It appears that on Easter-day 1539 three strange ships appeared in the Downs, and as their origin and purpose were alike unknown and suspicious, all the able men of Kent rose, and mustered in armour without delay. Invasion of the kingdom was feared at any moment, and steps were at once taken to put all the havens and possible landing-places in a state of defence.

As Lambard mentions, the most prominent of these block-houses, as being more immediately opposite the enemy’s coast, were Sandown (now demolished), Deal, and Walmer. The two latter, whilst retaining many of the original features, have been considerably modified by alterations and modern additions.

On a coast such as this, extending from Pegwell Bay to Kingsdown, and directly facing the nearest shores of the Continent, it would be remarkable if no traces were found of defensive works raised to oppose the incursions of the enemy. The need of such defences for the protection of the coast must have been apparent during a considerable part of the Middle Ages, and means were doubtless taken to meet it.

Before the building of the three castles in the reign of Henry VIII, which are about to be described, an interesting chain of earthworks of a defensive character was thrown up along the coast. The most important were the Great, or Black Bulwark, and the Little, or White Bulwark, both in the parish of Walmer. There were also two other earthwork forts situated between the castles of Deal and Sandown. In addition to these there was a similar fort on the site of each of the three block-houses or castles built on this coast.

There must have been many raids by the French and others at various mediaeval periods, and it can hardly be doubted that these forts took some part in resisting them. Against such an incursion as that feeble attempt by Perkin Warbeck in 1495, when the men of Kent in this part of the county, and particularly those from Sandwich, beat back the intruders, such earthworks as these must have been a valuable means of defence.

Among the State Papers preserved in the Record Office are several which give interesting information generally as to the defences set up by Henry VIII in 1540.

From them we gather that the following castles and block-houses were at that time newly built in the Downs (i.e., Sandown, Deal, and Walmer) and at the following places: Dover(?), Folston (Folkestone), Rye, Calshotispoynt (Calshot), the Cowe (Cowes) under the Wight, two bulwarks above Gravesend, and bulwarks at Higham, Tilbury, and over against Gravesend, at Plymouth, Dartmouth, Falmouth, Fowey, Torre Bay, Portland, etc.

Christopher Morres, Master of the Ordnance in 1540, drew up a book of “rates for captains, constables, deputies, soldiers, porters, and gunners, for the safe-keeping of the King’s castles and bulwarks, of late new devised by his Majesty’s commandment,” in which are the following details:

In the year 1540 an act of Parliament (32 Hen. VIII, cap. 48), entitled, “The Castell of Dover,” was passed in which reference is made to the fact that

The act is really framed to give power and authority to the Warden of the Cinque Ports and the Constable of Dover Castle, “which now is and comunely heretofore hath ben one personne” over the newly built Blockhouses. The act was passed in the year when the building of the castles was completed.

In making a careful examination of these buildings one is struck with the fact that we find a certain unity of idea running through the designs and plans. Deal, the largest and most complicated of the series on the east coast of Kent, has a central circular tower with a diameter of 58 feet, and from it project six small inner lunettes and six much larger outer lunettes. The walls are no less than 20 feet thick at the foundations, and about 11 feet thick at the summit. The whole building is surrounded by a moat and was originally approached by a drawbridge. The circular central tower and the surrounding lunettes, or bastions, are roofed with very thick arched masonry work, and are pierced with 52 port-holes below for scouring the moat, and funnels, or chimneys, were conveniently arranged for carrying away the smoke of the fire-arms. Larger embrasures were provided for cannon. It is believed that these chimney-like openings were intended to be used as machicolations by means of which the invaders could be harassed should they obtain admission to the fortress.

At Walmer, where the plan resembles that of the destroyed block-house of Sandown (the lunettes being four in number), the embrasures for cannon are still left in their original condition, although certain modern buildings have been erected for residential purposes. Both Deal and Walmer retain the chief part of their original encircling moats. This is a feature of some interest as pointing to a new stage of development in the art of defensive architecture. Hitherto, we have seen that the castles which in Norman times presented flat surfaces to the invaders’ engines and battering-rams, were superseded by walls having curved surfaces. Curved walls were still built in Tudor times, and for precisely the same reason as those which were constructed in Edwardian days, but the whole structure of the castle was now depressed within a moated enclosure, the aim being to avoid presenting much surface to the enemy’s fire, cannon by this time having become destructive and gunners proficient.

