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338 THE SUSSEX COAST
well-known old Saxon Doom that " if a merchant thrived so that he fared thrice over the sea by his own means, then was he of thane-right worthy." There is no novelty in sending successful men of business into the House of Lords. The Cinque Ports were Hastings, Sandwich, Dover, Romney, and Hythe; two additional ones whose status seems to have differed chiefly in name were Win-chelsea and Rye : they were styled the two ancient towns. A considerable number of other ports belonged to the organisation as members of the confederate towns, and these, so far as Sussex was concerned, were Seaford and Pevensey, corporate members of Hastings and Bulverhythe, Hydney, Higham, Northeye and the Grange, noncorporate members of the same.
In truth, the institutions of the Confederacy seem to have originated from business at Yarmouth, whither vessels from all the ports resorted for purposes of fishing and selling fish; but this was a tame and uninspiring beginning, so a connection was claimed with the venerable organisation associated with the Roman Count of the Saxon Shore. Nor can this possibly be said to have been merely an idle conceit, for as Shakespeare says, " there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so," and for centuries men really believed that such historic continuity was a fact. Even in setting forth their claim to perform certain duties at the Coronation of Edward VII., the Ports drew special attention to the fact " that the area subject to the jurisdiction of the ^said Ports and Towns ... is commensurate with that formerly commanded by the Count of the Saxon Shore." J. H. Round believes the organisation of the Ports to have been due to Continental |
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