W. Laird Clowes

“ But there can be no question that at the time of the first advent of the Saxons the Britons were a feeble and even contemptible folk, disunited to a greater degree than has ever been common, save among barbarous tribes of the lowest type, and scarcely deserving a better fate than awaited them. Their thin sluggish blood sadly needed the iron that was eventually infused into it by the young heroes of the wild Berserker brood from across the North Sea. Had these Saxons and the kindred Danes and Normans, pirates every one, not come, England might have grown learned, and possibly rich ”

“ All Edgar's successors had fleets; some of them at times had very large ones; but every squadron, and almost every ship, seem to have been jealous and distrustful of every other. Many of the English leaders at the most critical period of the struggle must have had Danish connections, if not Danish blood in their veins; and the mere presence in England of a tolerated Danelagh, or Danish pale, acted as a perpetual reminder to every weak-kneed Englishman that a large extension of the Danish power was not only possible, but probable. ”

“ If the Britons had any ships and seamen beyond those destroyed on the coast of Gaul, they had at least no union, no common aims, no central authority strong enough to wield effectively the naval arm. The country was broken up into petty principalities and chieftainships, and while little co-operation between the jealousies and hatreds of rivals was possible on shore, none at all was to be expected at sea, where only from co-operation, guided by authority, can success be hoped for, even amid the most favourable circumstances. ”

“ When we came to take a view of our people, we found few left alive but could show a wound or shot through their clothes in that fight. We were a woeful spectacle, as well as the Spaniards; and I dare say that in the whole time of the war there was not so rare a manner of fight, or so great a slaughter of men on both sides." It was in 1586 that George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, one of the most distinguished adventurers of an adventurous age, fitted out the first of his numerous privateering expeditions. ”

“ But the unity of England was still little more than nominal. Alfred came to the throne of a country which had been ravaged and despoiled in all directions by Danish raiders, operating with the sea as their base, and which was impoverished to the last degree. Had he been a Briton and not a Saxon, he must surely have despaired of his ragged inheritance. But he did not despair for a moment. When he could employ force, he employed it; when his only available weapons were gold and diplomacy, he employed them. He was never inactive, nor did he ever lose sight of Offa's maxim. ”

“ The duties of the generals would, therefore, be to discover the strength, whereabouts, and designs of the Spanish navy, and the nature and quantity of stores collected in Spain for purposes of aggression over sea; to destroy any vessels intended for Ireland, the Narrow Seas, or Calais, to generally injure the naval power of Spain, to avoid the unnecessary hazarding of ships and men, to take undefended towns, especially if they should be understood to contain treasure; not to injure non-combatants, and to preserve all booty for her majesty's disposal. ”

“ First Penda, some time in alliance with the Welsh, and them Ethelbald and Offa in succession, enlarged the borders of the middle kingdom until they touched the sea in more places than one; and when Offa, by the exercise of his strong personality and indomitable energy, had made himself by far the most potent prince in England, he was wise enough to do what none of the more petty Anglo-Saxon princes had done before him—he created a great fleet. ”

“ The white-robed priests waving banners, chanting, and carrying with them bells and books to these far distant shores, have shared the common fate of the bulk of mankind and vanished without leaving a trace of their name or race in Ireland the Great. ”

“ Sir Walter Manny's was the fourth ship to be engaged. As the other vessels crowded up there was a general mélée, the ships grappling one another, and the men boarding with swords, axes, and pikes, while the archers in their rear discharged showers of arrows. The French fought with determination and gallantry, and the slaughter was prodigious, four hundred dead being found in one ship alone; but the English impetuosity was not to be resisted, and ere long several vessels of the French van were in their possession. Among these were the four much-coveted English prizes. ”

“ Drawing the hostile galley with them to the shore, the victors exposed it to be destroyed by our people of both sexes who met it on land. Then our women seized and dragged the Turks by the hair, beheading them, treating them with every indignity, and savagely stabbing them ”

“ When the people of the Cinque Ports saw the French fleet, and knew it to be commanded by Eustace the Monk, they said: "If this tyrant land, he will lay all waste, for the country is not protected, and our king is far away. Let us, therefore, take our souls in our hands, and meet him while he is at sea; and help will come to us from on high." To one exclaiming, "Is there one among you who is ready this day to die for England?" ”

“ Then where I sat I heard the cannons and guns make many hideous cracks — duf, duf, duf, duf, duf, duf. The bassils and falcons cried tirduf, tirduf, tirduf, tirduf, tirduf. Then the small artillery cried tik, tak, tik, tak, tik, take. The reek, smoke, and the stink of the gunpowder filled all the air, most like as Pluto's palace had been burning in one bad fire: which generated such murkiness and mist that I could not see my length about me. ”

“ While we allow William to have been a great statesman, and Norman rule to have been a wholesome tonic episode for England, we need not shut our eyes to the truth that the Conqueror took and held the conquest by the might of his sword, and without the smallest regard to the wishes of any section of the native population. ”