Sandown Castle was once the prison of Col. John Hutchinson, the regicide, whose life contains a good deal of information as to the dampness and darkness of the place. It stood quite close to the sea-shore about a mile to the north of Deal, and, after being much damaged by the waves, was finally destroyed in 1864. A few indications of its massive strength now survive in a chalky mound.

Sandgate was another of this series of block-houses, its plan being of somewhat triangular form owing to the disposition of three towers in reference to the central tower. It has been much altered in comparatively recent times (1806), and now stands so close to the sea-shore as to be in great danger of being destroyed in due course by the waves.

Camber.—Beyond the castles opposite the Downs there was one, namely Camber Castle, situated a short distance south-east of Rye, Sussex, which belongs to the same period and was built for the same purpose as the others. Many years ago, however, it had become decayed and useless for coast defence. In 1642 the castle was finally dismantled and abandoned, and the guns were removed. In plan it resembled none of the others of the group, having a central tower and four nearly completely circular towers placed at regular distances around it. Although abandoned for so many years Camber is an excellent example of the kind of block-house which was erected by Henry VIII, retaining most of the features unaltered by rebuilding.

DEFENCES OF THE ESTUARIES OF THE THAMES, THE MEDWAY, ETC.

Another group of defences erected at about this period was designed for the defence of the river Thames, the river Medway, and what in later times came to be known as the Port of London. These included block-houses at Gravesend, Tilbury, Higham, etc.

In 1536 Henry VIII repaired Queenborough Castle and brought its equipment up to date, so as to make it a useful part of the coast defence in this part of England.

Chatham Dockyard was founded by Queen Elizabeth, and for its protection she built Upnor Castle.

Upnor Castle.—This is a rather late form of castle, having been built in 1561 by Queen Elizabeth for the defence of the reach of the river Medway almost opposite the dockyard at Chatham. The engraving of it, here reproduced, shows it to have been a castellated building three stories in height, and furnished with towers at each end. A platform for guns, defended by a stockade, was made in front of the castle close to the edge of the river. The forts at Sheerness and Gillingham were built during the reign of Charles I.

Landguard Fort, situated on the extreme south-eastern corner of Suffolk, was erected about the beginning of the reign of Charles I, in order to command the mouth of the combined estuaries of the Rivers Orwell and Stour. The first fort having been demolished, new works were built in 1718, and eight small towers, each mounting three guns, were erected on the adjacent coast in 1806. Owing to undermining by the sea some of these towers were destroyed twenty or thirty years after they were built.

Brighton.—In the year 1558, in consequence of the frequent incursions and depredations of the French, the people of Brighton determined to erect fortifications for the defence of the place. A site was selected on the low cliff between Black Lion Street and Ship Street, and about 215 yards westward of East Street. Upon this was erected a circular block-house, as it was called, containing in the main storage for arms and ammunition. Beyond it, towards the sea, was a small battery comprising four pieces of large ordnance.

It is somewhat surprising to learn that in addition to these fortifications against enemies, Brighton possessed three gates, viz., (1) the East Gate and Portal at the south end of East Street, (2) the Middle Gate, opposite the end of Middle Street, and (3) the West Gate, opposite the end of West Street.

DEFENCES OF THE SOUTH COAST

Along the south coast, particularly in the neighbourhood of Portsmouth, another group of coast defences specially designed to protect the extremely important naval base of Portsmouth Harbour, was built by Henry VIII. They comprised the block-houses or castles of Southsea, Hurst, Calshot, and in the Isle of Wight, Cowes, Sandown, and Yarmouth.

Southsea Castle, situated about three-quarters of a mile to the south or south-east of Portsmouth, was built by Henry VIII in 1539. The original castle consisted of a block-house with a dome-like top. Additions to it in the form of a star-fort were made in the time of Charles I. It was repaired and enlarged on the accession of the House of Hanover.

The castle was situated on the level ground quite near the sea-shore and was apparently selected with a view to commanding the approach of ships from the east in the direction of Portsmouth.

Fort Cumberland is a more modern defence, having been built in 1746 and enlarged in 1794.

Hurst Castle, a fortress of considerably larger size than those on the east coast, is situated on the Solent, and was built specially to defend the approach to Southampton Harbour against the French. Its building was commenced in 1541 and finished in 1544. The fortress was of some importance during the Civil War, and served for some days as the prison of Charles I. Towards the end of the seventeenth century it mounted nearly thirty guns. Several alterations have been made to it from time to time. Both Hurst Castle and Cowes Castle were built with materials derived from the fabric of Beaulieu Abbey.

