Some shopping trips are easier to explain to ‘The Authorities’ than others.

This pre-airport shopping trip began in Ale-Hop in Portugal. We were staying in Faro, prior to leaving for the airport. Sitting on a shelf was an expansive collection of plastic ducks. These would delight the Islanders i thought!

After several excited messages on the group chat, it was agreed Rabbit Duck, Cyclops Duck, Dinosaur Duck, Unicorn Duck and a Chocolate-loving duck would all be destined for Lundy. They would join a past champion, ‘Devil Duck’, in the staff’s Bank Holiday duck races.

With the ducks safely packed, the shopping list became less ducks and more alcohol related.

Port Wine

Next was Port, it’s a staple in our duty free shopping basket. During our many trips to portugal, we’ve visited the famous port lodges in Vila Nova de Gaia – just over the river from Porto. The Port Lodges, Grahams, Sandemans, Taylors, Cockburns, were established in the late 17th century by British merchants and are well worth a visit if you are heading to Porto. So too are the Quintas in the Douro Valley, the whole of the Douro smells of olives and grapes. During this time we have learnt a lot and tasted lots of Portugal’s most famous export, so a bottle of Portuguese port simply has to be brought back.

Then there were then other requests from Lundy for duty-free tobacco, cigarettes and rum. By the time I reached the aeroplane, my luggage was beginning to tell quite a story.

A suitcase containing tobacco, alcohol and an assortment of rubber ducks.

Everything was perfectly legitimate, of course, but as I boarded the flight home to Bristol airport, I was a little nervous. Then I had my onwards journey, aboard the Oldenburg, heading back to the Island. it was then that I felt just a tiny bit like a smuggler!

I was thinking that the items I was bringing ashore (apart from the ducks), likely consisted of the very things that generations before me, had risked imprisonment bringing to the Island.

The De Marisco Family

Long before tourists arrived with walking boots and binoculars, Lundy’s position in the Bristol Channel, made it the perfect place for those wishing to stay just beyond the reach of authority. Steep cliffs, hidden sea caves and its isolated position made it an ideal place to hide both people and cargo.

The de Marisco family, from whom today’s Marisco Tavern takes its name, leased the island during the twelfth century. When King Henry II ordered that Lundy should be handed over to the Knights Templar in 1155, the de Mariscos refused. Instead, they used the island as a base from which to raid passing ships and the North Devon coast. Their defiance earned Lundy a reputation as a pirate stronghold that lasted for generations.

Centuries later, privateers flourished. the most notable Thomas Benson.

Thomas Benson and the Nightingale Scandal

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, heavy taxes on imported goods made smuggling highly profitable along the North Devon coast. Brandy, gin, tea, tobacco, silk, lace and rum were quietly landed in hidden coves before being distributed inland. While customs officers kept a watchful eye on the mainland, Lundy’s isolation made it a useful offshore depot.

It is thought that some of the island’s caves were used to store contraband until it could safely be moved across the Bristol Channel. Standing beside them today, it’s difficult to imagine barrels of rum, bales of tobacco and rolls of fine lace hidden in the caves.

Success, however, bred confidence, and confidence eventually tipped into arrogance. Thomas Benson became embroiled in unpaid tobacco duties, tax evasion and smuggling before masterminding the infamous insurance fraud involving his ship, the Nightingale. When the scheme unravelled, Benson fled the country into exile to Portugal of all places, leaving Captain William Lancey to face trial.

Compared with Benson’s exploits, my own cargo seems rather tame.

No secret caves. No moonlit landings. No revenue officers searching the shoreline. Just a legal allowance of duty-free tobacco, a bottle of Portuguese port, some rum and a handful of cigarettes, all carefully packed alongside some rubber ducks in my suitcase.

The following day I found myself walking past one of Lundy’s caves, wondering what stories it might tell if only it could speak. Had barrels of rum once rested where visitors now pause to take photographs? Had tobacco and lace been hidden there while smugglers waited for darkness? We’ll probably never know.

What I do know, is that for centuries people have crossed these waters carrying precious cargo. I suspect the de Mariscos would have approved of the rum and tobacco. The ducks, however, might have puzzled even them!

If you’re visiting Lundy, keep an eye out for the caves that are thought to have been used during the island’s smuggling days. You never know you might find a duck!