PIRATES AND PILLAGERS 5 



the early history of England. That stormy stretch of 

 water was to give to England the first of her momentous 

 naval victories. Alfred and Richard had defeated fleets 

 at sea ; but it was for Edward the Third to be called the 

 King of the Sea, by all his people. In 1327 the Scots 

 made ready to invade England with a large army, and 

 accordingly the northern ports were ordered to provide 

 ships of sixty tons or more. These vessels were to meet 

 at Yarmouth ; and ships with large supplies of wine were 

 sent to accompany them. That was but the beginning 

 of preparations which culminated in the great battle of 

 Sluys. Sluys was, in those early times, the most 

 flourishing port on the Flemish coast. It was originally 

 named after an English engineer who made the sluices 

 there, although long years afterwards the place became 

 so much choked with sand that not even the smallest 

 craft could enter. 



Hull, Newcastle, and other north-east ports loom 

 largely in the annals of those early times. The king 

 had ordered a galley on the H umber and several ships 

 from other northern ports, all of which were to be fitted 

 out to convoy victuallers and oppose the Scots. 



At that time French marauders, who were unhesi- 

 tatingly called pirates, had swooped on our shores and 

 killed and pillaged after the fashion of the Jutlanders 

 and the Danes ; but they had been put to flight. In 

 the autumn of 1339 the ships of France were in the 

 Sluys, and the crews swore to the Flemings that they 

 would not return to their own ports until they had 

 captured five hundred English towns and a hundred 

 English ships. 



It was a bold and noble boast, and, full of their 



