A History of the Royal Navy, from the earliest times to the wars of the French Revolution

Front matter

A HISTORY OF THE ROYAL NAVY, FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE WARS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. nglehea.-tx.sro Print Publisfkiea'by -the Society of Antiquaries I Vlll AT DOVER 31 MAY, 1520. - A HISTORY OF THE ROYAL NAVY, FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE WARS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. BY SIR NICHOLAS HARRIS NICOLAS, G.C.M.G. THE SECOND VOLUME. LONDON: RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, $ublirit)tt' in (©rUinarp to fctr fttairttp. M.DCCC.XLVII. €Jje HUng'S flabo erceetfS all others in the foorlo for ti) rte things, &{$. beautn, Strength, anU safety. Jfor beauty, thru are So ntawp J&oyal palaces ; for Strength, So many mobtug castles ano barbicans ; ano for Safety, then are the most ocfeiisibe lualls of tfje il&ealm. Sinongst the Iffhtps of other Rations, they are Ithe lions amongst Silly beasts, or falcons amongst fearful fotole. LORD COKE'S FOURTH INSTITUTE. PAGE 1 70 156 CONTENTS.

Chapter I

From a. d. 1327 to 1340. Accession of King Edward the Third. — Ships employed in the Scottish War. — Siege of Berwick. — Danger of Invasion. — Quarrels of English Seamen. — Assertion of the King's Dominion of the Sea. — Portsmouth hurnt by the French. — Several Squadrons sent to Sea. — Cadsand taken. — The King's Expedition to Flanders. — Southampton sacked. — Capture of the " Christopher " and " Edward." — London fortified. — Boulogne partly burnt. — Parliamentary Proceedings. — Naval Subsidies. — Edward proceeds to Flanders with a large Fleet. — Battle of Sluys. — The King's Dispatch and Announcement of the Victory to Parliament. — Remarks on the Event. — The King returns to England.

Chapter II

From a. d. 1341 to 1377. Preparations for Hostilities in 1341. — Sea-fight near Quimperle. — Action off Guernsey. — Edward proceeds to Brittany. — Concludes a Truce and returns to England. — Hostilities in 1344. — The King lands at La Hogue. — Battle of Crescy. — Siege of Calais. — Truce. — Battle of " Espagnols sur Mer." — War with France in 1355. — Edward puts to Sea. — Battle of Poictiers. — Truce in 1357. — Danger of Invasion, and Preparations for War. — France invaded. — Peace in 1360. — Deplorable Condition of the Navy. — Action with the Flemings in 1371. — Naval Reverses. — Defeat of the Earl of Pembroke off Rochelle in 1372. — Thirty-nine Merchant- Vessels captured by Spanish Galleys in 1375. — Preparations to equip a Fleet in 1376. — Death of Edward the Third.

Chapter III

Civil History during the Reign of Edward the Third. Various kinds of Ships ; Crews, Masts, Sails, Rigging, and other Stores. — Armour. — Impressment. — Wages. — Provisions. — Punishment. Freightage. — Officers. — Compass. — Colours. — Gunpowder and Can non. — General Management of the Navy. — Admirals. — Statutes and other Parliamentary Proceedings. — Inquest at Queensborough. — Cinque Ports. — Noble. — Miscellaneous. — Memoirs of Admirals. CONTENTS. VI PAGE 258 341

Chapter IV

From a. d. 1377 to 1399. Accession of Richard the Second. — Measures to resist Invasion. — Rye plundered and burnt. — French land in the Isle of Wight and at Winchelsea. — Complaints of the Commons respecting the Navy. — Cap ture of some Spanish Ships. — Attack on Places in Normandy. — English Ships defeated by the Spaniards. — Patriotism of a Citizen of London. — Expedition to Brittany. — Parliamentary Proceedings. — Death of Sir John Clarke. — Shipwreck of Sir John Arundel. — Expedition to Portugal. — The "Falcon" taken. — Bishop of Norwich's Crusade. — Misconduct of the English Fleet. — Bravery of Sailors of Portsmouth and Dartmouth. — French Ships taken. — Duke of Lancaster's Expedition to Spain. — Pre parations to invade England. — Defence of the Realm. — The Constable of France's Ships captured. — French Expedition abandoned. — Mur murs in England. — Flemish Fleet taken by the Earl of Arundel. — Sir Hugh Despenser made Prisoner. — Parliamentary Proceedings. — Expe dition to Brittany and Guienne. — Peace with France. — Expedition to Tunis. — Deposition of Richard the Second. . . . • .