Calshot Castle was a small fort built in the time of Henry VIII with stones taken from the ruins of Beaulieu Abbey. Its special function was to defend Southampton Water. Certain additions were made during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, but the site chosen for the castle was most unsuitable, owing to proximity to the sea-shore.

Cowes (West).—The fortress here, built in 1539, possessed a semicircular battery and mounted eight pieces of heavy ordnance. Its situation was excellently chosen for defensive purposes.

Sandown.—The blockhouse here, erected between 1537 and 1540, was built on a site close by the sea, and received much damage in consequence. It appears to have possessed a landing-stage, as in the year 1618 timber was supplied for mending the pier and planking the platform. Sandown Fort was built on a site a little more remote from the sea in 1631-2.

Yarmouth (Little).—This castle, which was built somewhat later than other members of the group to which it belongs, was finished in 1547. The need for it seems to have been suggested by a raid by the French in the Isle of Wight in 1543. In 1586, and again in 1599, it was strengthened by the addition of earthwork defences.

Weymouth or Sandsfort Castle.—This castle is situated on an eminence to the south of Weymouth, and commands extensive views over Portland Bay or Road. It was erected by Henry VIII in 1539 or 1540.

Portland Castle.—As early as the reign of William Rufus a castle is supposed to have existed here. It has long been known by the name of Bow-and-Arrow Castle, although locally it is sometimes called Rufus’s Castle. Its origin and date are not quite clearly known, but it is evidently a work of considerable antiquity, and was probably intended for the defence of the coast.

Henry VIII built a new castle here in 1520, on his return from the interview with Francis I, usually called “the Field of the Cloth of Gold.” Its purpose was to protect the coast here in connection with Sandsfort or Sandsfoot Castle.

In 1588 the fortress was garrisoned in expectation of a landing by the Spanish Armada. It figured, too, in the Civil Wars of the time of Charles I.

Holy Island.—Of the two castles on Holy Island, one, known as the Fort of Beblowe, was erected in or soon after the year 1539, and doubtless belongs to the great series of coast defences set up by Henry VIII. The other castle belonged to a subsequent period, and is believed to have been built in 1675.

It is a remarkable fact, that of all the block-houses built on the coast, or even in the estuaries of rivers, by Henry VIII, built, as we know from documentary evidence, at enormous cost, there is absolutely no record of any of them having been of real value in destroying the enemies’ shipping. From some not a single shot was ever fired, except, perhaps, during the Civil War, when King and Parliament were at variance, and also upon the occasions of public rejoicings, such as royal birthdays, proclamations of peace, etc.

It says much for the intimate knowledge of the distribution of our defences that the Dutch, when they invaded our shores in 1667, steered clear of these castles, and made straight for the Medway, rather than for Portsmouth or Dover, or the east coast of Kent, where there were castles of the Henry VIII period, and later, guarding the shores.

One point in the construction of these block-houses which must arrest the notice of every one who pays any attention to the subject, is the excellent illustrations they afford as to modification of military architecture due to the introduction of gunpowder. This explosive substance which revolutionized military tactics as soon as the art of using it and of making suitable fire-arms had reached perfection, was probably invented or discovered in the thirteenth century. For many years, however, its possibilities were imperfectly understood, and its employment was more dangerous to those who used it than to those against whom it was used.

The castle-building towards the end of the fourteenth century—say the reign of Richard II—was distinctly influenced by the new force employed in attack and sieges. Curves become the fashion instead of flat walls, and by the sixteenth century, when Henry VIII erected this great series of block-houses, we find that every means was taken to avoid presenting much surface to the action of cannon-shot. The walls were all curved to ensure the shot glancing off, and the whole structure was sunk in a moat, and built in very strong masonry, and with no more height than was necessary.

Martello Towers.—One of the last types of masonry fortifications to be erected, as distinguished from structures which are known as forts and redoubts, was also in idea one of the most ancient. Martello Towers, of which so many were built on the coast of Essex, Kent, and Sussex, were based on the model of a tower on Cape Martello, on the Gulf of San Fiorenzo, in Corsica. They are built of solid masonry, but contain vaulted rooms for the garrisons. They are furnished with a flat platform on top for two or three guns, and access to them is by means of a ladder leading to a side doorway, about twenty feet above the level of the ground. In some cases a deep ditch was cut round the towers.