“ Defeats, if not disgrace, almost a total destruction of commerce, and, far worse, constant invasions of our shores, attended by rapine, bloodshed, and all other atrocities, were the consequences of this fatal error, which established, however, the momentous truth, that the honour, safety, greatness, and prosperity of England depend upon her navy. ”

“ Going into the haven to attack the other vessels, the royal ships all managed to run aground, too, three lying close to the three stranded Danes, and the rest at some distance on the other side of the harbour. When the tide had run out, the Danes furiously attacked the Saxon ships near them, killing seventy-two of their people, but themselves losing as many as one hundred and twenty. ”

“ In the thirteenth century all sea warfare, whether regular or irregular, was conducted by people who were little better than "a horde of sanctioned robbers"; and one is not surprised, therefore, to discover, as one often does when studying the early history of England, that in war time ships were fitted out by individuals as well as by governments to prey upon the enemies of the country. ”

“ Hubert de Burgh, Justiciary and Governor of Dover Castle, knew of the collection of the fleet of Eustace the Monk and the army of Robert de Courtenay at Calais, and was deeply impressed with the necessity for waylaying it. Addressing the Bishop of Winchester, the Earl Marshal, and other nobles, he said: "If these people land, England is lost. Let us therefore boldly meet them, for God is with us, and they are excommunicated." But his hearers replied: "We are not soldiers of the sea, nor maritime adventurers, [87] nor fishermen; but do thou go to death." ”

“ No monarch of England ever took greater interest in her navy than Henry the Fifth. He not only commanded large ships to be built, but personally inspected their progress; and though he was not, as has been said, its founder, he gave more powerful vessels to the Royal Navy than it ever before possessed, with the determination to acquire the dominion of the sea. His efforts to restore and improve the English navy were amply rewarded ”

“ No man was to touch the holy sacrament upon pain of being drawn and hanged, nor to commit sacrilege or rape upon pain of death. No master was to cross his sail aloft until the admiral had done so, nor was any vessel to anchor before the admiral; and, when at sea, all vessels were to keep as close as possible to the admiral unless otherwise ordered. When a ship discovered an enemy at sea she was to hoist a banner; and if any ship, having been detached, met a strange vessel at sea or in an enemy's port, she was to examine her cargo and inspect her papers ”

“ England had corrupted its once hardy Saxon conquerors, who were no longer a match for Norse pirates, led by men who never slept beneath a raftered roof, and never sat down to drink by a sheltered hearth. The Danish scourge was needed to do for the Saxons what the Saxon scourge had done for the Britons; but it was none the less terrible while it was being applied. Ethelred bought off one viking only to find another pirate clamouring, sword in hand, for similar treatment. Even his own court betrayed him repeatedly. Nearly every year larger sums were paid to the foe ”

“ Drake therefore took and plundered or burnt about a hundred more ships, besides again harrying the coasts.
Huge quantities of military stores were thus destroyed or taken. But there was small gain of rich stuffs, of spices, and of treasure, and the numerous merchant adventurers who had associated themselves with the fortunes of the expedition naturally looked for some other reward than the spectacle of exploding powder-magazines and burnt accumulations of provisions. ”

“ The Scots war was, nevertheless, not neglected, nor were the aims and objects of France lost sight of. On its return to England, the squadron of Sir John Roos took two Scots ships, homeward bound from Flanders, with men, money, and stores, destined by the King of France for the succour of Scotland. Among those on board the prizes were the Bishop of Glasgow, Sir John Stewart, David de la Hay, and some noble ladies, most of whom were killed by the captors, though whether in fair fight or after surrender does not appear. ”

“ The ancient Common Law, relating to wrecks, directed that when a vessel was lost at sea, and the goods or cargo floated to land, they should belong to the king, in accordance with a harsh principle to the effect that, as Blackstone says, by the loss of the ship, all property in it passes away from the original owner. But Henry modified this, and ordained that, if any person escaped alive from the ship, it should not be deemed to be a wreck. ”

“ Their names still abide in the lonely Orkneys, where also may be seen to this day their cells, and in far Iceland. It may even be that their blood flows in the fast-vanishing Red Indian of to-day. But guesses and conjectures can ill supply the place of historical record and evidence, though if the Irish could sail to Iceland in coracles there are few feats of navigation which we could pronounce impossible for them.
It is a curious fact that when the Saxons had settled down in England they appear to have lost their skill in seamanship. ”

“ Had the Britons been able to oppose fleet with fleet, the result might have been very different; for Cæsar's ships were crowded, could not have been in the best fighting trim, and while crossing the Channel, did not keep, in company, and might perhaps have been dealt with in detail. But the British fleet had been expended at the mouth of the Loire before Cæsar had formed any definite designs against Britain. Still, it is remarkable that there was no opposition whatsoever afloat. Not a single British ship is reported to have been so much as sighted. ”