THE BEGINNING OF TRADE 



crew, the master taking a double share, but in the Black Book of 

 Admiralty, compiled about 1351, the King could only contrive to get a 

 quarter, the owner another quarter, and the crew a half. Whether the 

 last-named ever got their share was a matter of circumstance. At the 

 same time it was enacted that any ship which intimidated the enemy by 

 being in sight should have her share even though she did not take part 

 in the action, a reward which must frequently have persuaded owners of 

 ships at least to keep within sight of the enemy. It was always strictly 

 forbidden to buy goods taken at sea except after regular division, but it 

 is to be feared that this law was very frequently broken. In exceptional 

 cases the whole of the prize was handed over by the Crown. 



Letters of Marque. 



Quite apart from the armed merchantmen who were regularly com- 

 missioned into the Royal Navy for a longer or shorter period, were the 

 merchantmen who sailed under Letters of Marque to attack enemy com- 

 merce and frequently even their men-of-war. The practice started 

 some time in the thirteenth century — 1243 is the date often mentioned — 

 and originally permitted an individual Englishman who had proved that 

 he had suffered loss at the hands of a foreigner to recompense himself 

 from that foreigner's goods. Needless to say the party against whom 

 the letters were made out took every care to keep out of the way of his 

 revenge, and accordingly it became the custom to grant letters, first of 

 all against a port and then against a country, limiting the value to be 

 taken to the amount of the first loss. No machiners^ was set up to check 

 these amounts, nor indeed was it possible, so that privateers naturally 

 allowed themselves a very good rate of interest in spite of all 

 precautions. Afterwards the system was extended to the granting of 

 letters against the King's enemies in general for the period of hostilities, 

 but very often they were used when the country was supposed to be at 

 peace. The later developments of the system will be recorded in 

 their place. 

 Impressment of Foreign Ships. 



The King's right to impress foreign ships in British waters was early 

 and continuously exercised, partly because everything that floated was 

 usually required and partly because it was generally safer to refuse pay- 

 ment to a man who was hundreds of miles away than to a loyal subject 

 on the spot. Often, also, it was from motives of policy and this policy 

 was not always scrupulous. Later on, especially in the Wars of the 

 Roses, foreign ships were often taken up because the loyalty of our own 

 men was more than doubtful, but it was not until the Tudors came that 

 the wisdom of satisfying foreign merchants with regard to their pay was 

 fully realised. 

 Chartering. 



Besides the hiring of ships for service as men-of-war there was quite 

 a lot of regular chartering as early as the thirteenth century. In 1290 a 

 ship with a crew of six men to carry a mixed cargo of wine, cyder, wheat 

 and oats from the Thames to Berwick was hired for ninety-nine shillings 



218 



