Back to Contents. Back to Bibliography. Back to Home Page.
The Eighteenth Century -- Smuggling
SCOTLAND
This book was first published in 1894.This story is set in Galloway around the middle of the eighteenth century. The setting moves between an island in the Solway Firth and the wild hills and moors of north eastern Galloway.
When his father dies, Patrick Heron inherits the tidal Rathan Isle and its old tower house. So, although still a teenager, Patrick is a laird, even if an unimportant one. (A "bonnet laird"). The story is told in the first person by Patrick.
On the mainland opposite Rathan Isle is the large farm of Craigdarroch, where May Maxwell lives with her father and seven brothers. Patrick calls her "May Mischief" and in the first few chapters he is always telling us how much he hates her. May's brothers are involved in the smuggling trade between Holland and the Isle of Man. But local smugglers like the Maxwells are quite different from the "Black Smugglers," Dutchmen like the notorious Yawkins. The latter are more organised, cruel and ruthless. Yawkins would land his goods on the Solway shore where bands of fierce gypsies and outlaws would collect it and take the smuggled stuff - along with stolen goods and raided cattle - to their fastness among the wild country on the borders of Galloway and Ayrshire.
May Maxwell's brothers fall foul of Yawkins. Their farm is set on fire, their cattle stolen, their father killed and May abducted. Patrick, who up until now, has repeatedly told us how much he hates May, now joins in the rescue attempt. May is rescued and brought back to the more settled area. She stays with her wealthy cousin Lady Grizel Maxwell. Then the outlaws carry out a raid on Lady Grizel's fortified house. They are driven off but after this the Maxwells decide to rout out the gypsies and outlaws for good. The Maxwells gather a force and ride to the raiders' retreat. Patrick goes with them.
As well as being an adventure story "The Raiders" is also something of a mystery. Since childhood Patrick has known and admired Silver Sand. Silver Sand travels around the countryside with a donkey and a huge wolf-hound. He sells sand for sharpening scythes. He comes to Rathan Isle every month and whenever Patrick sees the smoke of his campfire he runs to join his friend and share his breakfast of fried trout and listen to his tales of the cruelty of the hill gypsies. Silver Sand later shares in Patrick's adventures and it is then that Patrick becomes suspicious of his childhood friend. Whose side is Silver Sand really on? He collects his sand from the shores of the lochs in the fastness of the gypsies and he knows all about their customs. Then he will often be absent when the fighting starts but will suddenly appear afterwards. It is not until near the end that we find out who Silver Sand really is and learn his strange story.
"The Raiders" really brings the Galloway of the eighteenth century to life. Although fiction and a thrilling story it is no mere flight of an author's fancy. The geographic descriptions are authentic and the story and characters are rooted in the history and folklore of the region. The gypsy clans of the Marshalls and Faas are very much part of Gallloway history and the Maxwells were one of the most important families in the area since medieval times. The legendary "murder hole" is famous.
Rathan Isle is actually Heston Island, which is about twenty miles from Dumfries. Today a local boatman takes rippersround it at high tide. I have sailed round it several times. And in the desolate country between Galloway and Ayrshire, Loch Neldricken and Loch Enoch can be found on any map.
As well as being an exciting story "The Raiders" is full of atmospheric descriptions. At the beginning Patrick tells us how he likes to climb to the highest point of Rathen Isle and look over the surrounding countryside. And, after the attack on the farm, of how he took refuge with May in the great sea cave.
Later the wild hills and gullies, moors and bogs of the gypsies' stronghold are vividly described and we taken to their lair - a little village on an island in the middle of Loch Enoch.
Despite all the efforts of the Maxwells, when retribution does finally fall on the outlaws it comes from the savage forces of nature - from a devastating snowstorm. A snowstorm which Patrick, Silver Sand and the little girl Marion ride out safely in a cave high up in the hills and cliffs.
One incident which I find particularly memorable is when Patrick is racing across the frozen lochs on his "ice runners" which his father had brought him from Holland.