Chapter V

From a. d. 1399 to 1413. Accession of Henry the Fourth. — The Navy ordered to assemble at Sandwich. — General Array against Invasion. — The English harass the French Coast. — Ships sent to Brittany by the Queen. — Piratical Pro ceedings. — An English Squadron defeated off Brittany. — Descent of Bretons and Normans upon Plymouth. — An English Squadron burn St. Matthew. — The French land in the Isle of Wight.— Isle of Port land ravaged. — The French land at Dartmouth, and are defeated. Capture of several English Ships. — Capture of Prince James of Scot land.—Expedition to Sluys. — Fight with a Carack. — Ships captured by Lord Berkeley — Hostile Proceedings of the French and Spaniards on the English Coast.— Merchants undertake the Guard of the Sea, and appoint two Admirals. — French and Spanish Galleys fight some En glish Ships. — Jersey attacked. — Action between the French and English Ships during the Siege of Bourg. — Expedition to Brittany, and" the Earl of Kent slain. — Truce with France. — Henry prepares for an Expe dition to Guienne. — His Death.

Chapter VI

From a. d. 1413 to 1422. Henry the Fifth improves the Navy. — Prussian Hulks taken. Piracy made High Treason. — The King's Expedition to Harfleur. — Sie°-e and Capitulation. — Agincourt. — Capture of the "Christopher" of Hull. Fleet sent against the French.— Duke of Bedford's Victory over the French Fleet off Harfleur. — Action with a Carack off Calais. Truce CONTENTS. VII PAGE with France. — Expedition to Normandy. — Royal Navy in 1417. — Sir Thomas Carew appointed to guard the Sea. — Earl of Huntingdon de feats the French Fleet. — The King lands at Touque. — Portsmouth fortified. — Spaniards fit out a Fleet. — The King comes to England, but returns to France. — Death of Henry the Fifth. . . . 402

Chapter VII

Civil History during the Reigns of Richard the Second, Henry the Fourth, and Henry the Fifth. Classes of Vessels. — Stores and Equipment. — Guns. — The Compass. — Ornaments of Ships. — Sails marked with Arms and Badges. — Votive Offerings. — Officers and Crews. — Change in the Office of Admiral. — Wages. — Chaucer's Description of a Seaman. — Memoirs of Admirals. — Earl of Arundel. — Earl of Worcester. — Lord Berkeley. — Earl of Kent. — Sir Walter Hungerford. — English Freebooters. . . 441

Appendix

. I. Extract from Minot's Poem describing King Edward the Third's Expedition to Flanders in 1338 . . .465 II. Extracts from various Records illustrative of the Size, Stores, Armament, and Equipment of Ships in the Reign of King Edward the Third . . . . . .469 III. Remarks on "The Black Book of the Admiralty" . .481 IV. On the Office and Duties of Admirals, the Management of Fleets, Marine Law, the Process in the Admiralty Court, &c, in the Fourteenth Century ..... 484 V. Letter from King Edward the Third to Edward Duke of Cornwall, 28th June 1340, announcing the Battle of Sluys . 501 VI. Remarks on the words "Noune" and " Hora Nona" . .503 VII. Extract from the Roll of Calais relating to Shipping . . 507 VIII. List of English Ships captured by the Spaniards in August 1375. 510 IX. Indentures between the King's Serjeants-at-Arms and the Masters of Ships in 1394 and 1398 . . . .513 X. List of the Royal Navy in the Reign of Henry the Fifth, August 1417 . . . - . . .514 XI.

