Those Dastardly Smuggling Gangs

Helen-Hollick-author photoRelevant History welcomes back Helen Hollick, who lives in Devon, England and has been published for many years with her Arthurian Trilogy and the 1066 era. She became a ‘USA Today’ bestseller with her novel about Queen Emma, The Forever Queen (UK: A Hollow Crown.) She also writes the “Sea Witch Voyages,” pirate-based adventures with a touch of fantasy. Her non-fiction book about pirates and smugglers will be published in 2019. To learn more about her and her books, visit her web site, blog, and historical fiction review blog, and follow her on Twitter.

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Tall shipWe see the smugglers of yesteryear portrayed in fiction, movies and TV dramas as small groups of local fisher-folk from picturesque coastal villages intent on making an extra penny to keep their starving families alive. Or we have the nasty ruffian out to bully his vulnerable young nephew into breaking the law by smuggling a keg of brandy, using a somewhat leaky old boat. Images which are true to a point. But only to a point.

The Trade, the Big Money Makers were far from this romantic view of the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century smuggler. The gangs were vicious thugs, organised by efficient leaders who were the Mafia equivalent of their day.

These ‘smuggling companies’ operated along the south-east coasts of England. Not the fictional image of a rugged Cornish cove as in Poldark—the West Country did have its smugglers but they operated in a very different style.

SmugglerMembers of these gangs were not always seamen but landsmen based along the roads leading to London and the larger towns. Seamen brought the cargo in, the gangs collected and dispersed it. If there was trouble from the Revenue Men, the gangs were ready for them. They were comprised of up fifty men, although for larger ‘runs’ this could increase to two or three hundred men if gangs united. The Revenue, by comparison, were ill-informed, undermanned, under-armed and under-paid men. They rarely had any hope of intervening, let alone putting a stop to these formidable opponents, especially when a run had bodyguards wielding stout ash poles for protection. (Think Robin Hood and Little John’s quarterstaff.)

When smuggling began to deplete the purses of the government and the wealthy, something had to be done. By the 1780s the militia and customs men were equipped with better firearms, better ships, and more reliable ‘intelligence,’ which meant they were able to thwart gangs and seize contraband. But the gangs were a tough lot. Well-armed, rough, ruthless men who ensured potential informers kept quiet. Permanently.

The gangs
Several of the gangs had interesting nicknames: ‘Yorkshire George,’ ‘The Miller,’ ‘Old Joll,’ ‘Towzer,’ ‘Flushing Jack’ and ‘Nasty Face.’ These nicknames were used among smugglers and highwaymen not as terms of friendship but to hide a true identity.

The Colonel of Bridport Gang from Dorset were led by ‘The Colonel.’ One contraband cargo was nearly intercepted by the revenue and had to be sunk in the sea to hide it. Alas, it drifted ashore not far from West Bay, to the delight of the locals who claimed the cargo. The Colonel’s gang were successful and never caught. They supplied the Bridport and Lyme Bay taverns with French liquor.

The Groombridge Gang were named for a village west of Tunbridge Wells and were active from about 1730. The Groombridge Gang was first mentioned in a 1733 legal document when thirty men were bringing a cargo of tea inland using fifty horses. Militiamen challenged them but, outnumbered, were disarmed and marched for four hours at gunpoint until the cargo was delivered,, when the militiamen were set free unharmed, but on oath not to renew their interfering. An oath which was not kept!

The North Kent Gang worked from Ramsgate to the River Medway. In 1820 their violent methods increased when blockade-men discovered them bringing in contraband. A fight followed with one officer seriously injured, but the gang got away with the cargo. During the spring of 1821, forty gang members gathered at Herne Bay to land a cargo, protected by twenty men armed with bats and pistols. Unfortunately, these batsmen had enjoyed too much pre-run ‘hospitality’ at a nearby inn. Led by Midshipman Snow, the blockade-men appeared drawn by the noise the drunken smugglers were making. Eighteen smugglers were arrested. Four were hanged, with the others transported to Tasmania.

