The Black Rocks of Morwenstow

by John Wilcox

  ‘And, presumably, sir, you would not wish to imply that smuggling was a common practice in Morwenstow?’

  The vicar laid a large hand on Josh’s shoulders. ‘Now you mustn’t attribute such cowardly motives to me, young man. I always try and speak the truth, as the good Lord would wish me to do. And that is what I have done today. And I do hope, Joshua, that you will follow the same precept when you deliver your evidence tomorrow.’

  ‘Oh, I most certainly will, Reverend, I most certainly will.’

  ‘Very good, my son, I shall hear what you say with great interest. Now good day to you, Joshua. Look after the doctor. He doesn’t look well to me.’

  Josh watched with a growing sense of frustration as the vicar walked away. Would no one in this strange community help him to reveal the truth about these shipwrecks? And why, throughout the day, was the word ‘wreckers’ not once mentioned?

  Accordingly, when he was called to give evidence immediately after lunch the following day, he decided firmly that he would, in the words of his father, ‘set the cat among the pigeons’ and provoke some reaction, at least, from the underwriters, who, so far, seemed only to have shown interest in the criticism of the Blue Cross Line. It was, however, on this subject that Mr Knight began his questioning. As a watchkeeper, what had been Josh’s experience of sailing on The Lucy?

  ‘Very poor, sir. I concur with everything that has been said about the standard of seamanship on board her. We were undermanned, meaning we had to work unduly hard, the anchor chains were rusty, the rigging frayed and, I have to say, the master was often drunk and kept to his cabin most of the day.’

  ‘These are very robust views. Were these factors, do you think, which led to the foundering of the ship on the rocks of Morwenstow?’

  ‘Well, they certainly contributed to it, in my view. In my spells of steering her across the Atlantic, I had noticed how unresponsive she was to the helm. I attributed this to the fact that her bottom was foul. However, there was one more factor – even more serious – that led to her going onto the rocks.’

  ‘What was that?’

  Josh held his breath and looked around the room, which was now completely silent. Cunningham was scowling and regarding him with a look of complete hatred. The doctor was frowning and looking up at the ceiling. Rowena had her hand to her mouth and Hawker was smiling faintly, as though he was trying to recall a phrase from the Bible to lighten his next sermon. Only Pengelly seemed almost disinterested, his eyes half closed.

  Mr Knight lifted an eyebrow. ‘Well, tell us. What was that?’

  ‘I was in the rigging when we were trying to claw our way round Hartland Point at the height of the storm. Looking towards the black line of cliffs abreast of Morwenstow – I am familiar with this coastline, for I sailed past it many times as a boy, so I knew roughly where we were – I saw a light, low down on the cliff face. It was stationary but burning brightly, even in the wind and rain.’

  A hiss, as of breath being drawn in, came from the public enclosure.

  ‘Go on.’

  ‘Looking down, to where Captain Lucas was standing by the wheel, I saw him point to the light and direct the helmsman to put the helm down and steer towards the shore. I shouted down, but could not make myself heard above the roar of the elements.’

  ‘So what did you do?’

  ‘I immediately slipped down to the deck and ran to the wheel and told the captain that there was no safe anchorage there. He told me that he had seen the riding light of a vessel so that there must be a harbour there. I told him there were only terrible rocks and begged him to put the helm over, but he said that I was being insubordinate. The wind was now dead astern and we were almost surfing towards the cliff face and the rocks and it was too late to turn the ship. We struck the rocks almost immediately afterwards.’

  Joshua looked past Knight to the judge and the underwriters. All – including the Blue Cross director – were scribbling hard. Not a sound could be heard in the room until the barrister spoke.

  ‘Who else saw that light, then?’

  ‘The seaman I was with, trying to double-reef the topsail, undoubtedly saw it but, like everyone else, he was drowned. I was the only survivor.’

  ‘So you are the only witness of that strange light.’

  ‘I am afraid so, sir. But I definitely saw it.’

  ‘What did you think it was? Presumably, there was no ship anchored there, taking refuge from the storm?’

