LAW OF THE SEA

Evening Star, Issue 23679, 12 September 1940, Page 15

LAW OF THE SEA

INTERESTING HISTORY THE FAMOUS BLACK BOOK Writing in tho ‘ P.L.A. (Port of London Authority) Monthly,’ Mr C. b. Roscoe states; — The law of the sea has been from the earliest times different to the law of the land. No nation has ever claimed to exercise jurisdiction over the open, sea on the ground of exclusive possession. Thus the sea has been exempt from legislation in the sense that the word implies tho imposition upon a subject the will of a superior power. The sea has been plied from time immemorial by the vessels of all nations on terms of equality; whenever let or hindrance has been attempted it has been successfully resisted and put down. All mankind has regarded the sea as a common right or heritage. From thifl universal acceptance a certain manner of acting towards one another on the part of seafaring men when they met on tho high seas grew up into a code of customs. This code was based on a certain repetition of acts which met the common need and reconciled in a simple and equitable manner interests which at first seemed to conflict witli one another; their origin dating back to the remotest antiquity. As ships became bigger, voyages longer, and commerce more complicated, custom alone could not always suffice to deal with some particular case. So, eventually, voluntary maritime tribunals were organised by Governments to hear maritime disputes. The judges or arbitrators were assisted by trusted nautical men, wise in the customs of the sea. But in the early times, not until well after the Norman Conquest, in fact, were there any written maritime laws. At some time after the middle of the twelfth century the first book of written laws of the sea was compiled at probablv the order of Queen Eleanor, who was a woman of great enterprise and daring character, and quite capable of originating tho idea of compiling a body of laws for tho government of seafaring men in the western seas. Praiso is much more likely due to her

than to her son, Richard 1., who has been given tho credit for it. He was far too occupied with his Crusades whilst his mother at home governed England, Ireland, Normandy, and Aquitaine. BLACK BOOK. Suffice it to say that the famous Black Book of the Admiralty, ‘which became to the seaman what the Bible is to the ecclesiastic, made its appearance. It contains the sea laws and judgments of the sea in force in the Island of Oleron. These Jaws, customs, and judgments are in many ways similar to those which were recognised as Common Maritime Law in every known country bordering the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, in the Mediterranean and Baltic Sea, but with the ' addition of certain rules for the benefit of English Admirals. At any rate, it seems probable that at the instigation of his mother. Queen Eleanor, Richard 1. summoned his admirals to meet him on the island of Oloron. and, in conjunction with his legal advisers, a book of Sea Laws was compiled, based one age-old customs of the sea. Incidentally, up to that time the word “ Admiral ” had not been used as a term relating to a commander of the King’s Fleet, but the term “ Captain of the Fleet ” was employed. We find tho term “ Admiral ” explained, showing that it was not in general use —the word having been introduced during the Crusades, and was tho result of monkish chroniclers having Latinised the Arabic title “Amir”—meaning “ Commander ” —and “ El ” meaning “ of tho ” ; thus “ Amir-el-Monmenin ” signifies “ Commander of the Faith- ; fill.” Let us now peon into the Black Book. • It has obviously had additions made to it at various dates, for the handwritings are of different periods, and there are ■ references to acts of later reigns than Richard T. ! It is ancient French and Latin, but ! its contents reflect much of the earlv ‘ conditions of men who plied the sea for a living. It shows, too, that in civilian ' ships a remarkable co-operative spirit ■ existed as between owner, master, men, ; and merchants. This is nrobnblv due to , the fact that in most instances the masi ter of a vessel was also the owner or 1 part-owner, and the merchants travelled i with their goods, so that they were ’ literally all in the same boat if any- . thing happened. Moreover, one very • usual form of remuneration for the

