Part 6
The feeling which inspired Thomson’s opposition to Walpole’s Government, and his attack on its pusillanimous policy towards Spain, was shared by the populace in general. It appears also in a satire called _The Pacific Fleet_ (p. 170).
The popularity of the war with Spain is brought out by _The English Sailor’s Resolution to Fight the Spaniards_. It dwells on the grievances of the merchants, tells the story of Captain Jenkins’s ear, and ends by an appeal to enter under Haddock (p. 172). This probably refers to the sending of Rear-Admiral Nicholas Haddock to the Mediterranean in 1737, when war was expected. _A New Song_, written after the actual outbreak of hostilities, begins by rejoicing that King George has at length resolved to correct the violence of the Spaniards:
‘And now for to maul ’em they press ’em and haul ’em To get some brave fellows to man our brave fleets. And now they’ll unpadlock the sword of brave Haddock, He’ll thump all the Spaniards that ever he meets.’
War was actually declared by England against Spain on October 23, 1739, and the general satisfaction with which that step was welcomed is shown by _England’s Glory in the Declaration of War_ (see p. 174).
The first engagement of importance in European waters took place on April 8, 1740, when the Princesa, a Spanish 70-gun ship, was taken by three of Vice-Admiral Balchen’s squadron, viz., the Lenox, the Kent, and the Orford (Clowes, iii. 267). The part assigned to the Irish first lieutenant of the Princesa and his fellow-countrymen on board her is a new fact, if it is true (p. 175).
Before this capture took place Vernon, on November 21, 1739, had taken Porto Bello. No event in our naval history called forth more indifferent verse. On p. 177 will be found a ballad, entitled _English Courage Displayed_, said to be written by a seaman on board the Burford, Vernon’s flagship. _Hosier’s Ghost_ (p. 179), which is the most famous of all the celebrations of Vernon’s victory, was an attempt to turn it to political profit, and to assist in the attack which the ‘Patriots’ were making on Walpole’s policy by recalling Vice-Admiral Francis Hosier’s blockade of Porto Bello in 1726-7 and the heavy losses which it entailed. ‘It is doubtful,’ says Clowes, ‘whether any other British fleet ever suffered from disease so severely as that of Hosier suffered in 1726-7. Its horrible experiences made a deep and lasting impression upon the nation; and it may be hoped that they have had the effect of impressing upon all later British admirals the supreme importance of taking systematic and rigorous measures for preserving the health of their men. During the two years immediately following Hosier’s first arrival off the Bastimentos, the fleet, the nominal complement of which never, roughly speaking, exceeded 4,750 persons, lost, in addition to a flag officer and 7 or 8 captains, about 50 lieutenants and 4,000 subordinate officers and men, by various forms of sickness’ (_The Royal Navy_, iii. 45).
Vernon attempted to follow up the capture of Porto Bello by taking Cartagena. He bombarded that city for three days in March 1740, but without producing much effect, and made a more serious attack upon it by sea and land in March 1741. The attack began on March 9. Fort San Luis was taken on the night of March 25 and Fort San José followed. But quarrels broke out between the naval and military commanders. The attempted storm of Fort San Lazar failed, and on April 14 it was determined to abandon the siege and re-embark the troops and guns. At the beginning of April, however, the fall of the place seemed imminent, and its capture was actually the subject of two ballads. One, entitled _British Courage Displayed, or Admiral Vernon’s Taking of Carthagena_, is modelled on the ballad on the taking of Porto Bello bearing the same title. The other, entitled _Vernon’s Glory_, will be found on p. 181.
