Smugglers

Smuggling has its roots in the Medieval Age when taxes and excises were first levied on goods on a regular basis. But by the 18th century it had become a way of life for many coastal villages around Britain.

Spirits, tea, tobacco and even lace were illegally imported into the country in huge quantities with smugglers avoiding paying H.M. Customs any duty. It grew into such a successful industry that at one time 80% of the tea drank in the UK was reported to be smuggled into the country illegally!

Goods were picked up from ports on the Continent and hidden in specially built secret compartments on board large sailing boats called “luggers”. Barrels had false tops so they looked like there was nothing more harmless than water carried in them and tea and tobacco were hidden under coils of rope. This didn’t always fool the Excise men who boarded the boats to check for contraband and if smugglers thought they were in danger of being caught they often threw their barrels of booze over the side, carefully weighted down, to be collected when the coast was clear.

Although the image of the smuggler has been softened and romanticized over the years one part is true; for practical reasons they would wait for dark nights with no moon before unloading their cargo onto the beaches. It was then carried by men and mules to hiding places in homes and inns to be sold on to customers.

Jack Rattenbury was one the most notorious smugglers of his time. He was born in 1778 in the suitably named village of Beer in Devon and first earned his keep as a fisherman, going to sea at just 9 years old. Although life on the ocean wave suited Jack it wasn’t as exciting or as profitable as he’s hoped and so he became a smuggler. Over the years he built up quite a reputation and made no secret of his profession even publishing a book about his exploits, “The Memoirs of a Smuggler” in 1837. His career included several spells in prison and he even hid in a sooty pub chimney for an hour to avoid capture!

Another smuggler who came to fame a few years before Jack Rattenbury was John Carter, also known as “The King of Prussia”. For thirty years between 1777 and 1807 Carter ran his successful contraband business in Cornwall, operating around the area between Penzance and Porthleven. The stretch of beach were he used to unload his cargo is still known as Prussia Cove today. Local legends grew up around Carter and his activities including a story that after one of his cargoes was carried away by the Excise men he broke into their warehouse and stole it back, careful not to take anything that wasn’t his.

Smuggling began to die out in the early 1800’s after Napoleon was defeated by the British because it meant that more navy vessels were available to patrol the coast making smuggling more and more risky. And as the roads improved over the next few years smugglers found it increasingly difficult to move their contraband around the country without being spotted. But a phrase from the smuggler’s heyday has stayed with us – ever asked if the “coast is clear”?