’Twas good old hearts of Devon oak
That made her glorious name.”
P. F. S. Amery.
JACK RATTENBURY, THE ROB ROY
OF THE WEST.
By Maxwell Adams.
John Rattenbury—or, as he is commonly called, the “Rob Roy of the West”—was born at Beer in 1788. His father was a shoemaker by trade, but before his son John was born, he went to sea on board a man-of-war, and was never again heard of. His mother supported herself by selling fish, while Jack was allowed to run wild, spending his time chiefly at the water-side, where he acquired a taste for the sea and for those daring adventures which made him subsequently so notorious. When about nine years of age, he induced his uncle, who was a fisherman, to take him with him in his fishing expeditions. This was the beginning of his sea training, and continued for some time, until one day, being left in charge of the boat, while his uncle was on shore at Lyme, he lost her rudder. For this negligence his uncle chastised him with a rope’s end, whereupon a separation ensued. Jack then joined a Brixham fisherman as an apprentice, but after a space of twelve months, finding this occupation uncongenial, he engaged himself to the master of a coasting vessel of Bridport, trading between that port and Dartmouth.
“Jack” Rattenbury.
(From a Lithograph by W. Bevan.)
About this time war broke out between England and France, and fearing the press-gang, he returned to Beer. There he found his uncle engaged in collecting men for privateering, an enterprise which appealed to his roving spirit, and joining the crew, he, with twenty-two others, was conveyed to Torquay and put on board the Dover, commanded by Captain Matthews. In due course the Dover was ready for sea, and in March, 1792, started for her first cruise off the Western Islands. He thus describes his feelings on this occasion:—
And even now, notwithstanding the lapse of years, I can recall the triumph and exultation which rushed through my veins, as I saw the shores of my native country recede, and the vast ocean opening before me; I was like a bird which had escaped from the confinement of the cage, and obtained the liberty after which it panted. I thought on some who had risen from the lowest to the highest posts, from the cabin boy to the admiral’s flag. I wished to make a figure on the stage of life, and my hopes and expectations were restless and boundless, like the element around me.