Patrick tells the story, for the most part, in standard English with the occasional Scots word which serves to increase the general atmosphere. But when it comes to direct speech, the characters speak the Scots of Robert Burns. The Scots words are explained in a glossary at the back.
"The Raiders" is a thrilling story with an authentic background, good characterisation and vivid descriptions. It deserves to be better known. In some ways it is a kind of Scots "Lorna Doone."
12 to adult
This book was first published in 1971.
The Lothian Run of the title is the name which the Customs men give to the smuggling routes which end in the little ports on the north and south shores of the Firth of Forth.
But this is far more than just a smuggling story. It is written around a very significant incident in 18th century Scottish history - the Porteous Riots of 1736. Briefly, the facts about Captain Porteous are as follows. Two smugglers Andrew Wilson and George Robertson were due to be hanged. A few days before the execution George Robertson managed to escape. When Wilson was hanged Robertson tried to rescue him with a band of men armed with cutlasses. The soldiers fought the rescuers off and the crowd threw stones at the soldiers. Then the Captain of the Town Guard, Captain John Porteous ordered his men to fire on the Edinburgh crowd. They did so and a few citizens were killed. Captain Porteous was later accused of murder, tried and sentenced to death but was later reprieved. But when he was finally released from gaol the Edinburgh mob rioted. Captain Porteous was seized and hanged from the pole above a barber's shop.
The story of Captain Porteous runs right through The Lothian Run. But as if this is not enough Mollie Hunter has also worked in a Jacobite plot.
Sandy Maxwell is an apprentice in a lawyer's office. To Sandy the deed-room where he works is a small, dusty prison cell. Then Deryck Gilmour, Special Investigations Officer in the service of His Majesty's Customs, calls on the lawyer, Mr Wishart. Deryck Gilmour is trying to catch the escaped smuggler, George Robertson and he is asking Mr Wishart to help him. Mr Wishart at once tells him that his young clerk, Sandy Maxwell could be of assistance. Robertson has friends in the fishing village of Prestonpans - which is near Sandy's home. Sandy also has friends among the fisher-folk. Mr Wishart says that Sandy has a head on his shoulders and can be relied upon to ask the right kind of questions and keep the answers to himself.
So Sandy starts to work for Deryck Gilmour. There is adventure and danger. The story moves between the tall buildings and narrow alleys of Edinburgh, the hills and valleys of the countryside south of Edinburgh and the fishing village of Prestonpans. It moves at a rapid pace until the final climax at the riots and lynching of Captain Porteous.
A thrilling story with a sound historical background.
I once heard a story about a teacher who read this book with her class. When she had finished her class gave their verdict in no uncertain terms. In a mixture of traditional Glasgow and modern TV they told her exactly what they thought of Sandy Maxwell.
"He was a right wee grasser. He went to yon wee fushin' village and the people were friendly to him and then he went and shopped them to the polis."
Whatever may be said about the sentiments expressed one thing is for sure.
The Lothian Run really meant something to those children.
10+
Dorset
This is a smuggling story set in the last half of the eighteenth century. It was first published in 1898.
One afternoon fifteen year old John Trenchard discovers a passage leading from a tomb in the churchyard. Later that night he goes to explore the passage. It leads him to a vault beneath the church - the vault of the Mohune family. But it is more than just a vault. It is also the lair of the smugglers and it is filled with their kegs of contraband. Then he hears the smugglers coming and manages to hide behind one of the coffins. When the smugglers finally leave he finds that he has been hiding behind the coffin of Colonel John Mohune, the evil Blackbeard. John takes with him Blackbeard's locket.
Then he finds that he is trapped because, when they left, the smugglers repaired the entrance to the tunnel. But John is eventually rescued. His aunt disowns him and he goes to live with the giant of a smuggler, Elezivir Block. John becomes a smuggler himself and, together with Elezivir, soon finds himself on the run from the authorities.
But this is more than just a smuggling tale. It is also the story of a treasure hunt. In Blackbeard's locket is a scrap of paper with some verses from the Bible. John finds out they are clues to the hiding place of Blackbeard's diamond. John is now determined to find the diamond - and Elezivir decides to help him. But John is warned. "It was evilly come by. There is a curse on it."