References to Naval Accounts in the Reigns of Richard the Second, Henry the Fourth, and Henry the Fifth . . 516 XII. Commissions to Admirals in the Reigns of Richard the Second, Henry the Fourth, and Henry the Fifth . . .517 XIII. Catalogue of Admirals from the end of the Reign of Edward the Third to the end of the Reign of Henry the Fifth, 1327 to 1422 . . » . . . .524 vm LIST OF WORKS QUOTED IN THIS VOLUME. The Gascon Rolls. Rymer's Fœdera. Walsingham's Historia Brevis Knyghton's Chronicon de Eventibus Angliæ. Hemingford's Chronicle, apud Gale. Historia Vitæ et Regni Ricardi II., a Monacho quodam de Evesham. Elmham, Vita et Gesta Henrici Quinti. Otterbourne, Chronica Regum Angliæ. Froissart, ed. Buchon. Monstrelet's Chronicles, ed. Buchon. Anonymous Historian of Edward the Third, apud Hearne.

The Chronicle of Lanercost. The Norman Rolls. The Rolls of Parliament. Abbreviation of the Originalia Rolls. Scrope and Grosvenor Roll. Statutes of the Realm. St. Palaye's Memoirs of Froissart, translated by Johnes. Fordun's Scotichronicon. Dugdale's Monasticon. Dugdale's Baronage. Coffin's Peerage. Minot's Poems, ed. Ritson. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Jal's Archeologie Navale. Beltz's Memorials of the Order of the Chronicle of London. Chronique du Re'ligieux de St. Denys, 4to, Paris, 1839. Garter. •±iv, j: ano, io». Juvenal des Ursins, Histoire de Charles Pole's Collections for Devonshire. VI., Roi de France, folio, Paris, 1652. Baker's History of Northamptonshire. Royal Wills. Pinkerton's History of Scotland. Tytler's History of Scotland. Excerpta Historica. Blackstoue's Commentaries. Laboureur, Histoire de Charles VI., folio, Paris, 1663.

Jean le Fevre, Seigneur de St. Re'my, Histoire de Charles VI. Pierre de Fenin, Memoires, 1407 — 1427, ed. Buchon, Svo. Paris, 1838. Cronica de Don Pedro Nino, Conde de Buelna, por Guttierre Diez de Gamez sei Alfarez, 4to. Madrid, Prynne's Animadversions on Cole's Fourth Institute. Southey's History of the Royal Navy. Exton's Maritime Decæology. Luder's Tracts on various Subjects in the Law and History of England. History of the Battle of Agincourt, 8vo. 1832. 1782. Hardyng's Chronicles. Polychronicon. Fabyan's Chronicles. The Scotch Rolls. The French Rolls. Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Council, 8 vols. 8vo. Archæologia. MANUSCRIPTS. Close Rolls. Patent Rolls. Almaine Rolls. Issue Rolls. Additional MSS., Nos. 1776, 12,228. Rymer's MS. Collection for a new edition of the Fœdera, in the British Museum.

The Black Book of the Admiralty. Cottonian MSS. : — Tiberius, A. vi. and vm. Claudius, D. vn. Titus, E. hi. Caligula, D. m., iv., and v. Julius, A. in. and E. iv. Nero, B. vn. Vespasian, F. xm. Harleian MSS., Nos. 78, 246, 4690. Lansdowne MS. 318. Archives of the City of London, Register F. Hargrave MS. 185. Miscellaneous Rolls at the Tower, and Rolls and Naval Accounts at Carlton Ride, &c. HISTORY OF THE EOYAL NAVY.

Chapter I. Accession Of King Edward The Third

SHIPS EMPLOYED IN THE SCOTTISH WAR. SIEGE OF BERWICK. DANGER OF INVASION. QUARRELS OF ENGLISH SEAMEN. ASSERTION OF THE KING'S DOMINION OF THE SEA. PORTSMOUTH BURNT BY THE FRENCH. — SEVERAL SQUADRONS SENT TO SEA. CADS AND TAKEN. THE KING'S EXPEDITION TO FLANDERS.— SOUTHAMPTON SACKED. CAPTURE OF THE " CHRISTOPHER " AND " EDWARD." LONDON FORTIFIED. BOULOGNE PARTLY BURNT. PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS. — NAVAL SUB- SIDIES. EDWARD PROCEEDS TO FLANDERS WITH A LARGE FLEET. — BAT- TLE OF SLUYS. THE KING'S DISPATCH AND ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE VIC- TORY TO PARLIAMENT. REMARKS ON THE EVENT. THE KING RETURNS TO ENGLAND. The name of Edward the Third is more identified with the Naval glory of England than that of any other of her sovereigns ; for, though the sagacious Alfred and the chivalrous Richard commanded fleets and defeated the enemy at sea, Edward gained in his own person two signal victories, fighting on one occasion until his ship actually sunk under him, and was rewarded by his subjects with the proudest title ever conferred upon a British monarch, " King of the Sea."

