by Daniel Defoe
But he happened at last to be in it once too often--namely, when
that dreadful tempest blew, November 27, 1703. This tempest began
on the Wednesday before, and blew with such violence, and shook the
lighthouse so much, that, as they told me there, Mr. Winstanley
would fain have been on shore, and made signals for help; but no
boats durst go off to him; and, to finish the tragedy, on the
Friday, November 26, when the tempest was so redoubled that it
became a terror to the whole nation, the first sight there seaward
that the people of Plymouth were presented with in the morning
after the storm was the bare Eddystone, the lighthouse being gone;
in which Mr. Winstanley and all that were with him perished, and
were never seen or heard of since. But that which was a worse loss
still was that, a few days after, a merchant's ship called the
Winchelsea, homeward bound from Virginia, not knowing the Eddystone
lighthouse was down, for want of the light that should have been
seen, run foul of the rock itself, and was lost with all her lading
and most of her men. But there is now another light-house built on
the same rock.
What other disasters happened at the same time in the Sound and in
the roads about Plymouth is not my business; they are also
published in other books, to which I refer.
One thing which I was a witness to on a former journey to this
place, I cannot omit. It was the next year after that great storm,
and but a little sooner in the year, being in August; I was at
Plymouth, and walking on the Hoo (which is a plain on the edge of
the sea, looking to the road), I observed the evening so serene, so
calm, so bright, and the sea so smooth, that a finer sight, I
think, I never saw. There was very little wind, but what was,
seemed to be westerly; and about an hour after, it blew a little
breeze at south-west, with which wind there came into the Sound
that night and the next morning a fleet of fourteen sail of ships
from Barbadoes, richly laden for London. Having been long at sea,
most of the captains and passengers came on shore to refresh
themselves, as is usual after such tedious voyages; and the ships
rode all in the Sound on that side next to Catwater. As is
customary upon safe arriving to their native country, there was a
general joy and rejoicing both on board and on shore.
The next day the wind began to freshen, especially in the
afternoon, and the sea to be disturbed, and very hard it blew at
night; but all was well for that time. But the night after, it
blew a dreadful storm (not much inferior, for the time it lasted,
to the storm mentioned above which blew down the lighthouse on the
Eddystone). About mid-night the noise, indeed, was very dreadful,
what with the rearing of the sea and of the wind, intermixed with
the firing of guns for help from the ships, the cries of the seamen
and people on shore, and (which was worse) the cries of those which
were driven on shore by the tempest and dashed in pieces. In a
word, all the fleet except three, or thereabouts, were dashed to
pieces against the rocks and sunk in the sea, most of the men being
drowned. Those three who were saved, received so much damage that
their lading was almost all spoiled. One ship in the dark of the
night, the men not knowing where they were, run into Catwater, and
run on shore there; by which she was, however, saved from
shipwreck, and the lives of her crew were saved also.
This was a melancholy morning indeed. Nothing was to be seen but
wrecks of the ships and a foaming, furious sea in that very place
where they rode all in joy and triumph but the evening before. The
captains, passengers, and officers who were, as I have said, gone
on shore, between the joy of saving their lives, and the affliction
of having lost their ships, their cargoes, and their friends, were
objects indeed worth our compassion and observation. And there was
a great variety of the passions to be observed in them--now
lamenting their losses, their giving thanks for their deliverance.
Many of the passengers had lost their all, and were, as they
expressed themselves, "utterly undone." They were, I say, now
lamenting their losses with violent excesses of grief; then giving
thanks for their lives, and that they should be brought on shore,
as it were, on purpose to be saved from death; then again in tears
for such as were drowned. The various cases were indeed very
affecting, and, in many things, very instructing.
As I say, Plymouth lies in the bottom of this Sound, in the centre
between the two waters, so there lies against it, in the same
position, an island, which they call St. Nicholas, on which there
is a castle which commands the entrance into Hamoaze, and indeed
that also into Catwater in some degree. In this island the famous
General Lambert, one of Cromwell's great agents or officers in the
rebellion, was imprisoned for life, and lived many years there.
On the shore over against this island is the citadel of Plymouth, a
small but regular fortification, inaccessible by sea, but not
exceeding strong by land, except that they say the works are of a
stone hard as marble, and would not seen yield to the batteries of
an enemy--but that is a language our modern engineers now laugh at.
The town stands above this, upon the same rock, and lies sloping on
the side of it, towards the east--the inlet of the sea which is
called Catwater, and which is a harbour capable of receiving any
number of ships and of any size, washing the eastern shore of the
town, where they have a kind of natural mole or haven, with a quay
and all other conveniences for bringing in vessels for loading and
unloading; nor is the trade carried on here inconsiderable in
itself, or the number of merchants small.