Three ballads in this selection relate to the general actions which took place during the war. _Admiral Mathews’s Engagement against the Combined Fleets of France and Spain_ narrates the indecisive battle of February 11, 1744, which led to the trials of Mathews himself, Vice-Admiral Lestock, and several captains. The author was evidently a partisan of Mathews (p. 186). _The Lucky Sailor, or the Sailor’s Invitation to go with Admiral Anson_, celebrates the victory of Anson and Warren over the French fleet under La Jonquière on May 3, 1747 (p. 195). Hawke’s victory over M. de l’Etenduère on October 14, 1747, is the subject of _Tit for Tat, A Sea Kick for a Land Cuff_ (p. 197). A song on the taking of Port Louis in Hispaniola by Rear-Admiral Charles Knowles, in March 1748, closes the series (p. 199). Several ballads relate to minor actions. Captain Holmes in the Sapphire on January 15, 1743, destroyed five Spanish privateers in Vigo Harbour. The ballad, written by a sailor who lost his arm in the action, dates it January 1744 (p. 184). The true date is given in Samuel Boyse’s _An Historical Review of the Transactions of Europe from the beginning of the war with Spain in 1739_, published in 1747, vol. i. p. 390; and in Beatson’s _Naval and Military Memoirs_, i. 173. During 1744 two small merchantmen fought extraordinarily gallant and successful actions against French privateers, which were celebrated in contemporary ballads (pp. 187, 189).
‘In January Captain Cobb in the Bacchus, bound from Oporto to Lynn, being attacked by a Spanish privateer, of ten guns and 120 men, maintained a fight of four hours, with only fourteen men and two boys; and though the privateer boarded him, he cleared his ship by killing several of the enemy. Soon after, one of his shot took place so luckily, that the privateer suddenly foundered, and all he could do was to save about thirty of the Spaniards, who the next day treacherously rose upon him. However, after an obstinate fight, in which eleven were killed, he subdued the rest and brought them into Dartmouth, where this brave man died of the wounds he received in this last action.
‘In June, one Richard Hornby, master of a small vessel bound from Yarmouth to Rotterdam, mounting six guns, and having only five men and three boys, was attacked on the coast of Holland by the Marquis de Brancos, a French privateer of eighteen guns and seventy-five men, against whom he defended himself bravely for four hours, repulsing the enemy, who attempted to board him twice. At length a shot of his entering the privateer’s powder-room, she blew up, and all her crew perished. This action being represented by the Lords of the Admiralty to his Majesty, he was pleased to reward Captain Hornby with a gold chain and medal of 200_l._ value.’ (Boyse, ii. 114.)
To this period also belong several ballads commemorating disasters at sea, or escapes from shipwreck. _Admiral Cavendish’s distress on board the Canterbury_ (p. 168) must have been written in the year 1728. It is interesting because its metre is probably an imitation of that of _You Gentlemen of England_, while the refrain, ‘In the Bay of Biscay O,’ evidently inspired the well-known song of that name written by Andrew Cherry (Stone, _Sea Songs_, p. 32). The latter was first sung by Incledon in an operatic sketch entitled _Spanish Dollars_, which was produced in April 1805.
Another ballad dealing with a similar subject is _The Princess Royal’s Escape from the Goodwin Sands_, written by a sailor on board the ship, and describing a storm which took place in February 1744 (p. 190). Two others deal with the loss of Sir John Balchen and the Victory, a first-rate carrying 108 guns, wrecked on the Caskets on October 4, 1744. About a thousand men perished with Balchen (pp. 192-94).
The War of the Austrian Succession closed with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in October 1748.
The Seven Years’ War commenced in America and India, and spread to Europe. War between France and England was not declared till May 18, 1756, though on June 8, 1755, Boscawen’s fleet captured two French men of war, the Alcide and the Lys, off Newfoundland. As early as February 1755 there was ‘a hot press’ for seamen, and in July Hawke was sent to sea with eighteen ships to intercept the French fleet under Du Guay, and to make reprisals upon French commerce. The story of _The Lighterman’s Prentice_ relates to this cruise (p. 201). Nearly 300 French merchantmen and about 8,000 seamen were captured before the end of 1755 (Entick, _History of the Late War_ i. 137, 187). _Britain’s Resolution to fight the French_ also refers to these captures, but the exultation they caused lasted but a short time (p. 203). Byng’s action with La Galissonière on May 20 and the capture of Port Mahon which followed on June 29, dashed all these hopes, and popular feeling demanded that the admiral’s misconduct should be punished with death. Every scribbler wrote poems and epigrams against him, and political hostility to the Government swelled the cry.