The two worst gangs
BarrelsThe Northover Gang were from Dorset and named for their leaders. In December 1822 preventative-men, Forward and Tollerway, were on patrol and discovered the smugglers, three of whom dropped the kegs they were carrying and fled. Tollerway guarded the abandoned contraband while Forward seized more kegs after firing his pistol to summon help, but the gang surrounded him. Tollerway ran to give assistance, and fighting broke out. The gang leader, James Northover Junior, was subsequently arrested when assistance arrived and was sentenced to fourteen months in gaol. He served time twice more, and then impressed into the Royal Navy in 1827 for another offence.

The Hawkhurst Gang. Hawkhurst is ten miles inland from the Kent and East Sussex coast. Between 1735–1749, the gang became known as the most feared in all England. They smuggled in silk, brandy and tobacco with up to five-hundred men able to assist when required. The gang joined the Wingham Gang in 1746 to bring ashore twelve tons of tea (a lot of tea!) but attacked their partners and made off with the tea and several valuable horses. Despite the benefits of smuggling, villagers grew fed-up with the increasing violence, and a retaliation was made in April 1747. Confident of their influence, the gang marched into the village not expecting to meet an army of people determined to stop the bullying. One of the gang’s hierarchy, George Kingsmill, was shot dead and is buried in Goudhurst churchyard. His brother, Thomas, was hanged at Tyburn in London with his body returned to Kent to rot on the gallows. Does his ghost linger there I wonder?

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A big thanks to Helen Hollick!

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The Water of Life…or Whisky to you and me

Helen Hollick author photoRelevant History welcomes Helen Hollick, who lives on a thirteen-acre farm in North Devon, England. Born in North-East London, Helen started writing pony stories as a teenager, moved onto science fiction and fantasy, and then discovered historical fiction. Published in the UK with her Arthurian Trilogy, and the era of 1066, she was selected for publication by Sourcebooks Inc in the US, and became a USA Today best seller with Forever Queen. She also writes the “Sea Witch Voyages” series, nautical pirate-based fantasy adventures. As a supporter of Independent Authors she is Managing Editor for the Historical Novel Society Indie Reviews, and inaugurated the HNS Indie Award. To learn more about Helen’s books, check out her web site and blog, and follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

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My forthcoming novel, the fifth ‘Sea Witch Voyage,’ On The Account, has my ex-pirate, Captain Jesamiah Acorne being offered an illegal sideline of smuggling…something. I was going to use brandy, but wanted something different. After some research I decided whisky would be the perfect solution.

So what is whiskey?
‘Whisky’ (‘whiskey’ in Ireland and US) comes from Gaelic Uisge beatha meaning ‘Water of Life.’ Uisge beatha became uisge, then ooshki and finally whisky.

WhiskeyModern whisky is made with barley: Scotch barley is dried over peat fires giving a distinct smoky taste, while Irish is dried in closed ovens where a lack of smoke makes a smoother taste. Scotch is usually distilled twice, Irish, three times. Both by today’s laws are required to mature for at least three years.

Irish whiskey was recorded in 1405, being distilled in the 12th century, the technique brought from the Mediterranean around 1000 A.D. Scotch whisky (just called ‘Scotch’ today) was made from malted barley with earliest records dating to 1494 in the Exchequer Rolls—the tax records of the day. (So I was quite safe for On The Account, set in 1719.)

In these early lists for Scotland it is recorded that ‘Eight bolls of malt’ went to ‘Friar John Cor at Lindores Abbey, Fife to make aqua vitae.’ This would have produced 1,500 bottles. A ‘boll’ is a measure of not more than six bushels—one bushel equivalent to 25.4 kilograms.

The quality and purity of the water used is an integral part of making a fine whisky today, but originally it was a way of using up rain-soaked barley. It is a highly potent spirit. By the 16th and 17th centuries the skill of production had greatly improved. Mostly, as with Friar John Cor, monks were responsible for spreading the distillation skills. Initially whisky was consumed for its medicinal uses, prescribed for good health, long life and the relief of colic and smallpox. Indeed, if I have a cold, hot water, honey, lemon and a dram (or two) often sees it off!

