A HISTORY OF CORNWALL 



and Saltash in equipping a ship, explaining that he set ' special store ' on the naval side of the 

 campaign, and that the inhabitants of the three towns assessed could not by themselves suffice 

 for the expenses. 1 



The plunder of wreck was, of course, more or less common all round the coast ; but in 

 Cornwall lawlessness seems already to have reached an extreme limit, perhaps because it was so 

 far from the seat of government. In 1305 William le Poer, the coroner of the Scilly Islands, 

 went to Tresco to inquire into a wreck, and to take charge of the salved cargo ; but he was seized and 

 imprisoned by a mob, the ringleader being the prior of St. Nicholas, until he bought his freedom, 

 and subsequent inquiry showed that the men-at-arms and their leader, who garrisoned the islands, 

 were the principal offenders. 2 Shortly afterwards a Spanish ship was wrecked on the mainland, the 

 cargo plundered, and the owner kept in confinement at Mousehole for a year. 3 Another bad case 

 caused a commission of inquiry in 1340 ; here an Irish ship came ashore at Porthleven, when sixty- 

 one persons named, including several religious, broke up the vessel ' into little pieces,' and carried 

 away timber and cargo. 4 



Smuggling, in the shape of the secret and unlicensed exportation of wool, was another branch 

 of maritime enterprise, and piracy was an ordinary business venture. Many of the cases of 

 so-called piracy, however, were simply seizures of enemies' goods in neutral ships, and would 

 merely have provided legal arguments had an Admiralty Court existed ; others can have had 

 no such explanation, such as an instance in 1312 when a ship lying at Fowey was boarded by 

 Fowey and Lostwithiel men, taken away and sold abroad, and the owner held a prisoner at 

 Lostwithiel. 8 



The townsmen of the various ports eventually found the methods of Edward II in unpleasant 

 contrast to those of his father, for they were frequently called upon to supply ships at their own 

 expense. But at first the ordinary course was followed ; and a large fleet being fitted out for the 

 Scotch war in 1311, Looe and Fowey were required to send two vessels, for which the cost would 

 be paid in coin at the Exchequer, allowed on the farm of the towns, or deducted from any debt due 

 to the king. 6 Again, in 1314 the same towns were assessed for two ships ; 7 but by 1316 a 

 depleted exchequer necessitated what must have appeared to be injustice, for two of the king's clerks 

 were sent to the ports between Southampton and Falmouth to take up ships at the expense of the 

 burgesses for the guard of the Channel. 8 In 1317 Looe and Fowey were ordered to send a ship to 

 serve at their own cost for a month and afterwards at the king's, and in 1319 Looe, Fowey, Bodmin, 

 and Falmouth were desired to send as many ships as they could to serve three or four months at 

 their own expense. 9 The naval service for the Scotch war had pressed most heavily on the Cinque 

 Ports and the east coast, and the eastern towns must have welcomed a truce, in 1320, for two years. 

 In 1322 the war was renewed, and on 3 April Edward applied to many ports, but in Cornwall 

 only to Falmouth, for ships at their own expense. Apparently there was no ready response to this, 

 for on 25 April the same application was repeated with the proviso that the levies were to be at the 

 cost of the crown, and Fowey and Looe were now included. 10 In 1323 a truce for thirteen years 

 was made with Scotland, but war with France followed immediately, and transports were required 

 for the conveyance of an army to Gascony, for which Fowey sent one vessel. 11 A series of embargoes 

 and preparations, attended by little result, succeeded, until the menacing attitude of Isabella in 

 1326 caused urgent preparations to be made to meet the imminent invasion. Early in the year 

 powerful fleets had been commissioned in the North Sea and in the Channel, but on 12 August an 

 embargo was placed on every ship in England, even fishing boats being detained. 12 In Cornwall 

 the order was directed to Fowey, Polruan, Lostwithiel, Looe, Hayleworthy, Oldestowe (Padstow), 

 Mousehole, St. Michael's Mount, and Falmouth, and we find that Fowey was to send two ships 

 and forty-six men, and Looe four ships and eighty-four men. 13 As the other ports sent no vessels it 

 may be presumed that they did not possess any of 50 tons, but it is worth noticing that the similar 

 writs to the east coast were for vessels of 30 tons and upwards, which suggests that those belonging 

 to the south coast were of an average higher tonnage. 



Foreign war did not prevent civil war between the towns of the southern counties. On 

 29 January, 1320-1, a writ issued 14 commanding the men of the Cinque Ports not to injure those of 

 Lostwithiel, Fowey, and Polruan, nor to prevent them trading in the Cinque Ports. The 

 quarrel arose from the west-countrymen having taken a man accused of murder no doubt a 



I Pat. 31 Edw. I, m. 28. 3 Ibid. 33 Edw. I, pt. i, m. 13 d. ; 35 Edw. I, m. 46 d. 

 3 Ibid. 3 Edw. II, m. \~j d. ' Ibid. 14 Edw. Ill, pt. i, m. 31 d. 



5 Ibid. 4 Edw. II, pt. i, m. 1 5 d. 6 Ibid. m. 7. ' Rot. Scot. 7 Edw. II, m. 6. 



8 Pat. 9 Edw. II, pt. ii, m. 26. 9 Rot. Scot. II Edw. II, m. 17 ; 12 Edw. II, m. 3. 



10 Close, 15 Edw. II, m. it,d. " Ibid. 17 Edw. II, m. 9 d, 1 1 d. 



II Ibid. 20 Edw. II, m. 1 1 d. Ships of 50 tons and upwards were called upon for service ; those of 

 smaller tonnage were to remain in port. 



13 Ibid. m. 8. " Pat. 14 Edw. II, pt. ii, m. 24. 



478 