‘To the block with Newcastle and yard-arm with Byng,’ is the chorus of one ballad appropriately entitled _Block and Yard-arm_. A collection of these was published at the time: _Bungiana; or an Assemblage of What-d’ye-call-em’s in prose and verse that have occasionally appeared relative to the conduct of a certain naval commander, 1756_. The French commander’s conduct was not thought much better than Byng’s, and one of the squibs in this collection satirises both. It is entitled _The Pacific Engagement, a poetical dialogue between two courteous admirals_.
‘(_Byng._)
At last we are met--but I hope with no other Intent or design but to spare one another. Though we seem by our flags to be desperate foes, Let us part, if you please, without banging or blows.
‘(_Galissonière._)
But since fighting and wars are the arts which we trade in, We must have a little and short cannonading; Our guns must be fired at a distance, but still With no wicked intention to wound or to kill....’
Byng’s despatch was frequently parodied in verse, and one of these parodies, _The Letter of a certain Admiral_, is given on p. 207, together with _A Rueful Story_ (p. 209). Blakeney became the hero of the hour, and a naval officer who had served in the defence of Fort St. Philip was glorified with him in _A New Song_ (p. 206). Another ballad handed down to tradition, of which the tune as well as the words has been preserved, accused Byng of selling Port Mahon, and contrasted his treachery with the courage of West (p. 210).
Next year another fiasco excited popular feeling to fury, namely the abortive ‘secret expedition’ to Rochefort in September 1757. The navy did its part in capturing the isle of Aix; the ships could not get near enough to batter Rochefort, and the soldiers were never landed. Sir John Mordaunt, the commander of the troops, was acquitted by a court-martial. The _New Song written on the Isle of Aix_ (p. 211) is apparently intended to represent the feelings of Hawke, who was vexed and indignant at the decision of the generals not to attempt a landing (Burrows, _Life of Hawke_, ed. 1896, p. 138).
The year 1758 was more fortunate, but neither Pocock’s engagements in the East Indies nor the capture of Louisbourg are the subject of ballads which have reached us. Keppel’s expedition against the French colonies in Africa attracted more attention. One ballad, _Bold Sawyer_, relates the capture of Goree, which took place December 28, 1758 (Entick, iii. 271-8). While it gives the names of the ships engaged in the expedition correctly, it calls the captain of the Nassau Sawyer, though his name was James Sayer. Another ballad relates the fate of the Lichfield, Captain Barton, which ran ashore on the coast of Morocco on November 29, 1758 (p. 214). The crew were made slaves, and were not released till April 1760, when they were ransomed for 170,000 dollars by a special ambassador sent for the purpose (Duncan, _The Mariner’s Chronicle_, iii. 118-30).
The year 1759 was the great year of the war. On August 18 Boscawen defeated De la Clue, taking three ships of the line and destroying two. On November 20 Hawke beat Conflans in Quiberon Bay. Hawke’s victory is the theme of a ballad apparently written by someone on board the flagship (p. 217). _Neptune’s Resignation_, a pretentious mythological poem ‘written by Mr. Wagnall’ is interesting as a curiosity (p. 218). Twenty-three years later it was adapted to fit Rodney’s victory. Two other pieces of verse--one composed by Paul Whitehead and sung by Mr. Beard at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, the other by Robert English, chaplain of the Royal George--are reprinted in Hawke’s _Life_ (pp. 253-56). ‘Though the rude billows raged,’ sang the chaplain, ‘so close we engaged
That rarely a shot was misplaced; The troops on the land chilled with horror they stand To see the white flag so disgraced.