  ‘Oh no. There is no anchorage at Morwenstow, only a small shingle beach, which it would have been impossible for a ship larger than a dinghy to reach by threading through the rocks that stretch out from the cliffs. I had no idea what the light could have been, for there is no dwelling facing out to sea from those cliffs. I had no idea, that is, until later …’

  ‘What do you mean by that?’

  ‘Shortly after the shipwreck, I was curious to see where The Lucy had struck. I could hardly walk because my leg was badly hurt when I was thrown onto the rocks, so I persuaded Miss Acland, the doctor’s daughter, to drive me to the scene in a donkey cart. We ventured down the cliff face via a pathway that exists there …’

  ‘You could make your way down what almost sounds like a precipitous path on the cliff with a wounded leg? Surely not?’

  ‘Doctor Acland, sir, had fixed splints to the leg. This enabled me, with the help of Miss Acland, to reach perhaps two-thirds of the way down, to where there is a small plateau – a large ledge, if you like – putting out from the cliff face. I judged it to be roughly in the position on the cliff where I saw the light.’

  ‘Yes, yes, go on.’

  ‘There was no light there then, of course. What there was, however, was a square hole in the ground, perhaps something like six or seven inches square, as though a stake had been hammered into the ground. Around the hole there still remained – despite the ravages of the storm – a ring of ash, such as would have fallen from an open brazier mounted on top of the pole or stake. In that position, it would have been visible from the sea.’

  ‘Even in the wind and rain?’

  ‘Oh yes, sir. If it had been continually fed with something combustible.’

  The barrister turned to face the bench and put both his hands onto the lapels of his gown. He paused for a second and then asked loudly, ‘And what do you think would have been the purpose of that light? Why was it being fed?’

  ‘It was a signal light, sir.’

  ‘A signal to whom?’

  ‘To lure a ship out in the channel to turn towards Morwenstow, pretending to be the riding light of a ship safely at anchor but really to pull her onto the rocks for the purpose of salvaging her cargo.’

  A murmur rose from the public enclosure, including one cry of ‘No!’.

  Mr Knight turned back to Josh. ‘Let me understand you correctly. You are saying, Mr Weyland, are you not, that this was a deliberate act of, what shall I say, land-bound piracy, of the sort that allegedly used to be practised on this coast many years ago and for which a penalty of death still remains for those who perpetrate it?’

  ‘I am indeed, sir.’

  ‘Do you know who was responsible for mounting this brazier and lighting its contents?’

  The judge leant forward. ‘One moment, Mr Knight, please. Mr Weyland,’ he spoke slowly with a well-modulated voice that carried with it the experience of a hundred courtrooms. ‘I must point out to you that this is not a court of law, as I stressed yesterday at the beginning of these proceedings. This means that you do not speak here under the protection of the law, so to speak, which, in turn, means that if you challenge here some person or persons with a crime of this magnitude and if you have no proof of their culpability in the matter, then you lay yourself open to a charge of criminal slander. If, on the other hand, you have such proof, then you must, in all conscience, submit it to us here so that we can take appropriate action. Do you understand?’

  ‘I do, Your Honour.’

  ‘Very well. Then you may answer
Mr Knight’s question.’

  Joshua gulped. He had to be careful here. ‘I am fairly certain of the identity of such a person. The evidence I have is circumstantial, however, and I lack positive proof. I intend to establish the truth and submit the evidence to the law. However, I must confess that there is one other possible reason for the presence of the light, which I must put forward for your consideration.’

  ‘Really?’ A tone of faint sarcasm now tinged the barrister’s voice. ‘Then do share it with us.’

  ‘It has been suggested to me that the light could have been put there by smugglers as a warning to their accomplices out at sea who were due to carry out a landing of contraband – a warning that Preventers were present and that the landing would have to be aborted.’

  ‘Ah. We have heard already from Captain Cunningham that smuggling is rife in this part of the world. Would he have been the source of this suggestion, which I must say has the ring of probability about it?’

  ‘No, sir. He has denied to me that such a signal existed on the night of the wreck of The Lucy.’

  ‘But you think it is a rational explanation for its existence?’

