MARITIME HISTORY 



dues to be applied under the supervision of the merchants of Marazion and the fishermen. 1 There 

 was an earlier grant in February, 1392-3, to the bailiffs of Mousehole of quayage for five years to 

 enable them to finish a quay, but this may not have afforded any shelter to ships. 2 



After the death of Henry V one of the first proceedings of the regency was to sell off the 

 Royal Navy by auction, but the loss was not at once felt because there was no French force capable 

 of contesting the dominion of the sea. There were arrests of shipping in 1428 and 1430, but 

 there was now a general feeling that in this method ' the long coming together of the ships is the 

 destruction of the country.' 3 Vessels were still impressed for the transport of troops, but the military 

 service was handed over to contractors who undertook to keep the sea with a certain number of 

 ships and men for a specified time. No doubt the contractors desired to obtain as much money 

 and go to as little expense as possible, and in 1442 Parliament, dissatisfied with the results, prepared 

 a scheme by which a squadron was to be made up of ships from various ports. Cornwall did not 

 supply any of the large ships, but among the barges the Slugge of Saltash 4 was selected, and another 

 from Falmouth ; among the balingers the Palmer of Fowey, belonging to Sir William Bonville, was 

 chosen. 5 There are in existence several lists of ships taken up for the transport of troops in 1439, 

 1440, 1443, I447> and I452. 6 Seeing that they represent only a portion, large or small, of the 

 merchant marine, they show that notwithstanding war and weak government it was still flourishing 

 both in number and tonnage, some of the vessels being of 300 and 400 tons. In these years Fowey 

 supplied nineteen transports ; ten were of IOO tons or less, one was of 300 tons, one of 2OO, and the 

 others between 100 and 200 tons. Saltash sent six ships, one being of 260 tons, two of 160, and 

 the others of IOO tons or under ; Landulph five, of which the largest was of 1 2O tons ; Looe five, the 

 largest being of 1 80 tons ; Penzance four, of 120 tons and under ; Penryn two, and Truro two, of 

 which the largest was 80 tons ; Falmouth two, of which one was no tons ; Marazion two, and 

 Mergesawe (Mevagissey) one, the largest of the last three being of 70 tons. Sea power played no 

 great part in the wars of the Roses, but both sides had other objects, momentarily more important 

 than the safety of the Channel, to consider. When such legal trammels as existed were relaxed no 

 doubt the men of the western ports took the opportunity to fish in troubled waters with more or less 

 success. In August, 1457, the Seneschal de Brze", with a combined Norman and Breton force, 

 sacked Sandwich, and the Bretons on their way home made an especial attack on Fowey, which 

 seems to suggest that they had some specific scores to settle with the Fowey men. Half the town 

 was burnt, but subsequent events showed that no great injury could have been done to the shipping. 

 In October, Warwick, the ' king maker,' was appointed guardian of the Channel, and Fowey in 

 particular is said to have attached itself to his fortunes, although in the opinion of Edward IV 

 Cornwall as a whole was Lancastrian ; in any case Fowey is not recorded to have done anything 

 striking for Warwick, nor is he known to have made any exceptional use of the Fowey men. The 

 last surge of the war reached Cornwall in 1473, when the earl of Oxford, after an unsuccessful 

 attempt to land in Essex, sailed down Channel, and by an artifice seized St. Michael's Mount on 

 30 September. 7 He was besieged there, at first in a friendly manner by the sheriff, Sir Henry 

 Bodrugan and afterwards more strictly by his successor, Richard Fortescue, for four and a half 

 months, and it does not appear even then that force prevailed. The earl's men were enticed away 

 by promises of pardon and reward until only eight or nine followers were left to him, and on 

 15 February, 1474, he surrendered on promise of life. 



In 1429 the Commons petitioned that the crown would deal with the reveres sur le meere, 

 who were making commerce impossible, and it may be imagined that conditions did not improve 

 during the succeeding forty years. With the calm that followed the battle of Tewkesbury most of 

 the ports must have accepted the altered situation and turned their attention to ways of peace, but 

 Fowey, among the Cornish towns, stands out as unregenerate. In 1470 there is a list of Spanish 

 ships plundered by Fowey sailors, for which the crown admitted responsibility, 8 and there are many 

 other cases in which writs of inquiry were issued. In one instance, in 1472, a Fowey ship must 

 have been working the Portuguese coast, for a trader sailing from a Portuguese to a Spanish port 

 was plundered. 9 At last Edward, who had now time to consider these matters, must have become 

 tired of constantly giving warrants on the customs to compensate the victims of these piratical 

 adventures. It may be that there had been previous warnings, but on 28 November, 1474, a writ 



1 Pat. 6 Hen. VI, pt. i, m. 22. There are several entries on the French Roll showing the existence of 

 a direct trade between Mount's Bay and Spain. 



1 Pat. 16 Ric. II, pt. iii, m. 23. This patent speaks of Mousehole possessing much English and 

 foreign trade. 



3 Proc. of P. C. (ist Ser.) v, 102. 



4 Not sluggish under sail ; John Slugge of Saltash was a shipowner. 



5 Rot. Pad. v, 59. e Exch. Accts. K.R. bdle. 53, Nos. 23, 24, 25, 39 ; bdle. 54, Nos. 10, 14. 



7 ' With a sotule poynte of werre.' He and his men are said to have gained admission disguised as pilgrims. 



8 FoeJera, xi, 671. 9 Pat. 12 Edw. IV, pt. ii, m. 23 d. 



483 



