boat, and the first five pairs of tubs ordered by the owner to be placed on the beach, and the men who brought them told to go and get another load. The boat was soon emptied, and the smugglers and officer parted with a hearty 'good night' on both sides. After the smugglers were well away, Mr. Custom house officer fired his pistol as a signal for assistance, to help him away with the 'goods he had seized.' Another, 'Jinns's Stool' was a large rock, near Galley Hill ; ' The Slide, ' a place near Rock-a-Nore ; ' The
Whippings,' the high cliff near Ecclesbourne ; ' Robin Whiting's Hole,' just beyond Ecclesbourne ; 'Broken Shins' and 'The Gringer,' farther to the east; and 'The Marrow-bone Gap ' near Fairlight Signal Station."
"On the 13th of March, 1821, a fisherman of Hastings, Joseph Swaine, was shot in the forenoon, on the beach, by George England, a Coast Blockademan. Swaine's boat had come in, and it was the
The scene of this] encounter between the Preventive-Men and the Smugglers while "running" a cargo of tubs is the Govers, or Covehurst Bay. Described in an early guide book as a bay with two horns, the eastern horn was known to the fishermen as Lee-ness point, and the western as Govers Point situate below the Cliffs near the Dripping Well and Lovers' Seat. Doubtless the smugglers are here making their escape up Fairlight Glen, a favourite landing place, as the Glen provided a good cover for getting away into the country.
custom of the Blockademen to search all boats on their arrival ashore. An altercation ensued about it in this instance, and Swaine forced England out of the boat, after taking away his cutlass, and throwing it into the. sea. When out of the boat, England stepped back a few paces, and shot Swaine dead on the spot. One, Curly Taught, was shot through the arm by the same bullet, but did not know it until he felt the blood trickling down his fingers. England was tried for murder at Horsham, found guilty, and sentenced to be hung, but -
