southern coast, there was hurrying to join the Admiral of England, and to share in the honour of the first encounter with the foe" (Creasy). Among those who came thus with their ships were the Earls of Oxford, Northumberland, and Cumberland, Sir Robert and Sir Thomas Cecil, Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Thomas Gerard, and others. "Upon the newes being sent to Court from Plimouth of their certain arrivall," says Robert, Earl of Monmouth, in his "Personal Memoirs," "my Lord Cumberland and myselfe tooke post-horses and rode straight to Portsmouth, where we found a frigat that carried us to sea." With a fleet amounting ultimately to 140 ships, when near the rock known as the Eddystone, the admiral discovered the Armada to the westward as far as Fowey, sailing in the form of a half-moon, seven miles in length. All were under full sail, yet coming slowly up the Channel. "The ships appeared like so many floating castles," says Lediard, in his old "Naval History," " and the ocean seemed to groan under the weight of their heavy burdens. The Lord High Admiral willingly suffered them to pass by him, so that he might chase them in the rear, with all the advantage of the wind;" in other words, he got the weather-gage of the Duke of Medina Sidonia. "to 161 In this movement a great galleon, commanded by Don Pedro Valdez, being seriously battered in her hull and wrecked aloft, fell foul of another ship, and was so disabled that she was left astern by the rest, just as night was coming on, and the sea running high; and the English admiral, supposing that she had neither soldiers nor sailors on board, passed her in the pursuit. On the morning of the 22nd, she was seen by Sir Francis Drake, who sent a pinnace with orders for her to surrender; but Don Pedro Valdez replied, "I have 450 men on board, and stand too much upon my honour to yield." He then propounded certain conditions; to which the response of the vice-admiral was that "he might yield or not, as he chose, but he should soon find that Drake was no coward." Don Pedro, on learning that his immediate opponent was Drake, whose name was a terror to the Spaniards, yielded at once, and his ship was sent. into Plymouth. Prior to this, Drake divided among his own crew 55,000 golden ducats which he found on board of her. On the same night that Don Pedro was abandoned, the Spaniards had another mishap. A great ship, of Biscay, commanded by Don Miguel de Orquendo, was maliciously set on fire by a Dutch gunner, whom he had ill used; but other ships closed in, and the crews extinguished the flames, yet not until her upper deck was blown off. "Drake had been ordered to carry lights that The two fleets were sailing thus on the morning of Sunday, the 21st July, when, six miles westward of the Eddystone, Lord Howard, at nine o'clock, sent forward a pinnace named the Defiance, denounce war," by a discharge of all her guns-a | night," records Lediard; "but being in full chase demonstration which he immediately seconded by of five German hulks, or merchant ships, which he the fire of his own ship, the Ark Royal, which supposed to be the enemy's, happened to neglect opened a furious cannonade on the ship of Don it. This was the cause that most of the fleet lay Alphonso de Leva, which from its size he supposed by (to?) all night, because they could not see the to be that of the Spanish admiral. Shortening sail, lights." he poured a terrible fire into her, and would have destroyed her had she not been rescued by several other vessels closing in. Now Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher vigorously engaged the enemy's sternmost ship, under the Captain-General, Don Juan, the Marquis de Recaldez, who was on board one of the Portuguese galleons, and did all that a brave man could do to keep his squadron together; but, in spite of all his efforts, so sternly was he attacked, that they were driven among the main body of the fleet, while his own vessel was so battered in the hull by shot that she became quite unserviceable. The Spanish fleet being somewhat scattered now, the Duke of Medina Sidonia signalled for the ships to close, and, hoisting more sail, sought to hold on his course towards Calais; and now the battle took the form of a running fight. That night the Spanish fleet bore on by the Start, and next morning they were seen far to the leeward; and Sir Francis Drake, with his ships, did not rejoin the admiral until evening, as he had pursued the enemy within "culverin-shot" till daybreak. The whole of this day was spent by the duke in repairing damages, and putting his fleet in order. He commanded Don Alphonso de Leva to bring the first and last squadrons together; assigning to each ship its station in battle, according to a plan agreed upon in Spain, and any deviation from which involved the penalty of death. Orquendo's great ship had her crew and valuables taken out of her, and was cast adrift. She was found by Captain John Hawkins, with "fifty poor wretches" on board, the stench of whose half-burned bodies was horrible. A prize-crew took her into Weymouth. was Spaniards at first bore down under a press of sail, as if they meant to board the English; but seeing that the Ark, the Nonpareil, the Elizabeth Jonas, the Victory, and others, were prepared to meet them, they were content to drop GER After a calm night-the wind being northerly on the following morning the Spaniards tacked, and bore down upon the English; who also tacked, and stood westward. After several attempts to gain the weather-gage, another battle ensued, which was marked only by confusion and variety of success. The English ships, being better handled and lighter in draught than the unwieldy argosies of the Spaniards, stood quickly off or on, as their captains saw fit. The firing now ringing over the Channel for many miles; and while, in one quarter, some ships of London which were completely surrounded by the Spaniards were gallantly rescued, in another, the latter, with equal bravery, saved from capture their Admiral Recaldez. "The great guns on both sides rattled like so many peals of thunder; but the shot from the high-built Spanish ships flew for the most part over the heads of the English, without doing much execution." SIR FR FRAN CISCUS astern of the second named ship. In the meantime, the Triumph, Merchant-Royal, Centurion, Margaret, John, Mary Rose, and Golden Lion, being far to leeward, and separated from the rest of the fleet, were borne down upon by the great galeases of