A book of the west. Volume 2, Cornwall : $b being an introduction to Devon and CornwallBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
History
A book of the west. Volume 2, Cornwall : $b being an introduction to Devon and Cornwall
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Cornwall (England : County)
That is the light in which the bold men of Cornwall regarded it;
that is the way in which it was regarded, not by the ignorant seamen
only, but by magistrates, country gentlemen, and parsons alike. As an
illustration of this, we may quote the story told by the late Rev. R.
S. Hawker, for many years vicar of Morwenstow, on the North Cornish
coast:--
“It was full six o’clock in the afternoon of an autumn day when a
traveller arrived where the road ran along by a sandy beach just above
high-water mark.
“The stranger, a native of some inland town, and entirely unacquainted
with Cornwall and its ways, had reached the brink of the tide just as a
landing was coming off. It was a scene not only to instruct a townsman,
but to dazzle and surprise.
“At sea, just beyond the billows, lay a vessel, well moored with
anchors at stem and stern. Between the ship and the shore boats laden
to the gunwale passed to and fro. Crowds assembled on the beach to help
the cargo ashore.
“On the one hand a boisterous group surrounding a keg with the head
knocked in, into which they dipped whatsoever vessel came first to
hand; one man had filled his shoe. On the other side they fought and
wrestled, cursed and swore.
“Horrified at what he saw, the stranger lost all self-command and,
oblivious of personal danger, he began to shout: ‘What a horrible
sight! Have you no shame? Is there no magistrate at hand? Cannot any
justice of the peace be found in this fearful country?’
“‘No, thanks be,’ answered a hoarse, gruff voice; ‘none within eight
miles.’
“‘Well, then,’ screamed the stranger, ‘is there no clergyman
hereabouts? Does no minister of the parish live among you on this
coast?’
“‘Aye, to be sure there is,’ said the same deep voice.
“‘Well, how far off does he live? Where is he?’
“‘That’s he, sir, yonder with the lantern.’ And sure enough, there he
stood on a rock, and poured, with pastoral diligence, ‘the light of
other days’ on a busy congregation.”
It may almost be said that the Government did its best to encourage
smuggling by the harsh and vexatious restrictions it put on trade. A
prohibitory list of goods which might under no conditions whatever be
imported into Great Britain included gold and silver brocade, cocoanut
shells, foreign embroidery, manufactures of gold and silver plate,
ribbons and laces, chocolate and cocoa, calicoes printed or dyed
abroad, gloves and mittens.
Beside these a vast number of goods were charged with heavy duties, as
spirits, tea, tobacco. The duties on these were so exorbitant, that it
was worth while for men to attempt to run a cargo without paying duty.
To quote a writer in the _Edinburgh Review_, at the time when smuggling
was fairly rife:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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