kept beautifully concealed under the bilge of the vessel, so that even in very clear water it would not be easy to suspect the presence of these tubs. The other end of this pipe came up through the ship until it was flush with the deck, and where this joined the latter a square piece of lead was tarred and pitched so as scarcely to be perceived.

There must indeed have been a tremendous amount of thought, as well as the expenditure of a great deal of time and money, in creating these methods of concealment, but since they dared not now to use force it was all they could do.

FOOTNOTES:

CHAPTER XVIIToC

SMUGGLING BY CONCEALMENTS

Second cousin to the method of filling oars and spars with spirits was that adopted by a number of people whose homes and lives were connected with the sea-shore. They would have a number of shrimping nets on board, the usual wooden handles being fitted at one end of these nets. But these handles had been purposely made hollow, so that round tin cases could be fitted in. The spirits then filled these long cavities, and whether they caught many shrimps or not was of little account, for dozens of men could wade ashore with these nets and handles on their backs and proceed to their homes without raising a particle of suspicion. It was well worth doing, for it was calculated that as much as 2-1/2 gallons of spirit could be poured into each of these hollow poles.

Collier-brigs were very fond of smuggling, and among others mention might be made of the Venus of Rye, an 80-ton brig which between January and September one year worked three highly profitable voyages, for besides her ordinary cargo she carried each time 800 casks of spirits, these being placed underneath the coals. There was also the brig Severn of Bristol, which could carry about five keels of coal, but seldom carried more than four, the rest of the space of course being made up with contraband. In 1824 she worked five voyages, and on each occasion she carried, besides her legitimate cargo, as much as eight tons of tobacco under her coals. And there was a Danish-built sloop named the Blue-eyed Lass belonging to Shields, with a burthen of 60 odd tons, also employed in the coal trade. She was a very suspicious vessel, and was bought subsequently by the people of Rye to carry on similar work to the other smuggling craft. All sorts of warnings were sent to the Customs Board giving them information that The Rose in June (needless to say of Rye) was about to have additional concealments added. She was of 37 tons burthen, and had previously been employed as a packet boat. They were also warned that George Harrington, a noted smuggler resident at Eastbourne, intended during the winter months to carry on the contraband trade, and to land somewhere between Southampton and Weymouth. He had made arrangements with a large number of men belonging to Poole and the neighbouring country, and had obtained a suitable French lugger.

In 1826 the smacks Fox and Lovely Lass of Portsmouth were seized at that port with kegs of spirits secreted under their bottoms in a thin contemporary casing, as shown in the accompanying diagram. The ingenious part of this trick was that there was no means of communication into the concealment from the interior of the vessel. Thus any officer coming aboard to search would have little or no reason to suspect her. But it was necessary every time this vessel returned from abroad with her contraband for her to be laid ashore, and at low water the kegs could be got at externally. To begin with there were pieces of plank two inches thick fastened to the timbers by large nails. Then, between the planks and the vessel's bottom the tubs were concealed. The arrangement was exceeding simple yet wonderfully clever. Practically this method consisted of filling up the hollow below the turn of the bilge. It would certainly not improve the vessel's speed, but it would give her an efficacious means of stowing her cargo of spirits out of the way. And it was because of such incidents as this last mentioned that orders were sent to all ports for the local craft and others to be examined frequently ashore no less than afloat, in order that any false bottom might be detected. And the officers were to be careful and see that the name of the ship and her master painted on a ship corresponded with the names in her papers. Even open boats were found fitted with double bottoms, as for instance the Mary, belonging to Dover. She was only 14 feet long with 5 feet 9-1/2 inches beam, but she had both a double bottom and double sides, in which were contained thirty tin cases to hold 29 gallons of spirits. Her depth from gunwale to the top of her ceiling[22] originally was 2 feet 8-1/2 inches. But the depth from the gunwale to the false bottom was 2 feet 5-3/4 inches. The concealment ran from the stem to the transom, the entrance being made by four cuttles very ingeniously and neatly fitted, with four nails fore and aft through the timbers to secure them from moving—one on each side of the keelson, about a foot forward of the keelson under the fore thwart. Even Thames barges were fitted with concealments; in fact there was not a species of craft from a barque to a dinghy that was not thus modified for smuggling.

The name of the barge was the Alfred of London, and she was captured off Birchington one December day in 1828. She pretended that she was bound from Arundel with a cargo of wood hoops, but when she was boarded she had evidently been across to "the other side"; for there was found 1045 tubs of gin and brandy aboard her when she was captured, together with her crew, by a boat sent from the cruiser Vigilant. The discovery was made by finding an obstruction about three feet deep from the top of the coamings, which induced the Revenue officer to clear away the bundles of hoops under the fore and main hatchways. He then discovered a concealment covered over with sand, and on cutting through a plank two inches thick the contraband was discovered.

The accompanying diagram shows the sloop Lucy of Fowey, William Strugnell master. On the 14th of December 1828 she was seized at Chichester after having come from Portsmouth in ballast. She was found to be fitted with the concealment shown in the plan, and altogether there were 100 half-ankers thus stowed away, 50 being placed on each side of her false bottom. She was just over 35 tons burthen, and drew four feet of water, being sloop rigged, as many of the barges in those days were without the little mizzen which is so familiar to our eyes to-day.

Cases of eggs sent from Jersey were fitted with false sides in which silks were smuggled; trawlers engaged in sinking tubs of spirits; a dog-kennel was washed ashore from a vessel that foundered off Dungeness, and on being examined this kennel was found to be fitted with a false top to hold 30 lbs. of tobacco; an Irish smack belonging to Cork was specially fitted for the contraband trade, having previously actually been employed as a Coastguard watch-boat. There was a vessel named Grace manned by three brothers—all notorious smugglers—belonging to Coverack (Cornwall). This vessel used to put to sea by appointment to meet a French vessel, and having from her shipped the contraband the Grace would presently run the goods ashore somewhere between Land's End and Newport, South Wales; in fact, all kinds of smuggling still went on even after the first quarter of that wonderful nineteenth century.

About the year 1831 five casks imported from Jersey was alleged to contain cider, but on being examined they were found to contain something else as well. The accompanying sketch represents the plan of one of these. From this it will be seen that the central space was employed for holding the cider, but the ends were full of tobacco being contained in two tin cases. In this diagram No. 1 represents the bung, No. 2 shows the aperture on each side through which the tobacco was thrust into the tin cases which are marked by No. 3, the cider being contained in the central portion marked 4. Thus the usual method of gauging a cask's contents was rendered useless, for unless a bent or turned rod were employed it was impossible to detect the presence of these side casks for the tobacco.