sailor was to allow him to indulge in trading on his own account, his limit of free freight being one ton, which he accepted as part of his wages, but his cargo was not subject to the same rules as the other merchants as regards the pooling of losses when any cargo had to be jettisoned to lighten the ship in times of stress. SHARE BASIS. Then, again, sailors quite often worked on a share basis or part share and part wages. Others worked on a mileage system, calculated on the distance between certain well-known headlands, landmarks, or ports. Such systems of remuneration were likely to induce a co-operative spirit between all on board and a high standard of efficiency, as it was to the advantage of all to get in as many voyages as possible in the shortest possible time. There was incentive to avoid taking risksj and those who did risk the safety of the vessel, her cargo, and crew, were all subject to severe penalties. Pilots were open to penalty of death if they offered themselves as pilots and then, due to negligence or ignorance, ran the vessel into danger and damaged her; they were bound to make redress to the owner of the ship and the merchant whose goods were on board and had been damaged. If a pilot failed to do this, or had not the wherewithal to make payment, then, in the words of the Black Book, “ he ought to have his head cut off, and if the master or any of the mariners of any of the merchants cut off the pilot’s head, they are not holden to pay a fine; but always it ought to be known before this is done whether he has the wherewithal to make amends.” However, apparently in those days as now, there wore mean persons, for the rule goes on to say: “ If the master of the vessel complains that the pilot did not know how to pilot the ship after he had engaged him to do so, and no damage to the vessel ensues, the master cannot order tho mariners to cut off the pilot’s head except by the decision of the majority, composed of the merchants, officers, and crew.” Owing to the fact that the lord who owned the coast where a wreck took place could claim a proportion of the value of the wreckage, a practice had grown ur> in some parts of the const wherehv the local lord was in collusion with ln"al pilots to_ lead vessels on to the rocks and receive a proportion of the wreckage money. So the following laws were made;— “In tho case of false, disloyal, and

traitorous pilots who lead ships purposely ashore the law is thus—that such pilots ought to suffer martyrdom most cruel, and there ought to be made a i gibbet very high upon the rocks, and 1 upon the gibbet the accused pilots ought i to finish shamefully their days, and the ] said gibbets ought to be left on the said spot in perpetual memory and to serve : as a landmark to other vessels that shall i come there. This ia the judgment.” “ Likewise if the said lord who : owneth the foreshore where the wreck i taketh place were so felon and so cruel i that he suffered such manners of evil persons and should be partaking in their malice to cause shipwrecks, thereupon i the said lord ought to be seized and all i his goods sold and confiscated to works < of mercy and to make restitution to those he has wronged, and he ought to be bound to a stake in the middle of his house and then fire ought to be set to the four corners of the house, and it should all be burnt and the stones of the walls cast down to the ground, and the place made a market to sell swine for ever and a day. This is the judgment.”' MORE LAWS So much for the wreckers, evil pilots, and lords who would harm mariners. Here are some laws relating to members of the crew who endanger their vessel and the lives of the messmates: “ Every managing owner or master ( of a vessel must have ship’s watches on board both at sea and in port. “ Anyone on watch who sleepeth whilst the vessel is under sail should , have no wine for a whole day. “ If the ship be in a friendly harbour or roadstead and the man on watch sleepeth, he shall have no wine or accompaniment to eat with his bread.” (The law goes on to describe accompaniment as being cheese, meat, sardines, onions, or fish.) “ If by chance the ship shall be in seas frequented by enemies, he who sleepeth on watch, if he is a mariner of the forecastle, ought to lose his wine, his accompaniments with his bread for a whole day, and, further, he ought to be beat naked by all his messmates and be plunged in the sea three times with a rope tied round him from the yardarm, according to which the managing owner, the mate, and his messmates shall decide. “ If the mariner on. watch who sleepeth be a mariner of the poop, he shall forfeit all wine and food save bread and he ought to be held with his head downwards in a bucket of water.

“If any of the above-mentioned watch are found sleeping on more than three occasions they ought to lose all their wages which is due to them foe that voyage, and if they have already; received their wages they ought to repay them and be plunged into the sea. But it shall be at the discretion of the managing owner of the ship and the crew or majority of the crew to decide which or all of which punishments t» inflict, because the sleeping watch have imperilled and exposed to risk themselves, their messmates, and all other* on board the vessel.” These early laws and customs of the sea give one a good idea of justice administered in England in the days of Old. _^