Devonshire Characters and Strange EventsBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
History
Devonshire Characters and Strange Events
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Devon (England) -- Biography; Devon (England) -- History
Next morning Rattenbury was brought up before the magistrates at
Dartmouth along with his comrades in misfortune, and they were
sentenced to pay a fine of a hundred pounds each, or else to serve
on board a man-of-war, or go to prison. They elected the last, and
were confined in a wretched den where they could hardly move and
breathe. Worn out by their discomfort, they agreed to enlist, and were
liberated and removed to a brig in Dartmouth roads. On coming on board
he found all the officers drinking, and that the mainsail had been
partly hoisted so that the officers could not command a prospect of the
shore. Seizing his opportunity he jumped overboard, and seeing a boat
approaching held up his hand to the man in it, as a signal to be taken
up. The fellow did so, and in less than five minutes he was landed at
Kingswear, opposite Dartmouth. He paid the fisherman a pound, and made
his way to Brixham, where he hired a fishing-smack and got safely home.
Soon after he purchased part of a galley, and resumed his smuggling
expeditions, and made several successful trips in her, till he lost
his galley at sea. Then he went to Alderney in an open boat, with two
other men, to get kegs, but on their way back were chased, captured,
and carried into Falmouth, where he was sentenced to be sent to gaol at
Bodmin.
“We were put into two post-chaises, with two constables to take
care of us. As our guards stopped at almost every public-house,
towards evening they became pretty merry. When we came to the ‘Indian
Queen’--a public-house a few miles from Bodmin--while the constables
were taking their potations, I bribed the drivers not to interfere.
Having finished, the constables ordered us again into the chaise, but
we refused. A scuffle ensued. One of them collared me, some blows
were exchanged, and he fired a pistol, the ball of which went close
to my head. My companion in the meantime was encountering the other
constable, and he called on the drivers to assist, but they said it
was their duty to attend the horses. We soon got the upper hand of our
opponents, and seeing a cottage near, I ran towards it, and the woman
who occupied it was so kind as to show me through her house into the
garden and to point out the road.”
Eventually he reached Newquay with his comrade. Thence they hired
horses to Mevagissey, where they took a boat for Budleigh Salterton. On
the following day they walked to Beer.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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