Historic%20Yorkshire

192
THE PRESS-GANG IN YORKSHIRE.
The districtswhich suffered most were, of course,those
lying near the sea coast, but inroads were often made
right into the heart of the country, and the men who
were fit for active service were wrenched from all that
was near and dear to them. Sons that would gladlyhave
remained at the plough and worked to create the wealth
of the land, against their will had to leave their homes
and those who were dependent upon them for support, to
find apainful deathon a battle-field. The motherhad to
bid adieu for ever to her onlychild, to whom she looked
for aid in her old age. The young husband had to tear
himself away from his home and those he loved, to go to
fight,andif he everdidreturn at all it would probablybe
as a cripple for life,andthus he wouldbecome a burdento
thosehehad hoped to work for and make happy. Almost
everyhouseholdin ourboastedlandoflibertywas rendered
unhappy at the cost of the English victories. Various
other means were employedfor obtaining men to fill the
ranks of the army, but none were so unnatural as the
proceedings of the press-gang. So awe-inspiring were
these men that we read of a town on the east coast
becoming nearly deserted when it was rumoured that a
press-gang was to be quartered there. The magistrates,
however, afterconsiderablepersuasion,enticed the townspeople
back by obtaining a hundred volunteers who
promised to go to the seat of war if the rest of the
inhabitants wereleft unmolested, and to this proposal the
Admiralty agreed.
Hull, being the chief Yorkshire port on the coast, was
infestedwiththe press-gangtoanalmostunendurablestate,
and riots wereconstantly takingplaceinthe streets, which
sometimes resulted in loss of life. In the river Humber
two warships weregenerallystationedduringthe wars with
the French; one was laidoff the Garrison and called the
Inner Guardship,and the other,named the Outer Guardship,
was moored in the channel a few miles down the
river at Whitebooth Roads. As ships entered the port
most of themwereboarded and everypressable man taken