more frequent and more severe. In the fourteenth
century things were parlous for the island town. When it was not the
turn of Winchelsea, Rye suffered, and vice versa. They set upon the
town in 1337 with no great success, but in 1360 they spoiled both
Hastings and Rye. Immediately after the death of Edward they came
again, and "within five hours brought it wholly into ashes, with the
church that was there of a wonderful beauty, conveying away four of the
richest of the towne and slaying sixty-six; left not above eight in the
towne. Forty-two hogsheads of wine they carried thence to the ships
with the rest of their booty, and left the towne desolate."

In 1378 the men of the Cinque Ports took some sort of revenge,
according to the following interesting account in Fuller's _Worthies of
England_: "May never French land on this shore, to the losse of the
English! But if so sad an accident should happen, send them our
Sussexians no worse success than their ancestors of Rye and Winchelsey
had, 1378, in the reign of Richard the Second, when they embarked for
Normandy: for in the night they entered a town called Peter's Port,
took all such prisoners who were able to pay ransome, and safely
returned home without losse, and with much rich spoil; and amongst the
rest they took out of the steeple the bells, and brought them into
England, bells which the French had taken formerly from these towns,
and which did afterwards ring the more merrily, restored to their
proper place, with addition of much wealth to pay for the cost of their
recovery." But their triumph was short-lived, for in 1380 the place
was again burned, despite the wall. Comparative quiet then reigned
till 1448, when the last and most terrible invasion occurred. Then,
according to Jeake, Rye was entirely burned, with the exception of the
Landgate, the walls of the parish church, Ypres Tower, and the
so-called Chapel of the Carmelite Friars in Watchbell Street. The town
was devastated to such an extent that it was unable to furnish its
quota of ships to the navy.

Then the sea encroached once more, and, washing away the cliffs on the
east, destroyed the walls built under commission of Richard the First;
and such was the condition of the town that Chaucer could write:

"As many another town is payrid and y-lassid
Within these few years, as we mow se at eye
Lo, Sirs, here fast by Wynchelse and Ry".

Folks discovered that by skilful artificial drainag