22 NORTH SEA FISHERS AND FIGHTERS 



was equally in peril of being looted by robbers, and 

 accordingly, whenever anything of value was intended 

 for transport, great precautions had to be taken to 

 secure its safety. On 6th October 1676 the Duke 

 of Monmouth issued a warrant to Sergeant John 

 Wrangham to march from Hull to Gainsborough with 

 the file of musketeers under his command. At Gains- 

 borough the sergeant was to receive some waggons 

 belonging to merchants trading with London, and he 

 was to convoy them to the capital, being charged to 

 secure and defend the waggons to the utmost of his 

 power from any attempts to take them. When he 

 had done his task the sergeant was to return with all 

 convenient speed to the garrison at Hull. He was 

 to take special care that the soldiers all along the 

 march behaved civilly and duly paid for whatever 

 they had occasion for. 



That record indicates the state of affairs on land. 

 Nothing of moment could be done without protection 

 or the exercise of force ; and the same state of things 

 existed on the seas, especially the North Sea, where 

 fishing operations brought the rival nations into 

 constant conflict. 



In August 1676 a fleet of 200 Dutch doggers were 

 seen about a league off Flamborough Head, convoyed 

 by two or three men-of-war. They stood to the 

 southward about a league and then stood off to sea. 

 French warships were at that time constantly swooping 

 on the fishing-craft, and they had just made a descent 

 on a Dutch fleet of doggers and busses, taking away 

 the masters and holding them to ransom. These 

 unhappy toilers had already suffered considerably owing 