‘No longer they’ll boast of descents on our coast, The bright Queen of the main to reduce; The fair English rose more lovely it blows, While droops the faint Flower de Luce.
‘Each generous heart played so gallant a part That glory has crowned our endeavours And what is still more, the lasses on shore Will esteem us deserving their favours.’
Boscawen and Hawke had effectively ended the French threats of invasion, for which purpose a number of flat-bottomed boats had been built (Entick, iii. 403; v. 50). It is to this project that Garrick contemptuously refers in _Hearts of Oak_, a song in his pantomime _Harlequin’s Invasion_, which was produced on December 31, 1759. The text of the song is so altered in the current versions that it seemed desirable to print it in its original form (p. 220). The only French landing effected took place in Ireland. In October 1759 M. Thurot, with six frigates and 1,300 troops, eluding the squadron under Commodore Boys, which was blockading that port, set out on his adventurous cruise. The weather frustrated an intended descent near Londonderry, but on February 21 he landed some troops at Carrickfergus, but put to sea again after occupying the place for six days. Next day, on February 28, Captain John Elliot, with the Aeolus, Pallas, and Brilliant frigates, engaged the three ships that were left of Thurot’s squadron, and captured them all (Clowes iii. 230; Entick iv. 319-333). Thurot fell in the fight, and the ballad called _Thurot’s Dream_ records his fate (p. 220). This is one of the rare cases in which oral tradition has preserved a better version of the original piece than any of the printed broadsides.
Another minor action of much interest, which took place a year earlier, is the subject of the ballad entitled _Gilchrist and Hotham’s Bravery_ (p. 216). On March 20, 1759, the Southampton, 32, Captain James Gilchrist, and the Melampe, 24, Captain William Hotham, engaged two French frigates and captured one of them, the Danae, a 40-gun ship (Clowes, iii. 301; Entick, iv. 266). The capture of three French privateers in the West Indies by Captain O’Brien and Captain Taylor in August 1760 furnished another theme for indifferent verse (p. 222, cf. Entick, v. 55).
After 1759 there were no fleet actions in European waters. Hawke, Boscawen, and Rodney blockaded the western ports of France through 1760. In June 1761 the island of Belleisle surrendered to a naval and military force commanded by General Hodgson and Commodore Keppel. This conquest is the subject of _A New Song on the Taking of Belleisle_, but the song touches only the service of the soldiers. Pitt meant to tender the island as an equivalent for Minorca in the negotiations for peace which began about this time. For the rest of the war the interest centres in the West Indies. Guadeloupe had fallen in May 1759; Dominica fell in June 1761; Martinique was taken in February 1762, and Grenada, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent with Martinique.
‘As soon as this news to the French King was brought He immediately put on his mourning coat, Saying “Where shall I go or where shall I run? They’ve ruined my nation, alas, I’m undone.”’
The _New Song on the Taking of Martinico_ thus pictures its effect:
‘And now for Jack Spaniards we’ll show them a dance, And humble their pride as well as proud France.’
War had been declared against Spain on January 4, 1762, and the squadron which had helped to reduce Martinique now joined an expedition sent from England under Sir George Pocock and the Earl of Albemarle, and laid siege to Havana. The city fell on August 13, 1762, and a ballad on its capture is printed on p. 223. It is remarkable for the badness of its metre and the correctness of its historical details (see Entick, v. 363-385; Clowes iii. 245). With this capture the war ended. The preliminaries of peace were signed on November 3, 1762, the definitive treaty on February 10, 1763.