The other inlet of the sea, as I term it, is on the other side of
the town, and is called Hamoaze, being the mouth of the River
Tamar, a considerable river which parts the two counties of Devon
and Cornwall. Here (the war with France making it necessary that
the ships of war should have a retreat nearer hand than at
Portsmouth) the late King William ordered a wet dock--with yards,
dry docks, launches, and conveniences of all kinds for building and
repairing of ships--to be built; and with these followed
necessarily the building of store-houses and warehouses for the
rigging, sails, naval and military stores, &c., of such ships as
may be appointed to be laid up there, as now several are; with very
handsome houses for the commissioners, clerks, and officers of all
kinds usual in the king's yards, to dwell in. It is, in short, now
become as complete an arsenal or yard for building and fitting men-
of-war as any the Government are masters of, and perhaps much more
convenient than some of them, though not so large.
The building of these things, with the addition of rope-walks and
mast-yards, &c., as it brought abundance of trades-people and
workmen to the place, so they began by little and
little to build
houses on the lands adjacent, till at length there appeared a very
handsome street, spacious and large, and as well inhabited; and so
many houses are since added that it is become a considerable town,
and must of consequence in time draw abundance of people from
Plymouth itself.
However, the town of Plymouth is, and will always be, a very
considerable town, while that excellent harbour makes it such a
general port for the receiving all the fleets of merchants' ships
from the southward (as from Spain, Italy, the West Indies, &c.),
who generally make it the first port to put in at for refreshment,
or safety from either weather or enemies.
The town is populous and wealthy, having, as above, several
considerable merchants and abundance of wealthy shopkeepers, whose
trade depends upon supplying the sea-faring people that upon so
many occasions put into that port. As for gentlemen--I mean, those
that are such by family and birth and way of living--it cannot be
expected to find many such in a town merely depending on trade,
shipping, and sea-faring business; yet I found here some men of
value (persons of liberal education, general knowledge, and
excellent behaviour), whose society obliges me to say that a
gentleman might find very agreeable company in Plymouth.
From Plymouth we pass the Tamar over a ferry to Saltash--a little,
poor, shattered town, the first we set foot on in the county of
Cornwall. The Tamar here is very wide, and the ferry-boats bad; so
that I thought myself well escaped when I got safe on shore in
Cornwall.
Saltash seems to be the ruins of a larger place; and we saw many
houses, as it were, falling down, and I doubt not but the mice and
rats have abandoned many more, as they say they will when they are
likely to fall. Yet this town is governed by a mayor and aldermen,
has many privileges, sends members to Parliament, takes toll of all
vessels that pass the river, and have the sole oyster-fishing in
the whole river, which is considerable. Mr. Carew, author of the
"Survey of Cornwall," tells us a strange story of a dog in this
town, of whom it was observed that if they gave him any large bone
or piece of meat, he immediately went out of doors with it, and
after having disappeared for some time would return again; upon
which, after some time, they watched him, when, to their great
surprise, they found that the poor charitable creature carried what
he so got to an old decrepit mastiff, which lay in a nest that he
had made among the brakes a little way out of the town, and was
blind, so that he could not help himself; and there this creature
fed him. He adds also that on Sundays or holidays, when he found
they made good cheer in the house where he lived, he would go out
and bring this old blind dog to the door, and feed him there till
he had enough, and then go with him back to his habitation in the
country again, and see him safe in. If this story is true, it is
very remarkable indeed; and I thought it worth telling, because the
author was a person who, they say, might be credited.
This town has a kind of jurisdiction upon the River Tamar down to
the mouth of the port, so that they claim anchorage of all small
ships that enter the river; their coroner sits upon all dead bodies
that are found drowned in the river and the like, but they make not
much profit of them. There is a good market here, and that is the
best thing to be said of the town; it is also very much increased
since the number of the inhabitants are increased at the new town,
as I mentioned as near the dock at the mouth of Hamoaze, for those
people choose rather to go to Saltash to market by water than to
walk to Plymouth by land for their provisions. Because, first, as
they go in the town boat, the same boat brings home what they buy,
so that it is much less trouble; second, because provisions are
bought much cheaper at Saltash than at Plymouth. This, I say, is
like to be a very great advantage to the town of Saltash, and may
in time put a new face of wealth upon the place.
They talk of some merchants beginning to trade here, and they have
some ships that use the Newfoundland fishery; but I could not hear
of anything considerable they do in it. There is no other
considerable town up the Tamar till we come to Launceston, the
county town, which I shall take in my return; so I turned west,
keeping the south shore of the county to the Land's End.
From Saltash I went to Liskeard, about seven miles. This is a
considerable town, well built; has people of fashion in it, and a
very great market; it also sends two members to Parliament, and is
one of the five towns called Stannary Towns--that is to say, where
the blocks of tin are brought to the coinage; of which, by itself,
this coinage of tin is an article very much to the advantage of the
towns where it is settled, though the money paid goes another way.