Many of these coast defences were erected on the south-eastern shores of England as a protection against the expected naval invasion under Napoleon I.

The whole coast in the neighbourhood of Folkestone, Sandgate, and Hythe, and at other points, was defended in this way by Martello Towers, forts, and earthworks, with a view of resisting Napoleon’s invasion. At the same period a great military canal was constructed from Hythe, extending inland to Appledore, and then on to Rye in Sussex.

PART V
MISCELLANEOUS DEFENCES

THE NAVY

The scope of the present volume is to review the defensive works which have been carried out in various ages for the protection of our shores against incursions of enemies: the story of our naval exploits does not primarily come within it.

The first duty of our English navy is, and always has been, offensive, as well as defensive. In times of peace we have been accustomed to regard our Navy as our first line of defence, and this is a perfectly accurate description of its functions. But it is obvious that these functions have always been different from, and in most periods independent of, what is generally understood by the term coast defences.

Yet, again and again, the coast fortresses have assisted the operations of our war-ships when resisting the enemy, and to a certain extent the two forces have always been, and possibly always will be closely connected.

Reference to the story of the Roman fleet for the defence of the shore of Britain, and also to the English navy under King Alfred, has already been made, but the beginning of the English navy may be traced to a somewhat later period. It had its origin in the Cinque Ports.

THE CINQUE PORTS

The association of certain towns on the south-east shores of England for the purpose of coast defence is of great antiquity. In the oldest Cinque Ports charter on record, granted in the sixth year of Edward I, reference is made to documents of the time of Edward the Confessor, indicating an origin before the Norman Conquest.

In early times there were, as the name implies, five ports included in this confederation, viz.: Hastings, Sandwich, Dover, Romney and Hythe. Almost immediately after the Norman Conquest, Winchelsea and Rye were added with status equal to the original towns. Thereafter the precise title of the corporation was “the five Cinque Ports and two ancient towns.” In addition to these seven head ports, there were eight corporate members, viz.: Deal, Faversham, Folkestone, Fordwich, Lydd, Pevensey, Seaford and Tenterden, and no less than twenty-four non-corporate members.

The jurisdiction of the Cinque Ports extended from Reculver on the north coast of Kent to Seaford on the south coast of Sussex. It will be noticed that at least three of the corporate members are situated at some little distance from the sea coast. Faversham, Fordwich, and in a greater degree Tenterden are inland towns, although two are placed on river-courses which afford access to the sea.

As will presently be seen, men as well as ships were contributed by the Cinque Ports for the defence of the realm, and Tenterden received its charter in 1449, in order that it might assist Rye to discharge its obligations. Hence it is that we find a corporate member situated so far from the coast.

The Cinque Ports were established primarily for the defence of the sea-board on the south-east of England, but in the course of time their purpose was extended. In these early times, when England possessed no regular navy, it was the men of the Cinque Ports who guarded our seas. They provided, in return for many privileges they received from the Crown, almost the only form of naval defence which England possessed until the reign of Henry VII. Until that period nearly all the men and ships which guarded our shores from the enemy were furnished by the Cinque Ports, and even after the time of Henry VII they rendered important assistance to the regular navy.

The men of the Cinque Ports seem to have carried on a certain amount of privateering at various times, but there have been times when their skill in seafaring and their undoubted courage have been employed in work of the utmost value in the defence of England. A celebrated occasion occurred in the year 1217, when Hubert de Burgh, having selected the best seamen of the Cinque Ports, set out with about sixteen large ships and twenty small ones to attack the approaching fleet of Louis the Dauphin of France, the numbers of which were no less than eighty large and many smaller vessels. Hubert de Burgh had grasped the important principle of naval strategy that in order to free his country from the danger of invasion, it was above all things necessary to attack and destroy the enemy’s force at sea.

Although opposed by such unequal numbers the Englishmen skilfully secured a windward position, bore down upon the enemy as they shaped their course for the English coast, threw quicklime in their eyes, poured into the enemy a volley of arrows from the long bows for which the English were famous, and scattered and destroyed the enemy’s ships, so that only about seventeen escaped; fifty-five were captured, and the rest were sunk. The credit of this signal victory in an engagement at sea which may rank as almost the first in English history, certainly the first subsequently to the time of King Alfred, belongs to the men of the Cinque Ports.

