Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-02
ROCKY LUNDY ISLE
PERIL TO SHIPPING
Once Haven of Pirates, Now
1t Is Landmark and Reef
for Passing Vessels.

Personal ownership of British
island does not carry with it the right
to issue coinage. So decided an Eng
lish court which fined the present
owner of Lundy Island for a breach
of the British coinage law.
'Lundy is not large enough to draw
ink from the pens of many world
mapmakers, but the island has played
an important part in the history OF
Western England" says a bulletin
from the National Geographic Society.
1.-The giant granite monolith rises
400 to 500 feet above the surface OF
Bristol Channel, one of the busiest
water routes of the British Isles. on
stormy days as many as hundred
ships anchor in its single safe bay. BY
day its lofty cliffs are important land
marks for navigatorS, while at n1ghC
its two lighthouses are silent guides
to thousands of vessels which annually
ply the channel to and from Bristol.
the San Francisco of Englands west
coast.
''Lundy also has taken heavy toll of
shipping Smashed hulks and gear of
vessels lie in a tangled mass about
the outlying rocks and in deep caves
of its precipitous cliffs. Outstanding
among the Lundy disasters was the
crash of the British battleship Montagu,
which struck the island in 1906. That
disaster cost the British government
the equivalent of $10,000,000.
Once Outlaws Paradise.
"Lundy's thousand acres are about
three miles long and one-half mile wide.
It's summit is topped with thin layer
Of fertile earth where It's IS inhabitants
now are peacefully employed in farm
ing and cattle raising. There is but
one road leading from the channel to
the summit. Tie remainder Of the
island is girded by inaccessible cliffs.
Thus in early times. when the one
approach was guarded, its inhabitants
were secure against attack by invaders.
Even royalty acknowledged the iso-
lation and security of Lundy against
attack, because Henry II fed there to
avoid the threats of an Infatuated
wife and nobleman of his court.
outlaws found Lundy safe base
of operations cnce they gained the
island by clever ruses. When pirating
on the seas was dull they sailed over
to the Devon shore, looted homes and
shops and kidnapped few Englishmen.
Then church members of Devon vii
lagos raised funds to pay the demand
ed ransom for their members almost as
methodically as they do today to pay
of mortgage.
"Bristol Channel was such happy
hunting ground for thieves that the
channel was known among them as
the Golden Bay The rich plumber
even drew marauders from such dis
tant places as Algeria and Tunisia.
Was Slave Dump.
"Once a respected islander contract
ed to transport slaves to Virginia. The
slaves were brought only to Lundy, left
there and the ships returned to Eng
land.
"A story Of an invasion of Lundy by
French pirates illustrates how easily
outlaws took the island. A large ship
flying a Dutch flag anchored in the
Lundy roadstead. and an officer who
landed begged milk for his sick cap
tain. A few days later the officer re-
ported that the captain had died. He
asked permission to use the Lundy
church for the funeral.
Permission granted the ships off,
GERS and crew bore a casket to the
church and explained that their custom
did not permit strangers to attend a
burial service When the last islander
stepped over the threshold Of the
church the casket was opened and each
foreigner armed himself with guns.
knives and ammunition from the casket.
A few moments later Lundy was in the
hands Of the 'mourners A few days
later the Frenchmen left with all the
valuable property of the islanders that
they did not destroy.
'Lundy has no trees. Winds con-
stantly sweep the island. Its ruined cas-
tie and fortress walls, its quaint stone
buildings and artistically carved cliffs.
where perch myriad sea birds. are draw
ing increasing numbers of visitors"