From Tudor times
The dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII contributed to the spread of distilleries as many of the monks had to find alternative uses for their skills—whisky and the knowledge of how to produce it spread.

Dated to 1618 there is a reference to ‘uiskie’ in the funeral account of a Highland laird, and a letter to the Earl of Mar from 1622 mentions the spirit. Written by Sir Duncan Campbell of Glenorchy, he reported that officers sent to Glenorchy had been given the best entertainment, for they ‘wantit not [for] wine nor aquavite.’

Aquavitae formed part of the rent paid for Highland farms and became an intrinsic part of life, appreciated during long winters, and providing an offered welcome to guests.

However, popularity attracted the attention of the Scottish Parliament. The first taxes were introduced in 1644, fixing the duty at 2/8d (13p) per pint, (the Scots pint being approximately one third of a gallon.) This, inevitably, resulted in a rise of distilling illicit whisky.

Part of the agreement of the Union between Scotland and England in 1707 was that English taxes would not be enforced north of the border, but in 1724 Parliament introduced a tax, which caused riots in Scotland, and distillers were driven further underground. Distillers and smugglers saw no reason to pay for making whisky, especially with such a lucrative and relatively easy market for selling it at a profit. These markets were taverns and big houses: agents were confiscating around 10,000 stills per annum. A lot of money was being made from non-collected taxes!

By 1780 there were eight legal distilleries and over four hundred illegal ones. Smugglers organised signalling systems to warn of approaching excise men. Smuggling whisky had become a standard practice for over 150 years. (Ideal for my pirate!) Every conceivable storage space was used to hide illicit liquor, including using coffins for transportation.

This eventually prompted the Duke of Gordon, on whose land some of the finest illicit whisky in Scotland was being distilled, to propose in the House of Lords that it should be made profitable to produce whisky legally. In 1823 the Excise Act eased the restrictions on licensed distilleries while making it harder for illegal stills to operate. It sanctioned the distilling of whisky in return for a licence fee of £10, and a set payment per gallon. Smuggling almost completely died out as it was no longer profitable. Many present-day distilleries occupy sites of original illicit stills.

American rye
In the Colonies, whisky (or whiskey) distilleries emerged with the rum business, an integral part of the slave trade. Dispatched by ship to Africa, rum was traded for slaves who were transported to the West Indies to grow sugar, to make molasses, to make more rum.

More whiskeyWhisky appeared occasionally in Colonial taverns before the American Revolution, but approximately 250,000 Scotch/Irish settlers migrated to America in the fifty years before Independence in 1776. When the British blockade of American ports cut off the molasses trade, rum distillers produced whisky instead. Rye became an all-American drink, being made in America from American grain, unlike imported beverages, which were heavily taxed. Frontier farmers who had an excess of rye distilled whisky from the surplus. A bushel made approximately three gallons and was worth more as liquor than as corn.

In 1789 Virginian farmers began making whisky with corn instead of rye, making it distinctive by aging it. They had discovered that charring the inside of oak barrels gave a better flavour and a darker colour. By 1792, western Virginia became the State of Kentucky and in the 19th century, Kentucky Corn Whiskey began to be called Bourbon.

I think Captain Acorne can smuggle whisky to a Virginian Tavern or two with historical accuracy, although not safely if excise men or the British Navy get to hear of it.

Sources
http://www.scotch-whisky.org.uk/
http://www.scotchwhiskyexperience.co.uk/
http://www.visitscotland.com/about/food-drink/whisky/history
http://www.hedrinksawhiskeydrink.com/
http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/summer08/whiskey.cfm
http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/holiday07/drink.cfm

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Sea Witch book coverA big thanks to Helen Hollick. She’ll give away a trade paperback copy of any currently released title in her “Sea Witch Voyages” series to someone who contributes a comment on my blog this week. I’ll choose the winner from among those who comment by Friday at 6 p.m. ET. Delivery is available worldwide.

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