Bloodwit and infangthief
So what did the people of the Cinque Ports get in return for their annual shiplending? A pretty sweet deal, in fact. Here it is in the original Anglo Saxon legal speak:
(tallage is usually property taxes)
(jurisdiction over criminal and civil cases, from the Anglo Saxon soke)
(authority over the sale and movement of cattle)
(authority to punish those who shed blood or do a runner)
(authority to punish social ne’er-do-wells)
(authority to imprison or execute thieves and felons)
(the right to build sea defenses on private land)
(finders keepers)
(the right to appropriate stuff that leaks from ships)
All freemen of the towns had the right to call themselves Barons of the Cinque Ports, but in practical terms the Barons were those appointed by the various mayors and councils to attend a coronation.
The Barons of the Cinque Ports had the right, from time immemorial, to hold a canopy over the head of the king as he processed to his coronation and thereafter to dine with him at his right hand (though at the coronation of William and Mary in 1689, they were refused this seating arrangement and never got it back).
“Aha!” sez you, “now I know what gives!”
Uncle B informs me that time immemorial is an actual date in English law: 1189 AD. Anything before that is time immemorial, a matter of tradition, anything after that is assumed to be written down and attributable to somebody.
May 3, 2023 — 3:00 pm
Comments: 6
Let us talk about the Cinque Ports
The Cinque Ports are a confederation of towns along the Southeast coast of England, mostly in Sussex and Kent. As an official body, they pre-date the Norman Conquest and are mentioned in the Domesday Book (though not by name) and (by name) in the Magna Carta. It’s super old is what I’m saying.
Their original purpose was to provide ships to the king – between them they were to provide X number of ships for X days in service to the crown every year. They bill themselves the Cradle of the Royal Navy.
Everyone from the Corded Ware People to William the Conquerer to Napoleon to Hitler has tried to enter Britain from this area closest to the continent, so it makes sense to keep it on a warlike footing.
The original Cinque Ports (West to East) were Hastings, New Romney, Hythe, Dover and Sandwich. In the Twelfth Century, they wanted to add the towns of Winchelsea and Rye, but that would really mess up the name. So those two aren’t called Ports, they’re called Ancient Towns, sometimes spelled Antient. It’s that way on some of the signposts. Which is very cool.
Then the Ports and Ancient Towns wanted to include some of their neighboring towns, so those became Limbs or Members. At its biggest, there 40 towns in the whole organisation. Today there are 14 towns in the Confederation of Cinque Ports, and we don’t actually live in one.
By the way, it’s pronounced SINK, not SANK as the French would have it, because screw the French is why.
May 2, 2023 — 3:00 pm
Comments: 10
Lookit this!
This message popped up on my phone well over a week before my actual birthday. What’s sinister about that is that I never give the internet my real birthday – my internet birthday is April 1. So how did Google Assistant get the real one?
I worry about the growing pervasiveness of Google. The number of times lately I’ve bought something online from some little podunk shop and they send a confirmation number undbidden to my cellphone, which I didn’t give them.
Oh! Why yes, my birthday is a-coming. I’m taking the week off to observe it. I’ll be around – I’m hoping the weather will be nice and I can potter around the garden all week – but I will auto-queue some posts so I don’t have to exercise my little braincell.
Bonus! I get next Monday off to celebrate Charlie’s becrowning.
May 1, 2023 — 4:00 pm
Comments: 22