Vanessa Collingridge and the team answer listener鈥檚 historical queries and celebrate the way in which we all 鈥榤ake鈥 history.
Programme 3
14听October 2008
Vanessa Collingridge and the team explore themes from Britain鈥檚 past thanks to queries raised by listener鈥檚 own historical research.
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This week Making History is in Eyemouth in the Scottish Borders.
Listener Derek Janes is a newcomer to Eyemouth and he is intrigued by a number of places and stories that he feels have a wider resonance.
Eyemouth Fort 鈥 Britain鈥檚 first 鈥楾race Italienne鈥 fort.
An aerial photograph of the site of Eyemouth fort. 漏 Scottish Borders Council
I stood upon the Eyemouth Fort And guess what I saw? Fairneside and Flemington Newhouses and Cocklaw. The Fairy folk o鈥 Fosterland The witches o鈥 Edincraw, The rye rigs o鈥 Reston And Duns ding a鈥
Anon
Eyemouth and the countryside around it was at the centre of the tensions between Scots and English in the middle of the sixteenth century. In 1547 Edwards Protector, the Duke of Somerset arrived at the border with a force of 15,000 men. The man had previous. Two years earlier as the Earl of Hertford he had laid waste to large areas of the south and east of Scotland at the behest of Henry VIII as part of the 鈥榬ough wooing鈥 鈥 an attempt at arranged marriage between Prince Edward and the infant Mary Queen of Scots. Now, Somerset realised that laying waste and harrying wasn鈥檛 really getting anyone anywhere. So, this time he was going to occupy the lowlands and build a string of forts to do this.
Eyemouth is a naturally protected harbour. The only safe one on the Berwickshire coast and the first one on the east coast of Scotland as Berwick had been lost to the English in 1482. Fortified, Eyemouth could be very important to Somerset and so military architect Robert Lee was brought in and work began on Britain鈥檚 first Trace Italienne fort. This was originally an Italian design (used for defence against the French). Its advantages were that defenders could fire on attackers from three sides. But it wasn鈥檛 the answer Somerset hoped it would be鈥
A week after work was started on the Eyemouth fort. Somerset defeated the Scots under the Earl of Arran Pinkie near Edinburgh. Although bloodier, Pinkie hasn鈥檛 become the national disaster that Flodden has. This is probably because defeat against the English forced the Scots to reopen the 鈥榓uld alliance鈥 with the French. Mary is taken to France and is betrothed to the Dauphin 鈥 and their subsequent marriage is very much not what Somerset wanted. Then, just to rub salt in Somerset鈥檚 wounds, in 1550 under the terms of the treaty of Boulougne the Scots achieved the destruction of Eyemouth fort. Six years later, however, under Mary of Guise, Queen Regent of Scotland, they surreptitiously built it up and she sent 500 troops under a French general to occupy the village and draw the English to attack鈥 Which they did. The ensuing skirmishes (culminating in the Battle of the Barefoots) persuaded many of Mary鈥檚 council that they needed to raise an army to repel a foe hell bent on invasion. Eyemouth fort 鈥 originally a 鈥榝ancy dan鈥 continental-style base for the English 鈥 now became an ammo dump for the Scots who otherwise would probably have had to haul munitions from Edinburgh. It was never used in anger though because under the treaty of Cataeu-Cambresis Eyemouth fort was torn down.
Making History consulted Rory McDonald of Historic Scotland
Useful Links
Gunsgreen House and smuggling
Gunsgreen House was built for local merchant and smuggler John Nisbet in the middle of the eighteenth century.
Derek Janes outside Gunsgreen House, Eyemouth
For detailed information on the house see the听 web page
Making History listener Derek Janes was interested in whether it was unique for local merchants such as John Nisbet to be involved in smuggling.
Making History consulted Dr Helen Doe one of our leading writers on smuggling who is based at the University of Exeter. Speaking from the well-known smuggling haunt of Poleperro in Cornwall she told the programme that it would鈥檝e been impossible for the smuggling trade to operate without the knowledge and indeed, on many occasions, without the help of local merchants and members of the gentry.
Smugglers needed a steady supply of cash and this was more often than not provided by gentlemen bankers or wealthy merchants. In the small coastal communities all around the coasts of Britain, everyone knew everyone else鈥檚 business.
The eighteenth century was the age of smuggling. This was a century of warfare and war keeps customs men and navies busy. What鈥檚 more, the government encouraged so-called privateers 鈥 privately armed shipping which was there to back up the fleet but was also, more often than not, out to make a fast buck bringing ashore illicit merchandise.
The smugglers of Eyemouth could well have been supplied by the Dutch, but there is evidence from letters left in Guernsey that the Channel Islands were a ready source of supplies for coastal communities in Scotland as well as south west England.
Useful links
Eyemouth Witch-Hunts
Julian Goodare, Reader in Scottish History at the University of Edinburgh joined Vanessa and Peter Aitchison on the beach at Eyemouth 鈥 the location for several executions of 鈥榳itches鈥 in the sixteenth and seventeenth century.
