State recalls of seamen in foreign service; opportunities to return
IN THEE STAITS SERVIS
127
ommendation of Barbara Villiers, Countess of Castlemaine, Charles II's notorious
mistress. In his plea for release, Gilbert had emphasised that he had been 'forced'
into naval service from a Dutch merchantman bound for Spain.44
The size of the Dutch merchant marine should have provided ample crews in
short time - neare 3,000' ships lay idle off Amsterdam in spring 1672.45 Dutch
seamen, however, would try to hold out as long as possible before volunteering in
the low-paid navy, creating manpower shortages that were alleviated by the admi
ralties raising their wages (see below). Dutch and those British emigrant seamen
resident in the Republic might avoid enlisting for some time with support from
their communities but British-based seamen must have been particularly vul
nerable in this respect, even more so as their ships were usually seized in port dur
ing the periods of diplomatic and military escalation that preceded any official
outbreak of hostilities. Around the time of the Second Dutch War some 100 Scots
and countless' English ships passed through Rotterdam every year.46 Their crews
were exposed to even longer periods without pay and consequently a greater temp
tation to sign on in the Dutch navy. In March 1672, British ships were seized pre
war in reprisal for British seizures and attacks on Dutch ships: at Rotterdam 'about
30' English and Scots ships were seized. Some hundreds of British seamen would
have lost their jobs at this time alone; the embargo was laid soon after.47 One
Dutch contact noted the 'small appearance' of men generally, and the English and
Scots proportion in the Rotterdam ships as high as one third of the crews. At
Flushing 60 English and Scots vessels were seized. He also reported that the
Zeeland admiralty 'will not permitt any of the men to come away, but keep them
there designing to necesitate them into theire service'.48 The embargo might also
catch unwary migrant workers by surprise: in March 1672, 70 Scots left their ship
at Delfshaven looking for work in the well-paid Greenland whale fishery. Finding
this option embargoed they took the ship's hoy to Rotterdam and joined the navy
en masse.49
Naval powers reacted to the foreign service of large proportions of their native sea
men by issuing official recalls of seamen abroad in times of war or imminent cri
sis. Dutch seamen serving abroad were threatened with the forfeiture of their lives
and property unless they returned and also reminded that their destitute families
would be at the mercy of the State.50 British monarchs issued prohibitions of and
recalls from foreign service, starting well before the period of study here.51 The
Interregnum regimes did likewise. The Scottish Privy Council issued additional
recalls of its own aimed specifically at Scots seamen.52 Generally, these measures
had little effect: J. Ehrman pointed out that the internationalisation of maritime
labour was 'too widespread and deep-rooted a custom to be prevented by an occa
sional proclamation'.53 Individuals' responses to these measures must have been as
varied as their circumstances and attitudes. In early 1665 a skipper outbound from
Bordeaux found 23 English seamen aboard a French frigate; he asked them