But while the history of one part of Edward's reign is the brightest in our early annals, his exploits were followed by events which teach a lesson to this country of the highest value, and which was, perhaps, never more im portant than at this time, when a great nation is her VOL. II. B [chap. I. 2 HISTORY OF A. D. 1327. avowed rival on the ocean, with a long series of disasters to avenge. Like the Nile, Camperdown, and Trafalgar, the battles of the Sluys and Les Espagnols sur Mer led the English to imagine that they were always to com mand the sea; and, notwithstanding the repeated warnings of the Commons in Parliament, the Navy was so entirely neglected, that France and Spain obtained, and for many years preserved, the maritime superiority. 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 Eng land depend upon her Navy.

On the 6th of May 1327 all the northern ports were directed to furnish one or two ships for the King's service against the Scots, who were preparing to invade the realm with a large army. These vessels, which were to be of the burthen of sixty tons or up wards, well manned and provided with a double ship ment, were to be sent to Yarmouth by the 18th of May, and to proceed thence at the King's expense under the orders of John Perbroun, who had been appointed admiral of the fleet north of the Thames on the 21st of April.3 Authority was given on that occasion to Perbroun and his deputies to select forty ships, capable of carrying sixty tons of wine each, from the strongest and best in the ports on the eastern coast, which were to be well armed and stored ; and he was » Rot. Scot. i. 209, 211 ; Rot.

Patent. 1 Edw. III. pt. ir. m. 23. CHAP. I.] THE ROYAL NAVY. 3 also to impress sailors and others to serve in them.3 a. One of the King's barges was also appointed to con voy ships carrying provisions and stores for the war in Scotland.11 On the 24th of May, Waresius de Va loignes was made captain and admiral of the King's fleet, which consisted of ships belonging to the Cinque Ports and to other places westward of the Thames ; and he was commanded to equip the ships as speedily as possible, and to proceed with them to Skinburness.c After a short and inglorious campaign, peace was a. made with Scotland on the 1st of March 1328. 1327 D 1323 n. Philip the Sixth having succeeded to the crown of France in February 1328, he called upon the young King of England to do homage to him for the Duchy of Guienne ; and on the 8th of May 1329, ships were a ordered to be ready at Dover for his passage, which were to be well provided with clays and other articles'1 for conveying horses.

Edward sailed for Whit sand in a ship belonging to Winchelsea at noon on the 26th of May, attended by his Chancellor, Henry Bishop of Lincoln, and a large suite of nobles, bishops, and other clergy.6 The homage was performed at Amiens on the 6th of June ;f and Edward immediately returned to England,8 landing at Dover on the 11th of that month." 1329 D In March 1330 the Cinque Ports were called a. upon to find forty of their best and strongest ships 1330 D 1 Rot. Scot. i. 210. The expenses of f Froissart, ed. Buchon, i. 42, 43 ; Perbroun's fleet, with the names of Knyghton, col. 2555. the ships, is in the Roll marked s Froissart, i. 43 — 15. Knygh " I. P. R. 205," at Carlton Ride. ton (2555) says, that Edward, having b Rot. Scot. i. 211. been informed of a design to detain c ibjd. p. 212. him, secretly quitted France withd Fœdera, n. 762 ; Rot.

