II THE STRICKLANDS 53 leave us, and return to the country, wherever it be, from whence I suppose they came; and this being the nearest to the coast of Holland, they come here to embark: (this he said smiling a little); and now, sir,' says he, 'the weather being too calm or the wind contrary, they are waiting for a gale, for they are all windbound.' This was more evident to me when in the morning I found the wind had come about to the north-west in the night, and there was not one swallow to be seen of near a million, which I believe was there the night before." And then Defoe goes on to ask how the swallows knew Southwold to be the best point for them to start from when they set out on their long flight across the sea; but this, as we say in East Anglia, "I must leave." In the early morning, as a slight tribute to a pertinacity in historical research uncommon in woman, I stroll into the churchyard and pause a while by Agnes Strickland's tomb. The Stricklands, especially the three literary sisters, were well known in Southwold in the early years of the nineteenth century. Reydon Hall, their old home, is only a little way out of the town. It was, in their time, a damp and dismal old house, scantily furnished within and whitewashed without; and, if report speaks true, the earnings of the clever sisters were very welcome to help eke out a slender income and add a few comforts to the bare necessaries of life. Yet I doubt whether Agnes Strickland was ever fully repaid for the years of labour her Queens of England cost her. Her sister Kate, who went to Canada and wrote of the wild, rough life of the backwoods' settlers; and her sister Jane, who also emigrated and was fairly successful as a novel writer, probably found greater satisfaction in their publishers' letters. But Agnes's should have been the sweeter success ! Leaving the churchyard I ramble down to the beach, and watch the little 'longshore boats in which the fishermen— most of them, it seems to me, Hurrs-are putting out into Sole Bay. It is a clear, warm morning, and I can imagine no 54 BATTLE OF SOLE BAY CHAP. more peaceful sea than that which soundlessly laps the shingly shore. Here and there a beachman strolls aimlessly among the drawn-up boats; now and again a seagull utters a shrill cry; but the life of the little town is so listless that scarcely a murmur of it steals down the low cliffs. Far different must have been the scene here on that day, the 28th of March, 1672, when the Southwold folk, aroused from their accustomed lethargy by the sight of a host of strange sails on the sea, flocked down to the shore and saw a great naval battle fought between the combined naval strength of England and France Southwold Sea-front. and the famous De Ruyter's Dutch fleet. Dunwich, too, had its share in the excitement, and one of its townsmen has left a metrical account of how "One day as I was sitting still To see that brave commotion. II BATTLE OF SOLE BAY "I cannot stay to name the names Of all the ships that fought with James, But this I say, the noble host Right gallantly did take its post, And cover'd all the hollow coast From Walderswyck to Dunwich. "The French, who should have joined the Duke, Although their hulls were lighter; But nobly faced the Duke of York, (Though some may wink and some may talk) To buffet with De Ruyter. "Well might you hear their guns, I guess, "Of all the battles gain'd at sea Since Philip's grand armada; I will not name the rebel Blake- "So now we've seen them take to flight, To windward or to leeward. Here's to King Charles, and here's to James, And here's to all the captains' names, And here's to all the Suffolk dames, And here's the House of Stuart." 55 Only garbled accounts of the stirring events which led to the appearance of the Dutch fleet-of the attack upon the Smyrna ships by Sir Robert Holmes, whose action many people condemned as thievish and dishonourable,--can have reached 56 BATTLE OF SOLE BAY CHAP. easternmost England. The allied fleets of England and France, numbering in all 101 ships, first anchored in Sole Bay : the Dutchmen's attack was of the nature of an unpleasant surprise. For De Ruyter's fleet of 91 men-of-war, 54 fire-ships, and 23 tenders, came down upon them while they were close to the shore, and many of them had to cut their cables to get into line of battle. The Frenchmen proved almost useless allies, Admiral D'Etrée's squadron, when attacked by Bankert, who commanded the van of the Dutch, making little show of fight and soon sheering off, leaving the English and Dutch to settle the matter for themselves. This action, however, was not attributed to cowardice on the Frenchmen's part, but to secret orders from their king, telling them not to expose his ships, but let the English and Dutch do their best to bring about their mutual destruction. In the meantime De Ruyter had borne down upon the centre squadron, and Admiral Van Ghent had furiously attacked the Earl of Sandwich's ships. For several hours the Royal James was in the thick of the fight, and especially in conflict with the Great Holland, commanded by Captain Brankel. Stripped to the waist the crew fought desperately; even when surrounded by the enemy's ships, and grappled by the Great Holland, they succeeded in getting their vessel clear. By this time two-thirds of her men were killed; and when the Earl saw a Dutch fire-ship approaching, he begged his captain, Sir Richard Haddock, and his sailors, to man the boats and escape to some other ship, or the shore. But many of the seamen refused to leave their gallant commander; and when the fireship set the Royal James alight they worked indefatigably by his side to subdue the flames. All their efforts were in vain. About noon the brave flagship, a battered and blazing wreck, drifted towards Easton Ness, where she blew up and all on board perished. Meanwhile the Duke of York had been warmly engaged with the two divisions of De Ruyter and Bankert, and, owing to his ship being disabled, had been II BATTLE OF SOLE BAY 57 obliged to shift his flag to another vessel. He had, however, wrought great havoc among the enemy, whose admiral, De Ruyter, was wounded. Still the fight went on till sunset, and, in spite of what the ballad-writer says, the honours, at the end of the day, were about evenly divided. The Dutch had lost three men-of-war, one captured, another sunk, and a third burnt; and their losses in men were very great, though, like those of their descendants in South Africa, their publication was forbidden by the state. On the English side 2,000 men were slain, and six ships lost; but as a set off against these heavy casualties, the enemy had been compelled to retreat, greatly to the relief, no doubt, of the Southwold folk, who, all Blythburgh Church. day, had been dodging cannon-balls, and watching the fight from the cliffs. England's greatest loss that day was the gallant Earl of Sandwich, whose body was recovered by one of the king's ketches. There were those who said he threw his life away by refusing to leave his disabled ship. Whatever view be taken of his action, there is no doubt about his having been a brave man. It is midday before I start for Lowestoft, for, having an hour or two to spare, I take an inland ride to Blythburgh, to look again upon the church which I had not time to examine closely last night. It is a building which no one interested in church architecture can afford to miss seeing; but I will not attempt to |