Kings Cutters and Smugglers 1700-1855 | Page 4

cable and clear out; otherwise the
smugglers promised to sink her. The Revenue cutter's commander did
not cut his cable, but in truth he had to get his anchor up pretty
promptly and clear out as he was told.
It was not till after the year 1815 that the Government began seriously
to make continuous headway in its efforts to cope with the smuggling
evil. Consider the times. Between the years 1652 and 1816 there were
years and years of wars by land or by sea. There were the three great
Anglo-Dutch wars, the wars with France, with Spain, to say nothing of
the trouble with America. They were indeed anxious years that ended
only with the Battle of Waterloo, and it was not likely that all this
would in any way put a stop to that restlessness which was
unmistakable. Wages were low, provisions were high, and the poorer
classes of those days had by no means all the privileges possessed
to-day. Add to this the undoubted fact that literally for centuries there
had lived along the south coast of England, especially in the
neighbourhood of the old Cinque ports, a race of men who were always
ready for some piratical or semi-piratical sea exploit. It was in their
blood to undertake and long for such enterprises, and it only wanted but
the opportunity to send them roving the seas as privateers, or running
goods illegally from one coast to another. And it is not true that time
has altogether stifled that old spirit. When a liner to-day has the
misfortune to lose her way in a fog and pile up on rock or sandbank,
you read of the numbers of small craft which put out to salvage her
cargo. But not all this help comes out of hearts of unfathomable pity.
On the contrary, your beachman has an eye to business. He cannot go
roving nowadays; time has killed the smuggling in which his ancestors
distinguished themselves. But none the less he can legally profit by
another vessel's misfortune; and, as the local families worked in
syndicate fashion when they went smuggling, so now they mutually
arrange to get the cargo ashore and, incidentally, make a very
handsome profit as well.
We need not envy the Government the difficult and trying task that was
theirs during the height of the smuggling era. There was quite enough
to think of in regard to foreign affairs without wanting the additional

worry of these contraband runners. That must be borne in mind
whenever one feels inclined to smile at the apparently half-hearted
manner in which the authorities seemed to deal with the evil. Neither
funds nor seamen, nor ships nor adequate attention could be spared just
then to deal with these pests. And it was only after the wars had at last
ended and the Napoleonic bogey had been settled that this domestic
worry could be dealt with in the manner it required. There were waiting
many evils to be remedied, and this lawlessness along the coast of the
country was one of the greatest. But it was not a matter that could be
adjusted in a hurry, and it was not for another forty or fifty years, not,
in fact, until various administrative changes and improvements had
taken place, that at last the evil was practically stamped out. As one
looks through the existing records one cannot avoid noticing that there
was scarcely a bay or suitable landing-place along the whole English
coast-line that did not become notorious for these smuggling "runs":
there is hardly a cliff or piece of high ground that has not been
employed for the purpose of giving a signal to the approaching craft as
they came on through the night over the dark waters. There are indeed
very few villages in proximity to the sea that have not been concerned
in these smuggling ventures and taken active interest in the landing of
bales and casks. The sympathy of the country-side was with the
smuggling fraternity. Magistrates were at times terrorised, juries were
too frightened to convict. In short, the evil had grown to such an extent
that it was a most difficult problem for any Government to be asked to
deal with, needing as it did a very efficient service both of craft and
men afloat, and an equally able and incorruptible guard on land that
could not be turned from its purpose either by fear or bribery. We shall
see from the following chapters how these two organisations--by sea
and land--worked.
If we exclude fiction, the amount of literature which has been published
on smuggling is exceedingly small. Practically the whole of the
following pages is the outcome of personal research among original,
authentic manuscripts and official documents. Included under this head
may be cited