MARITIME HISTORY 



writs were directed also to Cornwall. 1 Fowey and Falmouth are the only two Cornish ports as yet 

 referred to ; and at the latter, in 1226, a trading vessel of Bruges was plundered by the crews of four 

 English ships, apparently coasters. 2 



A feature of the thirteenth century is the appointment of one or more persons, sometimes for 

 one county and sometimes for a group of counties, as keepers of the coast, a step towards organiza- 

 tion and systematic defence. In August, 1224, Geoffrey de Lucy was nominated keeper of the 

 whole coast from Pevensey to Bristol, but on 7 September John of Bayeux is entrusted with the 

 keepership of Cornwall and Devon. 3 As Lucy was in command of the fleet his superior appoint- 

 ment was no doubt made to qualify him to give orders to the keepers in the various counties. The 

 duties of the keeper were both military and judicial ; but, practically, he was expected to put down 

 piracy, to beat off raiders, to enable coasters and fishermen to sail in peace, and to summon the 

 county to arms on invasion. To do this he could call upon the coast districts to furnish men and 

 ships. The office did not continue long, for during the second half of the fourteenth century the 

 growth of the admiral's court, the increased power of the admirals, and finally the creation of 

 the office of High Admiral, lessened its importance. Historically, however, he seems to be the 

 ancestor of the conservators of truces instituted locally by Henry V, and the latter and more fully 

 developed vice-admirals of the coast we find acting from the middle of the sixteenth century. A 

 part of the system of defence under the care of the keeper was the line of beacons, corresponding to 

 the modern coastguard stations, which encircled the coast, usually placed on the hill nearest to the 

 shore and guarded in war time by a watch from the neighbouring parishes. 4 



The Welsh wars of 1277 an ^ 1282-3 ant ^ tne Scotch war of 1295 were mainly fought 

 by the feudal armies ; squadrons of ships were present, but the fighting units were chiefly pro- 

 vided by the Cinque Ports, as was usual at this time. Edward himself went to Sluys in 

 1297, and for this expedition there was a general arrest of ships of 40 tons and upwards along 

 the south coast. 6 In 1301 and 1302 Cornwall was required to assist in the Scotch war : in 

 the first year Looe and Fowey were called upon to send each one ship ; in the second year 

 Looe, Saltash, and Portpilham 6 were grouped for one, and Lostwithiel, Bodmin, Fowey, and 

 Polruan for another. 7 In the case of the 1302 levy security was to be taken from the owners 

 that the ships would actually appear ; for in the previous year several towns, including Fowey, had 

 ignored the king's writ. 8 Probably shipowners found piracy or privateering more profitable, and 

 Cornish proclivities in this direction had already attracted the king's attention, 9 but there was 

 no general disinclination to respond to the demands of the crown. The constant levies of 

 ships and men were apparently destructive of commerce, but in reality were not nearly so 

 disastrous to it as they appear. A trading voyage involved great risk of loss from wreck, piracy, 

 and privateering, or in the sale of the cargo ; the royal service meant certain pay for the fitting 

 and hire of the ship, sixpence a day for the officers, and threepence a day for the men very 

 liberal wages allowing for the different value of money. The incessant embargoes that harassed 

 trade then much increased under Edward III were not yet common, and the alacrity with 

 which most of the ports responded to the demands made upon them shows that the assistance 

 required was neither too oppressive nor unwelcome, especially as those who contributed to the 

 sea service were freed from any aid towards that by land. There was no permanent naval 

 organization at this time. The king possessed some ships of his own, and the commanders were 

 usually charged with their maintenance. When a fleet was to be raised from the mer- 

 chant navy a certain extent of the coast was allotted to one of the king's clerks, or to a 

 serjeant-at-arms, who acted with the bailiffs of the port towns in selecting ships and men and 

 seeing them dispatched to the place of meeting. If a ship did not appear, or the men deserted, 

 they, or the owner, might be required to find security to come before the king ; and, although 

 there was as yet no statute 10 dealing with the offence, they were imprisoned by the authority 

 of the king alone, or punished at the discretion of the admiral. 11 In 1306 the steward of 

 Cornwall was ordered to commit to Launceston Castle any mariners who refused to serve at 

 the king's cost ; 12 but Edward usually preferred persuasion to rougher methods, and in 1 303 

 requested the burgesses of Liskeard, Launceston, and Portpira 13 to aid those of Looe, Portpilham, 



1 Close, 14 Hen. Ill, m. 17 d. ' Pat. 10 Hen. Ill, m. 7. ' Ibid. 8 Hen. Ill, m. 3, m. 5. 



4 'Signa consueta vocata beknes per ignem.' Cf. Southey, Lives of the Admirals, i, 360 (quoting Froissart), 

 as to the method of constructing them. 



6 Pat. 25 Edw. I, pt. ii, m. 10. 6 West Looe. 



7 Pat. 29 Edw. I, m. 20 ; 30 Edw. I, m. 2. 8 Ibid, 30 Edw. I, m. 14, m. 10. 

 9 Ibid. 21 Edw. I, m. 14, m. lod. 



10 The first statute was 2 Ric. II, stat. i, c. 4, by which deserters were fined double their wages, and 

 imprisoned for a year. 



11 Pat. 30 Edw. I, m. 13 ; 32 Edw. I, m. 28 ; Close, 17 Edw. II, m. 6 d. In the case of Fowey, in 

 1301, the punishment was left to the discretion of the king's clerk sent down (Pat. 30 Edw. I, m. 14). 



12 Ibid. 35 Edw. I, m. 45. " Polperro. 



477 