John pays no attention and goes in search of the diamond and it is only after many years and much sorrow that he returns to Moonfleet and the curse of the diamond is finally ended.
As well as being a gripping story Moonfleet is also memorable for the picture it gives of the Dorset coast. The first few chapters set the scene and are really atmospheric. Here are some of the scenes J. Meade Falkner paints for us;- Moonfleet Bay where, during a gale, the grinding and churning of the pebbles can be heard for miles inland; the village on a frosty autumn night with a little fog or smoke wreath in the air; stories of the ghost of Blackbeard digging in the churchyard at night; the time when the vault underneath the church was flooded and the terrified congregation heard what they believed to be the coffins of the long dead Mohunes floating and knocking against one another; and the sea cave where Elezivir and John hid from the soldiers.
Incredible as it may seeem John also finds time for romance. His sweetheart is Grace Maskew who keeps a lantern burning in her window as a guide to sailors. It comes to be called "Maskew's Match."
Told in the first person by John.
An enthralling story. Small wonder that it is a classic.
12+
Wales
This is the kind of book I really like. It is a good old fashioned smuggling story.
The year is 1768. Fourteen year old Will Tanner is the son of an innkeeper. He wants to become a farmer so his father arranges for him to go and work as a stable lad for Mr Lloyd, a gentleman farmer. Mr Lloyd's farm is on the coast of south Wales. Shortly after arriving Will is warned not to go near part of the coast because there are smugglers about there and "they don't like strangers". A man had been found at the foot of the cliffs with his throat cut. "He pried you see. He pried."
One night a ship is blown ashore. Will joins the men who rush to the wreck. Will just goes to see what is happening but he ends up saving a girl from the looters. She cannot remember her name so she is just called "Miss Ginny" because the ship was coming from Virginia. Will Ginny recover her memory and recognise the man who would have killed her? Someone fears she might and there are attempts on the lives of both Will and Ginny.
The story moves at a fast pace to a gripping climax. The history is unobtrusive. The everyday facts of eighteenth century farm life just crop up quite naturally - washing under the pump, taking the horses to the smith to be shod, threshing the corn. The plight of the revenue officers is also highlighted - too few of them for the vast stretches of coastline to be patrolled.
The characters are sketched in lightly but they really come alive. There is Tibbet, the kindly but independent cook, Morgan Brewer, the drunken ox-herd who is often brutal with people but who is remarkably gentle with animals, the small and fragile Mrs Lloyd who is much stronger than she looks and the rich landowner Aquila Posset, who has a dreadful secret.
The story is told, very effectively, in the first person by Will.
This is a gripping story with an authentic background. I wish more books like this were being published to-day.
12+
1793 and the Lleyn Peninsula in Wales. Robin Evans is an ostler working for the local squire. Robin is also an apprentice smuggler.
The smugglers have a leader known as the Mute Horseman. Suddenly they will be summoned from the tavern by pistol shots. They will look up to the clifftop and see a masked figure, carrying a torch, dressed in black and sitting on a pure white horse. The figure will raise his right hand and point out to sea before galloping off.
Robin and the smugglers are just trying to survive. They smuggle brandy and perfume from France but just as important to them is salt smuggled from Ireland via the Isle of Man. Salt is vital. It is needed for preserving herring and pork but the ordinary people cannot afford it because there is a high tax on it. And for smuggling this simple necessity of life they face the death penalty if caught.
Robin and his friends are just trying to stay alive but working alongside them are men of greed and evil, wreckers who extinguish the warning beacon on the clifftop so that ships will be driven onto the rocks and sunk and their cargoes washed up on the shore and looted. Wicked men who will try to blame Robin and the smugglers for their heartless deeds.
Robin inadvertantly starts to make discoveries. He finds a secret tunnel and a cache of smuggled goods in a hidden room in the church. But Captain Davy tells him that that is not where the smugglers hide their goods. So who is using this hiding place? Robin also finds out that the vicar is supplying the squire with brandy and his daughter with perfume. What part is the vicar really playing? Is he a smuggler? Is he the Mute Horseman?
