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LANCERLOT
"LANTY" SLEE
The most notorious moonshiner in the Lake District lived in the
Langdales. He was born around 1800 in Borrowdale, and lived at
Low Arnside between Skelwith Bridge and Coniston. His name was
Lancelot Slee. Lanty, as he was to be called, was of Irish
descent and has been described as a 'stiff, fresh faced man of
great endurance'.
Lanty's illicit business grew very quickly. He was constantly
chased by authority but remained one step ahead. The moonshining
prospered and Lanty moved to Arnside to live in an isolated house
above his former farm. He built his largest still, which became
known as Lanty's Cave, in a field here. There was another at
Hallgarth, one above Langdale and yet another erected in a quarry
near Tilberthwaite.
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Lanty farmed by day and delivered by night. He had many regular
customers including a local magistrate. When fines were imposed
they seemed strangely reduced by the time payments were made!
Slee was arrested several times, even gaoled in Ambleside. One
man, William Pattinson a supposed partner, tried to bring down
Lanty after a bitter quarrel over the business.
So outraged was Pattinson that he went straight to the
Magistrates and told all. On 9th May 1853 Lanty was convicted of
illegal distillation of liquor and was fined the then huge Sum of
£150 Pattinson was so worried that he fled the district. Lanty
himself moved back to Little Langdale, to his old haunts, giving
the impression of retiring. Slee, although turned sixty, was not
yet finished and more stills appeared, one near the top of
Wrynose and another close to the Three Shire Stones. Lanty died
at Greenbank Farm in 1878 aged 78.
THE
PATRICKSONS
The Patricksons were reputedly known as the Kings of Ennerdale,
living at Carswell How, which is now a large farmhouse at the
entrance to Ennerdale Valley. Way back in the 1300's there were
members of the Patrickson family always at law with someone. Two
brothers, John and William burnt down the house of Robert Abbot,
stole armour and a horse, burgled a Vicar's house and escaped
from Appleby jail.
Around 1559 Roger Robinson sued William Patrickson for the return
of a bond. Apparently Robinson had purchased sixty stones of wool
from Patrickson in advance, taking security against value and
delivery in the form of a bond. Robinson and his servant arrived
to collect the final shipment from Patrickson, and whilst William
occupied Roger in Conversation, his wife Francis induced the
servant into handing over the bond, which he did thinking all had
been completed. Thus Robinson lost on the deal.
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Willlam
Patrickson's son Henry followed the family tradition and after a
number of law suits over Church lands and other cases he became a
bankrupt. In 1584 one of his creditors was owed £66. By 1591 he
was incarcerated in London's Fleet Debtors' prison but still
evaded his creditors. Somehow, by the end of the year he had
obtained a free pardon.
Members of the family continued to get involved in dubious
financial transactions, Litigation followed litigation and slowly
the Patricksons lost ground. In the late 17th' century the last
Patrickson, Thomas, was forced to sell Carswell How.
GUY
FAWKES
Christened Guido, Fawkes was born a protestant in York. Following
his widowed mother's marriage to a man of Catholic background and
sympathies, he converted to Roman Catholicism. Having enlisted in
the Spanish Army in 1593, Fawkes played a part in the 1596
capture of Calais in the war against Henry IV. Professional
explosives skills gained in the wars prompted his recruitment by
Robert Catesby, originator and leader of the 'Gunpowder Plot',
and Thomas Winter, to act as a subordinate in the fight against
harsh anti-Catholic laws.
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On November 4th 1605 the basement of the House of Lords was
searched by order of the Privy Council acting upon an anonymous
tip-off. John Johnson, the man standing guard over the 'fuel
stocks' was found, arrested and removed to The Tower. Over thirty
barrels of explosives were discovered. Johnson confessed all on
the rack and Guy Fawkes was hanged, with his accomplices, in
1606. Fawkes' name passed into folklore, together with the
'Gunpowder Plot', still celebrated on the fifth of November each
year!
FLETCHER
CHRISTIAN
Fletcher Christian was born on 25th September 1764 at the
farmstead of Moorland Close near to the market town of
Cockermouth. After the death of his father and with his mother on
the edge of bankruptcy, Christian, aged sixteen, went to seek
adventure. He ran away to sea with the ship 'Cambridge' on which
Bligh was 6th Lieutenant. Christian also took two trips with
Bligh to Jamaica on the Britannia'.
In 1787 Captain Bligh had command of 'HMS Bounty' with
instructions to take breadfruit trees from Tahiti to Jamaica. En
route to Jamaica the crew of the Bounty mutinied under the
leadership of Fletcher Christian, allegedly because of Bligh's
quick temper and imperious manner. Bligh and eighteen loyal
crewmen were cast adrift in the Pacific.
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The mutineers journeyed to Tahiti where they collected their
Tahitian friends and sailed to Pitcairn Island. Christian made
his home there with his Tahitian 'wife' Maimiti, her English name
being Isabella after his cousin Isabella Curwen. Fletcher
Christian died there on 3rd October 1793.
According to Bligh, Christian was five feet nine inches tall,
with a very dark brown complexion, dark brown hair strong made,
bowlegged, of nervous disposition, and subject to violent
sweating. He had a star tattooed on his left breast. Christian
had been described as having a pleasing countenance and was a
commanding figure. Even his detractors admit that he had a like
able personality. He was not a man who craved company, a loner
who could have been a successful island entrepreneur. As it was,
fate was not his ally. A school mate described him as mild,
generous, open, humane, sincere and of spirit.
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