A HISTORY OF DORSET 



said that 200 sail of any burthen could ride in the harbour.'-^" When the 

 war had commenced 16 guns were sent to Weymouth and five to Lyme; "" to 

 receive these the burgesses of Lyme built a sconce at a cost of ;r2oo, but the 

 mayor complained that many of the inhabitants refused to contribute.^*- The 

 last notice of the county fortifications before the Civil War is of about 1636, 

 when the annual cost of Portland Castle was ^T 1,481 14J. zd. \^^ Sandsfoot 

 is not in the list. 



The war with Spain gave occasion for the Cadiz expedition of 1625. 

 The fleet was made up of men-of-war and hired transports, the counties not 

 being required to find any armed ships. No Dorset vessel appears in the 

 fleet list but the port of origin is not always given. In 1626 Charles, on the 

 brink, of war with France, resolved to follow the precedent of Elizabeth's 

 reign and called upon the maritime shires for 56 ships to join the royal fleet. 

 On 21 June there was an order to press 250 seamen in the county ; "" this 

 was followed on the 30th by a demand for two ships from Weymouth and 

 Poole, ' with the other sea ports and towns of that part,' and for one from 

 Lyme.'** Each vessel was to be of 200 tons and 12 guns, and to be victualled 

 and stored for three months. The government, anticipating that there would 

 be no ship of sufficient size belonging to Weymouth, offered to send one from 

 London for the corporation to hire, promised that the service should be con- 

 fined to the Enghsh coast, and directed that the proportion of crew to tonnage 

 was to be two men for every three tons. The Dorset justices, who made 

 themselves the spokesmen of the general discontent, were sharply reprimanded 

 by the Council, but the contingent was reduced to two ships. 



Originally the levies had been intended to meet at Portsmouth by 3 i July, 

 1626, but that had been found to be quite impracticable and the preparations 

 lingered until the following year. In the meanwhile the ports bombarded 

 the Council with protests. The Poole men asseverated their inability ; 

 they said that they had lost (^^-.'^oo by the embargoes in France and Spain, 

 and that the town had 400 widows and children to support. -^'^ Lyme pro- 

 fessed itself too poor and also dwelt upon the embargoes, while the inhabitants 

 of Weymouth declared themselves to be quite unable to meet the requirements 

 of the Council."^ In April, 1627, the Weymouth corporation stated the town 

 losses at jr2,6oo, besides the drain on their resources in the support of the 

 wives and children of seamen taken by the Algerines ; they had seven ships 

 embargoed at Rouen and five at Bordeaux.-''' No doubt those ports whose 

 principal business relations were with France felt the effects of war acutely ; 

 in September the mayor of Lyme wrote that there would be no trade again 

 until there was peace with France, and that the customs receipts for the whole 

 quarter were under ^120.'-*' Many of the Poole and Weymouth vessels 

 embargoed abroad were probably Newfoundland ships bringing their catches 

 straight from the Banks ; it was no wonder that these southern ports reeled 

 under the effects of such losses and a direct and heavy taxation, to which they 

 in particular were subjected, when the same circumstances that caused it 

 rendered them especially unable to meet it. Matters did not improve for 



'*» S.P. Dom. Chas. I, ci, No. 15. "' Ibid, ccxiv, No. 49. 



"- Ibid, xxxi. No. 107 ; xxxii. No. 106. "" Ibid, cccxl, No. 39. 



'" H\st. MSS. Com. Rep. v, App. 581. "" Ibid. 584 ; S.P. Dom. Chas. I, xxx. No. 81. 



"^ S.P. Dom. Chas. I, 1, No. 57. One of the ships thus lost or detained was of 190 tons. 



-" Ibid. 1, No. 58 ; liii. No. 27 (i). =■" Ibid. Ixi, No. 7. "' Ibid. Ixxviii, No. 74. 



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