Sep 4, 2012
Smugglers, pirates
and villains on the south coast of England in times gone
by.
Douglas d'Enno is a local historian and author of some interesting
& insightful books on local Sussex history. In our latest
conversation, Douglas spent time with me on a glorious sunny
October day at the end of Brighton's Victorian pier. There we
discussed the activities of smugglers, pirates and villains on the
south coast of England in times gone by.
We chatted about excise men patrolling along the top of dangerous
cliffs at night on the lookout for smugglers and ship wreckers, and
how it sometimes became a life and death struggle between both
sides. Smuggling was part of everyday life for some of the small
fishing villages along the coast.
We talked about a local vicar, the Reverend Thomas Hooker, a pillar
of the community who was nonetheless heavily involved in contraband
activities in his village. We also talked about the cat and mouse
game played by revenue officers and their quarry the smugglers -
who shamelessly continued to ply their trade with the French while
England was at war with Napoleon.
Douglas was kind enough in 2006 to take our listeners on an
interesting tour of the darker side of life of Brighton’s past. We
talked as we walked to some of the locations of the town’s
notorious murders. This audio tour, ‘Brighton's Murder Walk’, is
still available on our site, click here to hear
Murder
Walks
Books by Douglas d'Enno
Brighton Crime &
Vice.
Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths
Around Brighton.
published by Wharncliffe UK.
Here is a
link to buy the books above
We would just like to thank the
following artists and songwriter's for their kind permission to use
their works in the making of this programme.
(All copyrights are retained by
artists and songwriters © 08) Please see links to artists web
sites.
Track 1: A Smugglers' Song-
Arranged and performed by Andrew McKay & by Carole Etherton, words
by Rudyard Kipling. (http://www.cranedrivinmusic.com)
Track 2- Paris-White Sail-
Paris-Chris Harvey. http://magnatune.com/artists/albums/harvey-wsail/
Track 3- Ship Keeper- Trim Rig
And A Doxy (TRAAD). http://www.trimrigdoxy.com/
Track 4- Leave Her Johnny Leave
Her-Trim Rig And A Doxy (TRAAD).
http://www.trimrigdoxy.com/
Track 5- Trawling Trade- (John
Conolly)- Trim Rig And A Doxy (TRAAD).
Track 6- Paris-White Sail-
Paris-Chris
Harvey-http://magnatune.com/artists/albums/harvey-wsail/
Track 7- Scarecrow -Andrew McKay
and Carole Etherton, written by ©
Maria Cunningham.
Track 8- Mary Baker-Andrew McKay
and Carole Etherton and written by Carole Etherton
Track 9- Smugglers-Arranged and
performed by Andrew McKay & Carole Etherton, words by Rudyard
Kipling.
Track 10-Paris-White Sail-
Paris-Chris
Harvey-http://magnatune.com/artists/albums/harvey-wsail/