The strength of the Cinque Port forces in the fourteenth century may be gathered from the fact that at the Siege of Calais (1347), when the fleet was called out to assist in the blockade and to defend the Channel, the following ships and men were furnished by the Cinque Ports:

Among the privileges of the Cinque Ports to which reference has been made there are one or two which point unmistakably to an early origin. One is the right of open-air assembling in portmote or parliament at Shepway Cross, and afterwards at Dover, where by-laws were made for the governance of the confederation, the regulation of the Yarmouth fisheries, and to give decisions in all cases of treason, sedition, illegal coining, and concealment of treasure-trove. The ordinary business was transacted in two courts, named respectively the Court of Brotherhood, and the Court of Brotherhood and Guestling. The formal installation of a newly appointed Lord Warden took place at the Breding Stone at Dover, also in open-air assembly. It is an interesting fact that these moots or open-air assemblies were summoned by the sound of a horn.

The Lord Warden, who is the chief officer of the Cinque Ports, combining therewith the governorship of Dover Castle and maritime jurisdiction as admiral of the ports, may be regarded as representing to some extent the ancient office of Count of the Saxon Shore, although the changes of time and the paramount importance of the Royal Navy in more recent times in the work of defending our shores, have tended to rob the office of much of its former importance. At the present time the actual duties of the post are confined to presiding as chairman of the Dover Harbour Board.

The freemen or “Barons” of the Cinque Ports are often mentioned in connection with this subject, and it may be useful to put on record the following precise account of the subject, written by Mr. Charles Dawson, F.S.A.

DEFENSIVE CHAINS, ETC.

The Chain at Chatham.—When, early in the seventeenth century, Chatham had grown to considerable importance as a naval centre, a curious method of defence was devised. A long and stout iron chain was placed across the Medway at the western end of Gillingham Reach, near Upnor Castle, with the idea of effectually stopping the progress of alien ships up the river beyond this point. When the chain was originally placed here is not exactly known, but it was repaired in 1606, and soon after abandoned. In 1623 the chain was superseded by a boom made up of masts, iron, and cordage. A few years later, in 1635, either a new boom or a new chain was placed across Gillingham Reach.

The chain came into great prominence when the Dutch invaded the Thames estuary and the Medway in 1667. It was fixed up at Gillingham either on 27 April or soon afterwards. The published accounts are not quite clear or consistent. The claws for fastening and heaving it up were expected to arrive but apparently were not forthcoming on the date mentioned.

Although there had been a great chain here before it does not appear to have been stretched properly across the river. This was now attended to under the direction of the Duke of Albemarle, who went down to Chatham posthaste to complete the defensive works. The chain, consisting of links made of iron bars, six inches in circumference, was strained probably in such a way that it would not be visible above water, and it was perhaps buoyed at intervals. A small battery of guns was placed on shore at each end of the chain in order to protect it from injury by the Dutch. The Unity, a warship, was stationed to the east of the chain, whilst on the west side a Dutch prize was sunk, and several ships were on guard.

The Dutch ships, which had been observed off the English coast 26 April 1667, and off Harwich 8 June, now approached. A letter amongst the State Papers in the Record Office, dated 20 June 1667, tells us that the Dutch fleet was seen off Harwich on the 6 June, but the only result was that a few fishermen were frightened, and that some of the Dutchmen landed and drove off some cattle. On the 10th the navy came within shot of Sheerness, and after some hours took the guns. On the 11th, by degrees, twenty or twenty-two Dutch ships were brought up to the narrow part of the river Medway, where ships had been sunk. Two and a half hours fighting on the following day made the Dutch masters of the chain. One guard ship after another was fired and blown up. The chain was broken by Captain Brackel by order of Van Ghent. Fire-ships were sent to destroy the English ships. The first hung on the chain, but the weight of the second snapped it. The Dutch ships went forward carrying destruction with them. The batteries on the banks of the river and the guns from. Upnor Castle were now brought into action, with the result that the enemy soon retired, leaving two ships stranded.

The exploits of the Dutch in the Thames and the Medway caused considerable alarm in London. Pepys, on hearing of the failure of the chain of Chatham, writes of it as a very serious piece of news, “which,” he says, “struck me to the heart.”

