Smuggling was big business back in the 18th century. "Watch the wall my darling, as the gentlemen go by," is a line from a Rudyard Kipling poem on the subject.

The areas along the south coast, including Rye and Winchelsea in Sussex, were hubs of smuggling activity.

Contraband goods were brought in from the sea and then distributed down a network of lanes for people to consume or sell. Some of the smuggled goods ended up in London. 

Smuggling was controlled by gangs. One of the most notorious of these was the Hawkhurst gang, who used the Mermaid Inn in Rye as a base. 

There are still plenty of memories of those days at the Mermaid today, with a picture of Arthur Gray, the head of the gang (executed in 1748) on the wall. There are also many reported hauntings at the inn!

An excellent novel on the smugglers and much else is Winchelsea by Alex Preston.

The whole smuggling business has now been romanticised in folklore. But the reality is that it was brutal and controlled by very violent men.

Paul Donovan says that smuggling has been romanticisedPaul Donovan says that smuggling has been romanticised Crossing the smugglers was not to be taken lightly. Removing people's tongues was a not unusual punishment for those who spoke out of turn.

Smuggling of the past has many parallels with today, not least what happens when something is banned or in the case of the 18th century, heavily taxed.

Once the government removed the taxes, the smuggling trade shrunk to virtually nothing.

In the early part of the last century, prohibition in America saw alcohol banned. The illicit trade in alcohol boomed, overseen by organised crime. Banning alcohol did not stop people from drinking, it just drove it underground into the hands of criminals. It helped build organised crime.

Similarly, today there is the drug trade. Most drugs (except alcohol and tobacco) are banned. The result, the trade is controlled by crime gangs.

Prisons are full of those involved in the trade, as well as addicts. Huge amounts of police time and resources are devoted to drug-related crime. Many criminals steal to feed their drug habit. 

Surely, some legalisation and regulation of drugs (especially milder forms) would make sense. It would cut crime and boost the exchequer.

Unfortunately, society seems slow to learn the lessons of history. The moves to ban cigarettes, whilst at one level seems laudable in terms of health etc, at another level they threaten to grow an already substantial trade in smuggling.

Banning drives things underground, it doesn't solve the problem.

We need to learn the lessons of history on these matters. Look to legalise and regulate, rather than ban.

In the end, it will be better all around - cutting crime, improving health and releasing resources for other things.

  • Paul Donovan is Labour councillor for Wanstead Village ward, Redbridge Council and a blogger (paulfdonovan.blogspot.com).