Patent. out Charles's knowledge. 1 Edw. III.pt. ii. m. 23. ' Fœdera, II. 765. '' Fœdera, u. 765. b [chap. i. 4 HISTORY OF a. D. 1330. A. D. 1331 a. d. 1332 to convey the King's brother, John Earl of Corn wall, and his retinue, to Aquitaine ; and the King's clerk, John le Smale, was empowered to choose the ships and conduct them to Plymouth.3 Twenty ships were afterwards added to this fleet,b but the name of its captain or admiral is not stated. On the 4th of April 1331 the King sailed from Dover for France, " like a merchant" on a pilgrimage to our Lady of Boulogne, to fulfil a vow which he had made in a moment of danger, and on other affairs ; and he re-landed at Dover on the 20th of the same month. c Except orders to provide ships for the passage of members of the royal family and of other eminent persons, no Naval proceeding again occurred until July 1332, when the King intended to go to Ireland.

On the 25th of that month, Anthony de Lucy, the justiciary of Ireland, was commanded to arrest all ships in the Irish ports, to take care that they were provided with bridges and clays, and to send them to Holyhead for the King's passage :d but the attempt of Baliol to recover his crown obliged Edward to abandon his intention, and to proceed in person to Scotland. In August, Baliol, the Earl of Athol, the Lords Beaumont, Wake, Fitzwarine, and other English no blemen who claimed property in Scotland, sailed with three thousand men. They landed near Kinghorne, a Fœdera, n. 784. Smale's account of his expenses is in the Roll marked " E. B. 383," at Carlton Ride. Fœdera, n. 815, 818. It is singular that Hemingford (n. p. 270) should say that it was on this occasion that Edward performed homage for Gascony. b Ibid. p. 788. c Anon.

Hist. Edwardi Tcrtii, apud Hearne, 8vo. 1731, n. 397. d Fœdera, n. 841. CHAP. I.] 5 THE ROYAL NAVY. ] 332, 24th where, it is said, ships had never before touched ;a and a. d. Baliol sent his fleet to the mouth of the Tay. After gaining the battle of Duplin-moor, on the 13th of August, Baliol hastened to St. John's of Perth, which surrendered to him. Siege was then laid to that town by the Earl of Dunbar and Sir Archibald Douglas; and they sent to Berwick for a celebrated Scottish sailor, called John Crabbe,b who had often done much injury to the English, to hasten to the Tay with all the ships he could collect, and ordered him to attack and burn Baliol's, or rather the English ships, and then to block ade St. John's of Perth. Crabbe arrived in the Tay Aug. with ten Flemish ships, well equipped for war, and immediately fell upon the English vessels, wdiich were neither armed nor prepared.0 They first boarded and carried Lord Beaumont's barge,d putting the whole crew to the sword ; but all the other ships were de fended in the most gallant manner, and the Scots, driven into the sea or slain, were completely de feated.

The victors then set fire to the Scottish ships and to the barge their prize. Crabbe himself escaped with great difficulty, aud returned to Berwick by land, where he gave a dolorous account of the affair, "which," says the chronicler, " happened, by the grace of God, on Saint Bartholomew's day (August 24th); and God worked all things for the English on that occasion."" 1 Knyghton, 2560. b Crabbe, who is called in the Chronicle of Lancrcost (p. 270) "pi rata crudelis et solemnis," had for many years harassed the English both by land and sea, and being taken prisoner, was sent to the King of England. In consequence of the ingratitude of his countrymen at the siege of Berwick, who refused to redeem him, and slew his son, he en tered Edward's service, and became a bitter enemy of his own country.

(Ibid. ; Hemingford, n. 273.) It 'is remarkable how often the name of " Crabbe" occurs in Naval affairs. c " improvisas ct non armatas." d " bargiam Bcalmont." « Knyghton, 2560, 2561 ; He mingford, ii. 273. [chap. i. 6 HISTORY OF a D. 1332. a. d. 1333 June This narrative of the affair has been entirely de rived from English writers ; and, as they do not mention even the number of the English ships, still less their size and the amount of their crews, no opinion can be formed of the merits of the affair, which seems, however, to have been considered highly creditable to the conquerors. On the 6th of April 1333 John Perbroun was appointed captain and admiral of the King's fleet for the Scottish war, with full power to punish and chastise all sailors and others in the fleet, and to impress four ships of war," men, mariners, armour, and all other necessaries for the expedition.b On the same day, Henry Randolf of Great Yarmouth was like wise made captain and admiral of all ships in the King's service going to Scotland, with similar powers ;c but it does not appear which of them was the superior officer, or that they commanded separate squad rons.