Another and rather more precise account of the occurrence is as follows: On 12 June the Dutch sent up towards Gillingham a division consisting of four men-of-war, three armed yachts, and two fire-ships. Several of the ships charging at the same time, broke the chain, entered the waters beyond and set fire to the Mathias. The Dutch next dealt with the batteries at either end of the chain, and by means of their guns quickly silenced them. Great damage was done to the shipping in the Medway, many vessels being burnt and destroyed.

It seems probable that at least one purpose of the chain was to hinder the progress of fire-ships which the enemy set in motion against our shipping.

In order to defend the government works nearer London, batteries mounting sixty pieces of ordnance were erected at Woolwich, whilst the defensive works at Gravesend and Dover were strengthened.

About the middle of the following September workmen were employed in clearing away the moorings of the chain at Gillingham Reach.

Chains at Portsmouth, Great Yarmouth, etc.—The chain of Chatham furnishes a curious example of coast defence, wholly ineffective against powerful shipping; but it was not a novelty. Portsmouth Harbour had been at an earlier period provided with a similar form of defence. Edward VI, on the occasion of a visit to Southsea Castle, determined to strengthen Portsmouth against invasion by the enemy. He therefore directed the building of two massive towers at the entrance to the harbour. To these an immense iron chain was fixed in such a way that it could be raised and tightened or lowered at pleasure when the approach of the enemy made this desirable. The fortifications of Portsmouth were strengthened during the reign of Elizabeth (see p. 145).

Great Yarmouth.—In addition to a boom and two timber jetties at the entrance to the haven, Yarmouth possessed a chain for the protection of its shipping.

Hull possessed a chain, and an actual picture of it is preserved in one of the Cotton MSS.

Cowes also was defended by a chain.

Fowey.—For the protection of this town Edward IV erected two towers to carry a chain which was suspended, doubtless under the level of the water, across the haven, or mouth of the River Fowey. Subsequently the people of Fowey incurred the royal disapproval when they attacked the French during a truce, and accordingly Edward IV had the chain removed and sent to Dartmouth. It does not seem quite clear whether this chain, when removed to Dartmouth, was used for the protection of shipping, but there certainly was a chain bridge at this place in which, conceivably, the old chain may have been utilized.

There is reason to think that chains for the protection of important centres of shipping were more common than might be supposed from the few definite particulars of them which have survived. As an effective defence against the approach of the war-ships of an enemy, however, it would perhaps be impossible to find a more feeble type of protection.

Booms.—As we have already observed in dealing with chains, the necessity must have been felt of supporting such very heavy barriers, even under water and by means of buoys. The boom, although introduced quite early, must have been an improvement upon the simple iron chain, because it contained, to some extent, its own means of support. This contrivance, a chain of linked up massive timbers reinforced with iron, and armed with iron spikes was employed, as early as the time of Queen Elizabeth at Great Yarmouth, and subsequently at many other ports. Like the chain it, of course, provided an obstruction to navigation, especially at the mouths of rivers and harbours; but its massive iron spikes, calculated to pierce and damage shipping, gave it a distinct advantage over the chain.

Fire-ships.—These were ships filled with combustibles and explosives sent to drift among the shipping of the enemy. In the action off Gravelines, fire-ships were used with considerable moral effect against the remains of the Spanish Armada, and they materially assisted in breaking up the sea-power of the Spaniards. Seven vessels were charged with combustibles and primed with gunpowder. As they neared the Spanish ships their appearance created panic. The Spaniards, in order to avoid the danger of fire, cut their ships adrift, and serious damage was caused by the collisions which ensued.

In 1667, again, fire-ships were employed in the daring raid made by the Dutch in the Thames and Medway. This time they were used by the Dutch near the chain at Gillingham Reach.

Catamarans.—Another method of firing an enemy’s shipping was by means of a kind of raft charged with combustibles. The idea of the Catamaran, as regards both its name and construction, was borrowed from the coasts of India and Ceylon where a raft made of three long timbers lashed together, the middle timber being the longest, is used for fishing purpose. As adapted for destroying shipping the Catamaran may be described as a kind of floating mine. Catamarans were much favoured by Mr. Pitt, and in 1804 they were employed by the English against the French fleet, but they proved unsuccessful.

THE COASTGUARD

The coastguard force is of great antiquity, although it is not known at what period it was instituted. In 1403-4 (5 Henry IV, c. 3) it was enacted by statute