Charles Lamb, who was a visitor at Hastings, in 1823, wrote of smugglers : " I like a smuggler. He is the only honest thief. He robs nothing but the revenue an abstraction I never greatly cared about. I could go out with them in their mackerel boats, or about their less ostensible business, with some satisfaction." Mr. Alfred Bryant, of Enfield, in writing of his native place, says : "I was born there in 1829, and every nook and corner of Hastings of 70 years ago was known to me." And referring to smuggling he states " No business carried on in Hastings was more popular and extensive than that of smuggling. Defrauding the revenue, so far from being considered a crime, was looked upon as being a laudable pursuit, and the most successful 'runners' were heroes. Nearly the whole of the inhabitants, old and young, and of every station of life, were, to some extent, engaged in it. It was attended with much risk, and sometimes loss of life, but being so lucrative, this was hardly a consideration. Fishermen, farmers, mechanics, tradespeople, and even some of those in authority, lent a helping hand in the transit and safe keeping of the smuggled goods, everyone being so much mixed up with it that there was never the slightest fear of any information being carried to the preventive men when a cargo was about to be run." There are many of the old houses in the Old Town which would appear to have been openly planned and erected with various contrivances and secret places for hiding smuggled goods, which the present building bye-laws would make impossible. Most of these are known to the writer. In one case the " Smugglers Hole" is under the floor of a living room, in several others roomy recesses built in the walls each side the fireplaces and the openings hidden from view by the cosy seats, and in several. others an entire double floor, with sufficient space between to take 40 to 50 tubs, the floor is loosened by a secret spring.
In "Smugglers and Smuggling," by John Banks, some interesting stories are related of Hastings Smugglers. Mr. Banks lived at a period when this illicit trade was popular. One who knew him described him as "not only a schoolmaster, but willing to engage in anything from smuggling to land surveying." Mr. Banks wrote from a personal knowledge of the subject. He says : " In order to better understand how smuggling was so easy some sixty or seventy years ago (1810-20), it may be well to allude briefly to a few localities. The Smugglers had a curious way of naming different parts of the coast thus : " The ' Old Woman's Tap,' (now the site of the Royal Victoria Hotel) was a favourite rendezvous of the smugglers, and there was a place little to the westward of it, called the 'Stussels,' which was the scene of a curious transaction between a custom house officer and two noted smugglers, one Jemmy Roper, -