Peace was welcome news to the sailors. A ballad called _The Sailors’ Dialogue_, evidently written about this date, expresses their views. ‘When all the ship is paid, we’ll lead a merry life,’ says Jack, and rejoices with Tom over the prospect of a full pocket and plenty of drink (p. 227). It gave them additional satisfaction to think that their officers would not be equally pleased. What Jack thought good news was bad news to admiral, captain, and lieutenant, as the ballad called _Distressed Men of War_ sets forth at length (p. 228). A fact which made it worse was that a very limited number of subordinate officers received half-pay, and that the rates were extremely low (Clowes, ii. 233; iii. 19, 340).
It is evident from a number of ballads, some belonging to the middle, others to the later part of this century, that there was considerable discontent in the navy. The feelings which found expression in _The Sea Martyrs_, in William III.’s time, were equally strong when George III. began to reign, and were to manifest themselves later in the mutinies of 1797. One perennial complaint was the badness of the provisions and the cheats of the purser. Musty meat, mouldy biscuit, hard, stinking Suffolk cheese, petty-warrant beer, burgoo ‘fit for nothing but to make a sailor spew,’ were what he provided, ‘though the nation allows men what’s fitting to eat.’ So says _The Saylor’s Complaint; or the true Character of the Purser of a Ship_ (p. 233), and every casual reference to a purser in any ballad is always abusive.
A still greater grievance was the difficulty a man had in getting his pay:
‘My life I have ventured for gold My king and my country to serve, Now the wars are all over, Brave sailors may perish and starve,’
is the sum of a second _Sailor’s Complaint_ (p. 230). Often the sailor received a ticket for his pay, which he was obliged to sell to an usurer at a ruinous reduction--a practice which had existed since the time of Charles II., as Pepys witnesses, but which seems to have been checked towards the middle of the eighteenth century, according to _The Ticket-Buyer’s Lamentation_ (p. 231).
A third grievance was the severity of the discipline. A pamphlet quoted by Entick (v. 59) explains why it is that neither by bounty nor compulsion men enough for the fleet can be found. ‘The reason is known to every common seaman, who, whilst Gazettes are filled with encomiums of their bravery and contempt of danger, and our senators are devising the wisest means for their provision and support, yet languish under the greatest hardships and the most abject slavery, puzzled and perplexed with unnecessary trifles, hard wrought, and ill-used by almost every petty officer of but a month’s standing, who, ignorant of duty, whether performed right or wrong, flourishes his rattan over the head of the ablest seaman, and acts the tyrant over them without control.’
Even ‘snotty boys of midshipmen,’ some hardly ten years old, declares one ballad, ‘strike many a brave fellow.’ In another a sailor declines to volunteer, and gives a captain his reason:
Your damned rogues of officers use men so cruel, That a man of war is worse than hell and the devil. (pp. 235, 239).
Ill usage made volunteers scarce and increased the discontent of pressed men. Complaints against impressment, and references to the abuses to which it gave rise, become increasingly frequent during the latter half of the eighteenth century. The pressgang makes its first appearance in fiction in 1748 with Smollet’s account of the seizure of Roderick Random on Tower Hill, and his sufferings in the tender. The earliest caricature representing the operations of a press-gang is _English Liberty Displayed_, which belongs to the year 1770, when Wilkes and the London magistrates were opposing the execution of press warrants in the City (_Catalogue of Satirical Prints in the British Museum_, iv. 641). Next came Gillray’s _Liberty of the Subject_, published October 15, 1779. Our ballads supplement this evidence by stories such as those related in _The Lighterman’s Prentice_ and in the narrative of the eighteen Greenland men (pp. 201, 226, 234-36, 249). Another ballad called a _Dialogue between Will and Jack_, too long to insert, describes the general terror which prevailed about 1778 or 1779. The people seem all run mad, ‘for fear of the press they won’t lie in their beds’; farmers and millers send boys and girls and old men to the markets for them; carriers and carters, ‘like goats in the mountains, they lie in the fields’; and so with all other trades. The French are at sea to invade us, and now our bold sailors must fight for all. The King wants men and will find them out.
The King found it difficult to get men, not merely because his service was unpopular, but also because there was a more profitable alternative.