Transcriber's Note:
Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully aspossible. The Cornish dialect written by Captain Carter includesinconsistencies in spelling and capitalisation. Some changes have beenmade. They are listed at the end of the text.
Blank spaces, representing missing words in the original MS., havebeen replaced by "[...]".
Autobiography of a Cornish Smuggler
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY
OF
A CORNISH SMUGGLER
(CAPTAIN HARRY CARTER, OF PRUSSIA COVE)
1749-1809
WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND NOTES
BY
JOHN B. CORNISH
Second Edition.
London:
GIBBINGS & CO., LTD., 18 BURY STREET, W.C.
J. POLLARD, TRURO, PENZANCE, & FALMOUTH.
1900.
WILLIAM BYLES AND SONS, PRINTERS,
129 FLEET STREET, LONDON,
AND BRADFORD.
INTRODUCTION.
The existence of the Autobiography whichis published in the following pages came tomy knowledge in the course of a chanceconversation with a distant relative of thewriter's family. The original manuscripthas been carefully preserved, and has beenfor many years in the possession of Mr.G. H. Carter, of Helston. He received itfrom his father, the G. Carter mentioned onpage 1, who was a nephew of Harry Carterhimself. The memoir of the writer, whichwill be found in the "Wesleyan MethodistMagazine" for October, 1831, was basedupon information supplied by G. Carter,partly from the manuscript and partly fromhis own knowledge. It is now printed from[Pg vi]the manuscript which was kindly lent to mefor the purpose by Mr. G. H. Carter.
The part of Cornwall to which the autobiographychiefly relates is the district lyingbetween the two small towns of Marazionand Helston, a distance of about ten mileson the north-eastern shores of Mounts Bay,comprising the parishes of Breage, Germoe,St. Hilary, and Perranuthnoe. The bay ispractically divided into two parts by CuddanPoint, a sharp small headland about twomiles east from St. Michael's Mount. Thewestern part runs into the land in a roughlysemicircular shape, and is so well shelteredthat it has almost the appearance of a lake,in fact, the extreme north-western corner iscalled Gwavas Lake. From the hills whichsurround it the land everywhere slopesgently to the sea, and is thickly inhabited.The towns of Penzance and Marazion andthe important fishing village of Newlynoccupy a large portion of the shore, andaround them are woody valleys and wellcultivated fields. To the eastward of Cuddanis a marked contrast. There, steep and[Pg vii]rocky cliffs are only broken by two longstretches of beach, Pra Sand and the LooeBar, on which th