This is a thrilling story which moves at a furious pace. It shows the poverty and hardship suffered by many of the ordinary people in Wales at that time. Also the dreadful gap between the rich and the poor.
Eventually Robin discovers the identity of the Mute Horseman. One clue. Captain Davy told Robin that to be successful smuggling relies on a partnership between the rich and the poor. The smugglers need someone with money to help them buy the goods in the first place.
A combination of an exciting story and a solid, well researched historical background.
9+
North East England
This is another story about the boys' football team, the Tanfield Rangers. They have TR on their shirts but some of them think that these initials should stand for Time Rangers as some of the team can travel through time.
It is the October half-term break and the team is on a tour of north east England. They are spending a rest day in Robin Hood's Bay and Ryan and Michael Winter (nickname Worm, short for Bookworm) find themselves back in 1740. The press-gang are rounding up their unwilling recruits but an old woman hides Ryan and Worm. Afterwards they find out that the old woman is a wise woman and she explains to the boys why they keep travelling back through time. As has been hinted in the previous books it is not Worm (as was originally thought) who is responsible but Ryan. But Worm is always taken along because he knows about history. The old woman tells the boys that there is one more task for them and then they will be left in peace. This last task involves a very young Captain Cook but first Ryan and Worm have to help the smugglers. They do this by challenging the preventive officers to a game of football and distracting them while the smugglers hide their goods. Then Ryan and Worm are returned to their own time. But only for a short while. They gather together some of their team-mates and return again to 1740 where they meet - and help - the young James Cook.
The secret (and I won't give it away) of the time travel is revealed in this book and Ryan and Worm are told they are going to be left in peace. This would suggest that this is the last in the series. Perhaps. Perhaps not. Worm is not so sure. That statement might be all part of the game which is being played with them. And when Ryan asks Worm at the end if he really thinks their time trips are over Worm shrugs and says,
"Who knows? Time's the great enigma."
So the boys will have to wait to see whether this is the last time trip - and so will we.
An easy read for the nine plus age group.
Out of Print
Cornwall
This book was first published in 1962.
Fifteen year old Dick Pellew, the squire's son, admires and respects the fisherman and smuggler Zach Jewel. There is even the odd occasion when Dick is able to accompany Zach on some of his expeditions.
This is a time when most of Cornwall supports the smugglers - the landed gentry, the farmers, the farm labourers, the fishermen, the tin miners and even the parsons. This support makes it easy for the smugglers to elude the riding officers and the customs cutter.
But Zach is not content with his fishing boat. He has a lugger built and this increases his danger as he can no longer pose as a poor but honest crabber. To make matters worse the smugglers suspect that there is an informer or "tongue-tabbas."
This is an exciting, and sometimes amusing, tale set against an authentic background of 18th century smuggling in Cornwall. The customs officer and his men arrive on the scene when the smugglers have just unloaded their cargo and the contraband goods have to be hidden. A cue for much excitement. Later Zach's lugger is damaged in a seafight. The badly wounded Zach manages to escape and is hidden in the tin miners' hut on the moors. Two other smugglers are captured and sentenced to death but Zach, now recovered, has a plan to save them - a plan in which young Dick has an important part to play.
There is also the mystery about Neil, the boy who is saved from the sea. Neil never speaks and he is afraid of the strange Roger Knappen. What is Neil's story?
Then a number of ships is deliberately lured onto the rocks and wrecked and their crews attacked by a huge man with an axe. Who is this man of evil? Dick finds out and puts himself in danger but Neil tries to save him and, in so doing, recovers his speech and all is revealed.
As well as the story element there are details of how the smugglers hide their goods. For example, if in danger of being caught and searched they will rope a number of kegs together, then throw them overboard with an anchor and return later and recover them. A more ingenious hiding place is a specially constructed pond which can be swung on one side and a chamber beneath revealed. Then there is the time when contraband goods are taken right past the customs officials in a hearse accompanied by a sobbing "widow."
A good story and an enjoyable read which is also especially useful for its detailed background.
10+