Prussia Cove was the most
noted smuggling cove between Penzance and Porthleven.
There, to this day, stands the house of John Carter,
the 'King of Prussia,' as he was called, the most
successful and notorious smuggler of the district.
His reign extended from 1777 to 1807, and he was
succeeded by his son-in-law, Captain William
Richards, under whom Prussia Cove maintained its
reputation.
The story goes,
according to Baring-Gould, that John Carter, as a
boy, received his nickname the "King of
Prussia." The cove had formerly been called
'Porthleah,' but it is now known a Prussia Cove in
recollection of John Carter's exploits.
One one occasion,
during his absence from home, the excise officers
carried off a cargo that had lately arrived from
France for Carter, to the local custom house store.
On his return, Carter summoned his men, and they
broke into the stores that night and carried off all
that he held to be his own, without touching a single
article to which he considered he had no claim.
On another
occasion, when a revenue cutter pursued Carter,
Carter ran through a narrow passage in the reefs and
fired on the cutter boat. He continued firing until
darkness when Carter was able to escape.
Baring-Gould, A
Book of Cornwall, pages
274-275.)
