In 1377 the town was partly burnt by the French, and in 1403 Dartmouth
combined with Plymouth, and their ships ravaged the coasts of France,
where, falling in with the French fleet, they destroyed and captured
forty-one of the enemy.
In the following year, 1404, the French attempted to avenge themselves,
and landed near Stoke Fleming, about three miles outside Dartmouth, with
a view to attacking the town in the rear; but owing to the loquacity of
one of the men connected with the enterprise the inhabitants were
forewarned and prepared accordingly. Du Chatel, a Breton Knight, was the
leader of the Expedition, and came over, as he said, "to exterminate the
vipers"; but when he landed, matters turned out "otherwise than he had
hoped," for the Dartmouth men had dug a deep ditch near the seacoast,
and 600 of them were strongly entrenched behind it, many with their
wives, "who fought like wild cats." They were armed with slings, with
which they made such good practice that scores of the Bretons fell in
the ditch, where the men finished them off, and the rest of the force
retreated, leaving 400 dead and 200 prisoners in the hands of the
English.
[Illustration: OLD HOUSES IN HIGHER STREET, DARTMOUTH]
In 1620 the Pilgrim Fathers called at Dartmouth with their ships
_Speedwell_ and _Mayflower_, as the captain of the _Speedwell_ (who it
was afterwards thought did not want to cross the Atlantic) complained
that his ship needed repairs, but on examination she was pronounced
seaworthy.
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