PRIMITIVE NORTH SEA MEN 25 



then, as now, were particularly closely associated with 

 the continental ports. Hull was the centre of many 

 strange events by land as well as sea, amongst them 

 being the affair of Walter Morgan and Corporal 

 Emerson. This may be mentioned as an illustration 

 of the fierce spirit which prevailed on the North Sea 

 borders, and how ready men were to use force in 

 settlement of quarrels. A difference had arisen between 

 the two, and the consequences were described in a 

 letter written from Hull on 4th September 1676 

 to Sir Henry Pomeroy, captain of a company in 

 the Holland regiment. The affair happened on 

 ist November 1674, so that a considerable period 

 passed before the letter was dispatched. 



" I had the guard of this town," wrote Morgan, 

 "and a little after one in the night went my round 

 and found all well. I returned to the main guard, 

 where I found all in an uproar, and all but one 

 complained against the corporal, for, not being able 

 to tie one neck and heels, which they refusing, he 

 broke their heads with such an oaken plant as scarce 

 is worn by any. The two pieces of the stick the 

 soldiers brought me to see, a third the match that 

 tied the soldier who made the difference, a fourth 

 and a fifth their broken pates. I told the corporal 

 I thought him too severe, and that these men might 

 come to be corporals in time, as well as he, and that 

 I never did such a thing in my life and prayed him 

 to do so no more, and so left him. He said, 'Surely 

 my officers knew what they did when they made me 

 corporal, for it is twelve years since I was corporal, 

 and I am not now to be taught my duty, but know 