  ‘No, I do not. I mention it only as a possibility. There are several reasons why it is unlikely. Firstly, there would be no question of smugglers attempting to carry out a landing with such a storm raging. The state of the weather, in my view, would be enough to abort the landing. No captain of a ship would contemplate attempting to guide her through the rocks at Morwenstow to effect a landing, nor would he launch a dinghy in those seas to carry the goods ashore. So a burning light as a signal, which would in itself attract the attention of the Preventers, would not be necessary.’

  Mr Knight nodded slowly and Joshua saw that the Reverend Hawker himself was nodding in agreement. ‘You said that there were several reasons,’ the barrister continued. ‘What would the others be?’

  ‘Let us presume that, given some warning that the storm was imminent, the smugglers on land had lit the brazier well before the storm broke, it would have been extinguished by the wind and rain as soon as the heavens opened. But I am sure that, to keep it blazing during the storm, when I and Captain Lucas saw it, it would have had to be fed. There would have been no need for smugglers to have done that. There is one last point, sir.’

  ‘Pray continue.’

  ‘It is most unlikely, anyway, that Morwenstow would have been selected for a landing of contraband at night. The rocks there run out in razor-sharp fingers, making it dangerous even for a dinghy to effect a landing. There are other, far more suitable, little bays and inlets along this coast that can be used for such a purpose.

  ‘As a result, then, I strongly believe that the light was set up for the purpose I have described: to draw in a ship to founder on the rocks for the purpose of stripping her of her cargo. In a word, wrecking in the old sense.’

  A murmur rose from the public enclosure, one conveying assent or disagreement. It could have been either, or a mixture of both, but Josh, looking back, noted that most of the faces in the enclosure were scowling at him.

  ‘One last question, Mr Weyland. You were thrown into the sea when the mast broke on the vessel after it hit the rocks. Is that correct?’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  ‘How did you – the only member of the crew – survive?’

  ‘My leg was smashed against one of the rocks but I somehow managed to claw my way up onto the top of one of them. This was swept by the sea but I managed to cling on, although in great pain and only partially conscious, until I was rescued by Mr Pengelly and his companion. I glimpsed men on the shingle and I was told later that they were Preventers. But I lost consciousness at some point then. The two men carried me to safety and then up the path to the clifftop, from which I was taken to the house of Dr Acland.’

  ‘Hmm. On your passage up the cliff path, you must have passed this shelf or plateau you have described as being the site of the alleged brazier. Did you see it?’

  ‘No, I was unconscious by that time.’

  ‘Thank you, Mr Weyland.’ Knight turned to the bench. ‘If you and your colleagues have no questions for this witness, Your Honour, I would like to call Miss Acland to the witness stand and also recall Captain Cunningham and Mr Pengelly.’

  ‘I would expect you to do so, Mr Knight. Pray proceed.’

  Rowena was questioned, firstly about the reason for her presence on the clifftop on such a night. She explained that it was at the request of her father, who felt that any survivors would need his attention but who felt unwell and unable himself to travel to the site. Then she confirmed that Josh seemed to be quite unconscious when he was laid onto the straw in the cart and, lastly, she confirmed, in a loud, clear voice, all that Josh had said about finding the hole in the ground and the ring of ash.

  The recall of Cunningham and Pengelly brought the questioning of them on one point only: did they see any light, such as had been described by Josh, or any sign that there had been such a burning brazier during the storm. They both answered in the negative.

  The judge, however, had one question for the captain. ‘Mr Weyland said that there were men on the shingle, who, he was told later, were Preventers, presumably your men, Captain Cunningham. Were they, in fact, Preventers?’

  ‘Yes, Your Honour.’

  ‘What were they doing there? Did you suspect that there might be … what is the word, ah yes, there might be a landing?’

  ‘No, Your Honour. I had turned them out because I thought we might be able to help the survivors from the stricken ship. Unfortunately, however, there was only one.’

  ‘And why, do you suppose, that Mr Pengelly and his friend were there?’

  ‘I expect for the very same reason, sir. All of us living along this stretch of the coast are used to turning out to offer help when a ship is in distress.’

