of the Premises, have caused to be exemplified by these Presents. In Witness whereof, &c. We have made these our Letters Patents, " &c. [1]
These ships were each of them to be equipped and manned with 20 men and a master, armed and completed in every respect for service. The smallness, however, of the ships and their appointments, fitted them only for coast service, and to guard against the incursions of mere piratical marauders. It would hence appear, that as the navy of England increased to greater numbers, and much larger and more warlike ships, those, which had been furnished from the Cinque Ports, ceased to be exacted or required . They, nevertheless, continued to supply, as occasion required, a few ships, the charge of which was deemed equal (we may suppose, from their then larger size and more expensive equipments) to that of the fitting out of their former number.
Their strict observance of this article of their charter, and faithful performance of the duties it enjoined, are admitted by all historical and traditionary accounts on the subject. For, not only was the navy of these ports prepared and ready, on all occasions, to guard and protect the coast, but was employed, during the long continued conflicts between England and France, in giving safe transport to several of our sovereigns, their families, and adherents, alternately, from the one kingdom to the other. King John, when in retirement, and abandoned by the rest of his kingdom, was faithfully adhered to by the ships and mariners of the Cinque Ports , and was afterwards, through them , enabled to secure and establish himself on his throne.
The estimation in which the fleets of these ports was regarded, by our sovereigns, in several successive reigns, was not beyond what their services and achievements fully confirmed and justified.
In the beginning of that of Henry III., A. D. 1217, the Cinque Ports armed forty large ships, under the command of Hugo de Burgo, who was at that time warden of the -
- ↑ Jeake's History of the Cinque Ports.