Peter Aitchison and Julian Goodare on the beach at Eyemouth
In his book The Scottish Witch-Hunt in Context (Manchester University Press, 2002) Julian Goodare makes the point that medieval man had believed in witches and witchcraft but didn鈥檛 see fit to burn them. Come the Reformation though, the beginnings of the modern state, and we start to see the persecution of those supposed to be witches. Julian says that between 1,000 and 2,000 mostly old and mostly women were tortured and killed and double that figure was accused in Scotland.
Peter Aitchison in Black Friday (Birlinn, 2001) notes that witchcraft first appeared on the Scottish statute book in 1563 and believes it was 鈥渞ooted in the determination to rid Scotland of all the relics of Roman Catholicism鈥. What鈥檚 more he notes that most witch-hunts weren鈥檛 spontaneous 鈥 but were organised鈥 often by the local gentry. He notes that the majority of the Eyemouth arrests happened after 1627 and the arrival of John Home as minister 鈥 a relative of the laird of the village the Lord Sir Patrick Home . This backs up Julian Goodare鈥檚 argument that witches, panics and witch-hunts are all about 鈥減ower鈥. Peter notes that the majority of the scares take place in lowland Scotland, the Borders and Fife where the rule of law was only just becoming the norm. A kind of frontier country if you like.
The first reported incident was in Berwickshire in 1594 but there were several 鈥榩anics鈥 through the 17th century. Fishing communities more susceptible than most because of the connection between the devil, ill-luck and disasters at sea. Also, fishing ports often received news from away much more quickly than other places. Therefore, Julian Goodare contends, that the German panics of the seventeenth century may well have fanned the flames in Eyemouth. The Berwickshire coast became a place of dread with ministers of the church feared for their power and sought after for their protection. A series of bad harvests and famines didn鈥檛 help matters. In 1631 Sir George Home was taken ill and died鈥 and Englishman, John Neil, was found guilty of murder by placing an 鈥渆nchanted foal in his stables鈥 which brought on the fatal illness.
Then in the 1640鈥檚 there are more witch-hunts after the joint Scots/Royalist army was routed at Preston by the Roundheads. This defeat propelled Scotland towards a second Reformation. A coup put the extreme Kirk party in the box seat and, for once, the Lords were called to account The Church of Scotland was renewed but the civil authorities ran for the moral high ground by issuing commissions to root out 鈥渨itchcraft. Then when Charles II was returned to power there was a further witch-hunt as the lords and lairds began to flex their reinvigorated muscles.1662 is the last big trial in Eyemouth (save a handful of burnings at the end of the century)鈥ey, maybe, to safer times was the arrival of a new laird Sir Laurence Scott in 1670 and an Act passed by the Scottish Parliament to allow trade between individual communities and the continent This led to a period of prosperity, stability and a bit more tolerance.
Further Reading
The Scottish Witch-Hunt In Context. Manchester University Press. 2002. ISBN 0 7190 6023 0
Eyemouth Fishing Disaster
Eyemouth Harbour
Making History listener Derek Janes is intrigued as to why Eyemouth鈥檚 fishing community put to sea on 14th October 1881 knowing full well that there was a severe storm on the way?
Writer and broadcaster Peter Aitchison told Making History that the loss of 129 Eyemouth fishermen on 14th October 1881 wasn鈥檛 simply down to a hurricane. The reason the men went to sea that day knowing that there was a terrible storm on the way can be traced back decades to a fight against a fish tithe and a tradition of community which had been instilled in local people by isolation and hardship.
The payment of tithe to the church meant that no dues were paid to help maintain the harbour. By the 1840鈥檚 Eyemouth was alone in paying a fish tithe, other communities paid harbour duties and this was put with other grants and loans to improve facilities and access.
The local fishermen became accustomed to using the harbour which offered safety if you could negotiate the dangerous rocks near its entrance. They learnt that if you braved bad weather you would earn good rewards in under-supplied markets on your return.
In the middle years of the nineteenth century a full-scale revolt against the church took place and it was only resolved by an agreement that the fishermen would buy themselves out of the tithe for a fee of 拢2,000. This took years to pay off and the harbour didn鈥檛 receive any grant aid from government until it was. And so as other harbours were improved, Eyemouth鈥檚 got worse and the response of the fishermen (noted above) became more and more ingrained.
However, in the summer of 1881, a scheme was agreed to significantly improve the harbour 鈥 but it came too late. Despite the barometer falling more quickly than anyone had ever seen before the fishing fleet headed out on the morning of the 14th October hoping to grab a quick catch and make good money at markets which had little to sell.
When the storm hit at lunchtime that day the fleet was decimated. Boats tried to head back into Eyemouth but foundered on the rocks, some in earshot of loved ones on the shore. In the reports that followed the disaster it was noted time and time again that a better harbour would have significantly cut the number of fatalities.
Further Reading
Black Friday by Peter Aitchison, Birlinn. 2001 ISBN 1 84158 464 9
Vanessa has presented听science and current affairs programmes for 大象传媒, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Discovery and has presented for 大象传媒 Radio 4 & Five Live and a regular contributor to the Daily Telegraph and the Mail on Sunday, Scotsman and Sunday Herald.听
Contact Making History
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Making History
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Vanessa has presented听science and current affairs programmes for 大象传媒, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Discovery and has presented for 大象传媒 Radio 4 & Five Live and a regular contributor to the Daily Telegraph and the Mail on Sunday, Scotsman and Sunday Herald.听