Pirates of Port Eynon

During the late 18^th Century and early 19^th century, Rhossili became a hotspot for smuggling. The gently curving beach was a natural Gower landing spot. By 1805, there were various clashes on the sands and it seemed the revenue service could not curb the illicit activity. While in June 1805, revenue officers seized 115 kegs, it was only three months earlier when their comrades were attacked and beaten by a smuggling gang. One of which was locked up in cottage in Middleton owned by the smuggler, William Stote.

The Stote family were the most prominent Rhossili smugglers during this period. William Stote was an innkeeper who had already spent three months of 1805 jailed in Carmarthen for releasing impounded horses from a farmyard in Pitton. The horses were seized at Rhossili sands by Officer George Beynon of the revenue service. He and his fellow officers attacked the smugglers who fled leaving behind hundreds of casks containing illicit spirits and wine which littered the beach. It would seem that William Stote had released the impounded horses to transport illegal contraband from Rhossili beach.

A popular story but likely fictional one concerns two revenue officers who asked Mrs. Stote for stabling for their horses. She realized that they had probably come to search for a cargo of run spirits that were concealed nearby, so she delayed them with a drink. When they commented that the spirits were too strong, she topped up their glasses from the kettle on the stove. This, however, also contained spirits, and the revenue officers soon fell asleep. At this point Mrs. Stote was able to raise the alarm, and the hidden contraband was dispersed.

While a lot of the stories surrounding William Stote and his wife are likely fabricated, they provide an insight into the violent reality of smuggling during the 18^th Century. Too often, the smuggler of legend is harmless, when in fact they were frequently violent criminals. At the height of smuggling during the 1800s, violence was an essential part of the trade. Without aggression, the smugglers could not have secured the resources or the labour needed to move cargo inland. Without violence, or at least the threat of it, the smugglers could not have kept revenue officers at bay or silenced any witnesses to their criminal activities.

The verifiable accounts of William Stote such as his jail sentence in 1805 showed that violence and conflict was commonplace for smugglers. Moreover, these tales served as a warning to potential revenue officers who lived in the local community. Threats of violence could ensure that they were too terrified to act against the smugglers. Of course, smugglers did not have a monopoly on violence. Far from the jocular revenue officers who were sent to sleep by Mrs. Stote’s cocktail of illicit alcohol, real revenue officers were often known to use excessive violence when pursuing smugglers. Both sides were often in bloody conflict.

Further Reading

• T. Elias and Dafydd Meirion, Smugglers of Wales, (Llanrwst: Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, 2017).
• K. Watkins, Welsh Smugglers, (Cornwall: James Pike Ltd, 1975).
• P. Ferris, Gower in History: Myth, People, Landscape, (Hay on Wye: Armanaleg Books, 2009).
• H. M. Tucker, My Gower, (Shrewsbury: Rowlands & Company, 1957).
• D. Phillipson, Smuggling: A History 1700–1970, (Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 1973).
• M. Gibbs, “Brandy for Parsons,” Gower, vol.24 (1973) pp.44-50.