  ‘Indeed. It does all of you credit.’

  ‘Thank you, sir.’

  ‘Bloody hypocrite!’ hissed Josh into Rowena’s ear.

  ‘Now,’ the judge rapped with his gavel to gain order, for another murmur had risen from the public enclosure. ‘This completes our questioning of witnesses and, as this is not a court of law, with prosecuting and defending counsels, there will be no summing up from Mr Knight, or from myself or anyone on the bench here. We will now, therefore, close these proceedings and retire to London, where we shall meet and give what we have heard our keen attention, before submitting our findings to the authorities at Lloyd’s.

  ‘I thank everyone for attending and bid you all good day.’

  A hum of conversation immediately broke out in the crowded room and everyone stood back while the judge and his colleagues made their way into the bar of the inn and then up the stairs to their rooms. Joshua and Rowena immediately made for the doctor, who was engaged in earnest conversation with the vicar.

  ‘Ah, Joshua,’ said the Reverend Hawker, ‘I thought you pursued your theory of the illicit light admirably, but I wished you hadn’t done so. I still can’t believe that there is anyone in my parish who could be guilty of such a thing and I fear that your intimation that there is could have upset the people, both in Morwenstow and Hartland.’

  ‘Well, I am sorry, Mr Hawker, if you think that I have done so, but I felt I had to answer the question honestly.’

  The doctor intervened. ‘I think we should go now, Joshua. I think the people who were in the public enclosure could be getting angry and we have had enough violence here recently. I don’t wish to prompt more. Come along, Emma. Good day, Reverend.’

  The trio made their way to the door but outside they had to run the gauntlet of the crowd, who now hissed at Joshua as the three pushed their way through. Joshua was about to attempt to reason with them, but Acland took his elbow and they took sanctuary in the doctor’s house.

  ‘Let us go into the living room at the back of the house,’ said the doctor. ‘If we sat near a window fronting onto the street, I fear we might stimulate further physical expressions of disagree
ment, such as the smashing of my windows.’

  They sat together in the half gloom of the room and Acland nodded to his daughter. ‘The cognac, I think my dear – and, of course, the lemonade.’

  ‘Oh really, Papa.’ But Rowena hurried out and returned with the Armagnac, two glasses and a third containing her lemonade.

  The glasses were filled and raised to the lips, without any faux toasting, for there really was nothing to celebrate.

  ‘I am afraid that you have trailed your coat, Joshua,’ said Acland, ‘and people are liable to jump on it now.’

  ‘I am sorry if you feel that I have stirred a hornet’s nest here, sir, but I can’t help feeling that the holding of the enquiry – particularly sitting it here – has been partly, if not completely, responsible for that.’

  The doctor frowned. ‘Certainly not completely responsible, for your own actions have played their part.’

  ‘That maybe so, Doctor, but I have always been rather puzzled as to why you travelled to London to prompt this enquiry. It has undoubtedly drawn attention to the happenings here.’

  A silence fell on the room for a moment and Rowena anxiously switched her gaze from Joshua to her father and then back again.

  ‘Well,’ Acland, began, rubbing a hand over his jaw. ‘I have to confess that I wish I had never done it. There was one real reason and that was to draw attention to the conditions under which the Blue Cross Line is still putting its ships out to sea. I wished to have an enquiry made into the Line’s record and its cheapskate practices. However, the damned thing got rather out of hand and Lloyd’s mentioned they might broaden the enquiry into the many shipwrecks we have experienced on this coast. I was, of course, powerless to stop them. Cunningham particularly felt that what I had done was unwise, although, as you heard from his evidence he had no love for the Line either.’

  Joshua nodded and his mind’s eye recalled the two men arguing in the street after Drake’s inquest.

  ‘Well, my purpose may have been served,’ the doctor continued. ‘But between us – you with your unfounded allegations about that damned light and me with my complaints about the Line – we have thrown Hartland and Morwenstow into a most unpleasant light. You have made many enemies here now, Weyland, and endangered my daughter. I fear that I must ask you to leave this house.’