Rambles among the Channel Islands / by a Naturalist.

Date:
[1855?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Rambles among the Channel Islands / by a Naturalist. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    43/402 (page 31)
    despair, are said to have surrendered. It must be acknowledged that this anecdote wears more of the character of fiction than of fact. Orgueil Castle was recaptured, and the French expelled the island. In the reign of Edward IV. Guernsey re- ceived the privilege of neutrality. It had been noticed how exposed these islands were in time of war, occupying, as they did, a position so close to a great power, with which England was not unfrequently at variance; and appa- rently with a view to its security, and to the preservation of its inhabitants from the mis- fortunes always attending the outbreak of war, this privilege was conceded. In the intervening period between the reign of this last monarch and that of Edward VI. few events of interest relating to these islands are on historical record. In the early part of Edward VI. s reign, the islands again came to their remembrance, and the French resolved on a desperate attempt at their surprise and cap- ture. Having fitted out a naval squadron with a strong force, they came down upon and with- out resistance captm-ed the little island of Sark, lying over against Guernsey, and distant from It about nine miles. This island appears to have been almost deserted at the time: its ormer principal occupants, having been monks