This town of Liskeard was once eminent, had a good castle, and a
large house, where the ancient Dukes of Cornwall kept their court
in those days; also it enjoyed several privileges, especially by
the favour of the Black Prince, who as Prince of Wales and Duke of
Cornwall resided here. And in return they say this town and the
country round it raised a great body of stout young fellows, who
entered into his service and followed his fortunes in his wars in
France, as also in Spain. But these buildings are so decayed that
there are now scarce any of the ruins of the castle or of the
prince's court remaining.
The only public edifices they have now to show are the guild or
town hall, on which there is a turret with a fine clock; a very
good free school, well provided; a very fine conduit in the market-
place; an ancient large church; and, which is something rare for
the county of Cornwall, a large, new-built meeting-house for the
Dissenters, which I name because they assured me there was but
three more, and those very inconsiderable, in all the county of
Cornwall; whereas in Devonshire, which is the next county, there
are reckoned about seventy, some of which are exceeding large and
fine.
This town is also remarkable for a very great trade in all
manufactures of leather, such as boots, shoes, gloves, purses,
breaches, &c.; and some spinning of late years is set up here,
encouraged by the woollen manufacturers of Devonshire.
Between these two towns of Saltash and Liskeard is St. Germans, now
a village, decayed, and without any market, but the largest parish
in the whole county--in the bounds of which is contained, as they
report, seventeen villages, and the town of Saltash among them; for
Saltash has no parish church, it seems, of itself, but as a chapel-
of-ease to St. Germans. In the neighbourhood of these towns are
many pleasant seats of the Cornish gentry, who are indeed very
numerous, though their estates may not be so large as is usual in
England; yet neither are they despicable in th
at part; and in
particular this may be said of them--that as they generally live
cheap, and are more at home than in other counties, so they live
more like gentlemen, and keep more within bounds of their estates
than the English generally do, take them all together.
Add to this that they are the most sociable, generous, and to one
another the kindest, neighbours that are to be found; and as they
generally live, as we may say, together (for they are almost always
at one another's houses), so they generally intermarry among
themselves, the gentlemen seldom going out of the county for a
wife, or the ladies for a husband; from whence they say that
proverb upon them was raised, viz., "That all the Cornish gentlemen
are cousins."
On the hills north of Liskeard, and in the way between Liskeard and
Launceston, there are many tin-mines. And, as they told us, some
of the richest veins of that metal are found there that are in the
whole county--the metal, when cast at the blowing houses into
blocks, being, as above, carried to Liskeard to be coined.
From Liskeard, in our course west, we are necessarily carried to
the sea-coast, because of the River Fowey or Fowath, which empties
itself into the sea at a very large mouth. And hereby this river
rising in the middle of the breadth of the county and running
south, and the River Camel rising not far from it and running
north, with a like large channel, the land from Bodmin to the
western part of the county is almost made an island and in a manner
cut off from the eastern part--the peninsula, or neck of land
between, being not above twelve miles over.
On this south side we came to Foy or Fowey, an ancient town, and
formerly very large--nay, not large only, but powerful and potent;
for the Foyens, as they were then called, were able to fit out
large fleets, not only for merchants' ships, but even of men-of-
war; and with these not only fought with, but several times
vanquished and routed, the squadron of the Cinque Ports men, who in
those days were thought very powerful.
Mr. Camden observes that the town of Foy quarters some part of the
arms of every one of those Cinque Ports with their own, intimating
that they had at several times trampled over them all. Certain it
is they did often beat them, and took their ships, and brought them
as good prizes into their haven of Foy; and carried it so high that
they fitted out their fleets against the French, and took several
of their men-of-war when they were at war with England, and
enriched their town by the spoil of their enemies.
Edward IV. favoured them much; and because the French threatened
them to come up their river with a powerful navy to burn their
town, he caused two forts to be built at the public charge for
security of the town and river, which forts--at least, some show of
them--remain there still. But the same King Edward was some time
after so disgusted at the townsmen for officiously falling upon the
French, after a truce was made and proclaimed, that he effectually
disarmed them, took away their whole fleet, ships, tackle, apparel,
and furniture; and since that time we do not read of any of their
naval exploits, nor that they ever recovered or attempted to
recover their strength at sea. However, Foy at this time is a very
fair town; it lies extended on the east side of the river for above
a mile, the buildings fair. And there are a great many flourishing
merchants in it, who have a great share in the fishing trade,
especially for pilchards, of which they take a great quantity
hereabouts. In this town is also a coinage for the tin, of which a
great quantity is dug up in the country north and west of the town.
The River Fowey, which is very broad and deep here, was formerly
navigable by ships of good burthen as high as Lostwithiel--an
ancient and once a flourishing but now a decayed town; and as to
trade and navigation, quite destitute; which is occasioned by the
river being filled up with sands, which, some say, the tides drive