Eavenrod and other ports were directed to furnish one or more ships of war,d which were to pro ceed to Newcastle-upon-Tyne ;* and Bristol was or dered to fit out three ships to cruise for the defence of the coast against the Scots/ In June the Warden of the Cinque Ports was commanded to arrest all vessels of fifty tons burthen and upwards, and to cause them to be armed and equipped with a double ship ment for the defence of the realm, whenever the King should inform him, or the owners or masters85 of the said ships, that they were wanted." A similar a " naves gucrrinas." b Rot. Scot. i. 226. c Ibid. f Ibid. p. 233, 234, 235. * " dorninos vel magistros dicta rum navium." " Dominus " certainly meant owners. " Rot. Scot. i. 248. d " navem de guerra." c Rot. Scot. i. 228, 231, 232.

CHAP. I.] THE ROYAL NAVY. 7 mandate was issued to the mayors and bailiffs of all a. d. 1333. the other sea-ports ; and a clerk was sent to each of them, to survey the vessels therein, and to make a report of their number, sizes, and equipment.3 Keepers of the sea-coast were soon after appointed, who were to array armed men, and to take other measures for defending the realm from invasion by the Scots.b On the 16th of July Sir William Clinton was July. made captain and admiral of the ships of the Cinque Ports, and of all other places from the Thames westward, to resist the invasion of " aliens."0 At this time the King was besieging Berwick, which had fallen into the hands of the Scots, who burnt or sunk many English vessels ; and a gallant Scot, called William Seton, while attacking those vessels, was drowned in the sight of his father from the walls of the town/ Another Scot, called Sir William Diket, coming to the relief of Berwick, boarded some English ships, slew sixteen men in a barge belonging to Hull,6 and then entered the town.

On the 19th of July Edward defeated the Scottish army at Halidon-hill ; and the immediate fruits of this victory, to which he attached great importance/ was the surrender of Ber wick. In August, the ships which were under arrest August. » Rot. Scot. 1. 248. For to helpe Scotland gan tha1 6 Ibid. p. 249—252. hye. c Ibid. p. 254. The assistance Thai fled, and durst no dede which the Normans afforded the habide, Scots is thus described by Minot, a And all thaire fare noght wurth a contemporary versifier : — Aye " Thai sent thaire schippes on ilka d Fordun, it. 310. sjje « Extract from an old chronicle With flesch and wine, and whete in the Harleian MS. 4690, printed an<] ,.yC) by Ritson, in the " Illustrations to With licit and hand (es noght at Minot's Poems." hije); fRot. Scot. 1.257; Fœdera, n. 8C7. [chap. I. 8 HISTORY OF A. D. 1333. a. d. 1334.

December. a. d. 1335 February. f in the English ports were permitted to sail on their own affairs, provided they did not injure foreign merchants or others at sea, whence war or other evils might arise.3 The defeat of the Scots at Halidon-hill did not however put an end to hostilities ; and in September 1334, ships of war and barges from various ports were again ordered to proceed to Scotland/ some of which were sent against Scottish ships that were cruising off the coast of Scotland to intercept vessels carrying supplies to the English army.0 The enemy had also landed on the coast of Suffolk, and carried off provisions ; and two officers were appointed early in December to levy a force to resist and attack them/ On the 24th of December a general arrest of ship ping of forty tons and upwards throughout the King's dominions for the Scottish war was ordered to be made, each vessel having a double shipment of men and stores;6 but, soon after, all foreign vessels which had been impressed were directed to be released/ On the 2nd of January 1335 Sir John Norwich was made admiral of the northern, and Sir Roo-er Hegham admiral of the western fleet.8 Early in Feb ruary 1335 two persons were ordered to impress ten of the best ships of war in several of the northern ports for the Scottish war ; and the usual powers were given to them to imprison any one who impeded or disobeyed them in the execution of their duty."

