310 JOURNAL OF THE PLYMOUTH INSTITUTION. 
him ‘because he labored that the towne had the golde which was 
taken w' the same man ;” and “ xxi dokatts” of the money were given 
to John Gryslynge for the “repacon of the Cawse”—£4 14s. 6d. 
No doubt the town stood much in need; but what of poor Edward 
Peryn? Nothing is clear about this business except that he had 
the money when the town wanted it, and wanted it when the 
town had it. He was a friend in need. I will not define the 
Corporation. 
Two years later there was a notable piece of good fortune. It 
was time of war, and there came into Plymouth a certain Flemish 
ship with ‘vj ffrenshe psons” on board, who were unlucky enough 
to be the owners of eight butts and one hogshead of Romney 
wine, <A Fleming told the mayor; had ls. 6d. for his trouble ; 
and the Frenchmen were incontinently made prisoners, and their 
wine sold for the benefit of the town, realising in the gross £17 
3s. 4d., besides one hogshead which was given to John Palmer for 
work done on the Cawsey. The men themselves were held to 
ransom. The entry relating to this transaction is very amusing : 
*““Ttem Recd of oon of the forsaid vj ffrenshemen that were taken psons 
yn the said filemyng shyp the which was a pilott yn the same shyp for his 
Rawnsom (xls) and of two other of them (xx%-) a pece beside oon of them 
that dyed and beside ij of them the whiche went home for their Rawnsom 
and came not ageyn © iiij!-” 
This not unnatural evasion taught the authorities a lesson: They 
caught six other Frenchmen that year—one each in a Spanish and 
a Flemish ship, and four taken prisoners ‘‘ by the towne ”—and 
made them pay their 20s. each before they started. 
It is satisfactory to note that the master of the Fleming which 
brought the wine was paid his freightage, £3 10s, This singular 
honesty on the part of the Corporation merits special record. I 
wonder they did not confiscate the ship for carrying an enemy’s 
goods. 
In 1526-7 I find these curious entries: ‘“Itm Rec of thar- 
rogosye for defendynge theyre shyp agaynst the ffrenshemen that 
wold have taken her xvj xiij* iij* Itm Rec of Spaynards for 
lyke defens xxvj®* vilij*” However, even with this addition the 
total receipts were only £81 5s. 63d.; and there was some expen- 
diture incurred in manning the bulwarks for this business, those 
who manned them being Stephen Pers, William Bull, Christopher 
Moore, William Hawkyns (this would be the father of Sir John), 