In telligence having been brought to the King, that a a Rot. Scot. i. 258, 259. f Ibid p 311 » Ibid. pp. 277,278. . _ „ « Ibid. |>' 279. g Rot Piltent- 8 Edw. III. pt. it d Ibid. p. 299. m- 4 ' Ibid. pp. 305—309. " Rot. Scot, i 317. CHAP. I.] 9 THE ROYAL NAVY.

A. D. 1335 April, large armed ship, laden with wine and other merchan- . dise, had arrived from abroad at Dumbarton castle, for the use of his enemies, where she had discharged her cargo and was about to return, two of the largest and strongest ships of war in the port of Bristol were or dered to be impressed on the 7th of February, to be well manned and armed, and to proceed instantly to sea to capture that vessel.3 Twelve ships of war, with a double shipment of men and stores, were levied from the Cinque Ports, Bristol, Falmouth, Southamp ton, and Plymouth, and placed under the command of Sir Roger Hegham, admiral of the King's western fleet, on the 18th of February, who was to send four of them to cruise to the westward ; and the eight others were to cruise where they might be most likely to intercept vessels going to the assistance of the Scots/ With the exception of those ships, all others that had been arrested were released on the 22nd of February.0 On the 4th of April, Sir John How ard, senior, was appointed captain and admiral of the King's fleet of ships of Great Yarmouth, and of all other ports north of the Thames, for the defence of the realm / and, two days afterwards, Sir Robert Ho land was made captain and admiral of the fleet on the coast of Wales, and westward as far as Car lingford, in Ireland.6 On the 20th of April the King informed his Irish subjects that he intended to be at Newer stle-on-Tyne by Trinity Sunday, to put down, with a strong hand, the rebellion of the Scots, and should require a certain number of men-at-arms and hoblars from Ireland ; and, as a naval subsidy would » Rot.

Scot. i. 320. b Ibid. p. 322. c Ibid. p. 324. d Ibid. p. 335. e Ibid. p. 336. [chap. I HISTORY OF a. d. 1335, May June. i. be necessary to convey those troops, all vessels in the Irish ports were ordered to be sent to Carlingford for that purpose.3 Of this fleet John de Athy was appointed captain and admiral by a commission dated on the 24th of April/ The four vessels which Bristol had sent in February after the large ship expected from Dumbarton were directed, on the 6th of May, to be refitted with a double shipment, and then to put to sea to prevent supplies from being sent to the Scots. For the same purpose, eight other ships were then placed under the command of Sir Roger Hegham.0 The Scots had captured a cog belonging to Henry Lord Beaumont, called " Beaumonde's-cogge," and intended to send her abroad, with several persons of rank, money, and a valuable cargo, to raise soldiers for their cause.

Orders were consequently despatched, on the 8th of May, to arrest three ships of war at Ra venrod and Kingston-upon-Hull, and to send them in pursuit of that cog/ On the 1st of June Thomas de Maydeston was made captain and chief6 of six ships of war belonging to the Cinque Ports, two be longing to Bristol, and one to Southampton, which were to remain at sea for a certain time and for certain purposes/ Power was then given to Sir John Howard, as captain and admiral of the northern fleet, to impress men for his ships ;f and, soon after, the King's clerk, John de Watewang, was appointed Howard's lieutenant, to provide shipping, mariners a Rot. Scot. i. 337. b Ibid. p. 338. 6 " capitancum et superiorem custodem." « Ibid. p. 340. d Ibid. p. 341. Rot. Scot. i. 351. CHAP. I.] THE ROYAL NAVY. 11 A. d. 1335, July. arms, stores, and provisions at Newcastle, Berwick, and other places for the war.a Six ships of war were directed to be arrested in the ports between Liverpool and Skinburness, of which Simon de Beltoft was made captain and chief/ As the Scots had several ships of war at Calais ready to put to sea, the King ordered the warden of the Cinque Ports and the bailiffs of Great Yarmouth to reconnoitre those ships ; and, if they appeared ready to sail, they were to send all their vessels to capture or destroy them.0 According to a Scottish writer, the English fleet, consisting of one hundred and eighty ships, entered the Forth on the 1st of July; and it appears to have com mitted great damage on the sea-coast.