Naples, and a fierce conflict ensued for an hour and a half, till the Neapolitans sheered off, when a change of wind to the southwest enabled a squadron of English ships to attack the western flank of the Spanish fleet with such fury that they were all compelled to give way; and so, till the sun began to set, the desultory and running fight went on. Wherever the firing was hottest, Lord Howard's ship was seen. In this day's strife a great ship of Venice and many smaller were taken; and the Mayflower, a merchantman of London, behaved bravely, "like a man-of-war." BLADE OF THE SWORD OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE (SIR SIBBALD SCOTT'S A Mr. Cock, who was gallantly fighting a little volunteer ship of his own, named the Delight, was the only Englishman of note killed. Some officers advised Lord Howard to grapple and board; but knowing that the Spaniards had 20,000 soldiers on board, he wisely declined to do so, as loss on his side would peril the safety of all England. The On the 24th of July there was a cessation of hostilities on both sides, and Lord Howard, being short of ammunition, sent the pinnaces inshore for a supply of powder and ball, as both had failed in the fleet. Sir Walter Raleigh, in recording this great mistake, says "that many of our great guns stood but as ciphers and scarecrows, not unlike to the Easterling hulks, who were wont to paint great red port-holes in their broadsides, where they carried no ordnance at all." On the 25th, the St. Anne, a great Portuguese galleon, was taken near the Isle of Wight by Captain John Hawkins, under the fire of the Spaniards, who attempted to rescue her. On this day, the further to encourage his gallant captains, the Lord Admiral knighted the Lords Howard and Sheffield, Roger Townsend, John Hawkins, Martin Frobisher, and others; and it was resolved not to assail the enemy any more until they came into the narrower part of the Channel, between Dover and Calais, before which last-named place the Armada came to anchor on the 27th of July, and the Duke of Medina Sidonia dispatched a second urgent message in vain to the Duke of Parma for aid. On the 28th the Lord Admiral resorted to a means of destruction hitherto totally unknown in naval warfare-fire-ships. Selecting eight of the worst craft in his fleet, he bestowed on them plenty of pitch, tar, resin, brimstone, and everything that was inflammable. Their cannon he had loaded with bullets, chains, iron bars, and other missiles of destruction. Thus equipped, with all their canvas set, he sent them before the wind and with the tide, about two hours before midnight, under the command of two captains named Prowse and Young, right into the heart of the Spanish fleet. On coming within a certain distance, they lashed the helms, set fire to the trains, dropped into their boats, and withdrew. Their approach was no sooner discovered by the Spaniards, as they came with their hulls, masts, and rigging all sheeted with fire, than the utmost consternation ensued. "Many of them had been at the siege of Antwerp, and had seen the destructive machines made use of there. Suspecting, therefore, that these were big with such-like engines, they set up a most hideous clamour of 'Cut your cables! Get up your anchors !' and immediately, in a panic, put to sea." All was now confusion and precipitation, and another large galleon, having had her rudder unshipped, was tossed about till she was stranded on the sands of Calais, where she was taken by Sir Amyas Preston, in the admiral's long-boat, accompanied by other boats manned by 100 seamen. Her flag was not hauled down without a bloody scuffle, in which her captain, Don Hugo de Monçada, was shot through the head, and 400 of her soldiers and rowers drowned or put to the sword. After 300 galley-slaves and 50,000 ducats had been taken out of her, she was abandoned as a wreck to Gordon, the Governor of Calais. After the terror, flight, and miserable disasters by which many of their ships were driven into the North Sea, and others on the Flemish coast, the Spaniards, ranging themselves in the best order they could, approached Gravelines; but, as the English had got the weather-gage, they could obtain supplies neither there nor at Dunkirk. In the meantime, Sir Francis Drake, in the Revenge, Sir John Hawkins, in the Victory, Captain Fenner, in the Nonpareil, Sir George Beeston, in the Dreadnought, Sir Robert Southwell, in the Elizabeth Jonas, and other brave officers, kept pouring in their shot upon them continually, "and tore many of their ships so dreadfully that the water entered on all sides; and some, flying for relief towards Ostend, were shot through and through again by the Zealanders." In this day's action, a great galleon was so mauled by the Bonaventure, Rainbow, and Vanguard, that she sank, like a stone, in the night. Then a great galleon of Biscay, with two other vessels, were sunk. The galleon St. Matthew, under Don Diego de Pimentelli, coming to the aid of Don Francisco de Toledo (colonel of thirty-two companies), in the St. Philip, which had been terribly cut up by the ships of Lord Henry Seymour and Sir William Winter, was taken by the Dutch; while the St. Philip, after being pursued as far as Ostend, was captured by some ships of Flushing. The Spaniards were now fighting simply to escape. On the 31st of July the wind was blowing hard in the morning, from the north-west, and on the Spaniards making a last desperate attempt to recover the Channel again, were driven towards Zealand; upon which the English, who had followed them so closely for so many days, gave over the chase, supposing the Great Armada to be utterly ruined, and in danger of running aground upon the shoals and shallows of that flat and sandy coast. The Duke of Medina Sidonia now held a Council of War, at which it was unanimously resolved, as it was impossible to repass the English Channel; as they were in want of many things, especially cannon-shot; as their ships were miserably battered and torn; their anchors had been slipped in Calais Roads; as provisions were short, and water spent; many had been slain, and many were sick and wounded; and as there was no hope now of their being joined by the Duke of Parma, whose armament was blockaded by the Hollanders, they should The Spanish Armada.] THE TOTAL DEFEAT. 105 return to Spain north-about by the coast of Spanish ships, having on board 700 men, was Scotland. To save water, all the cavalry horses and baggage mules were flung overboard, and all sail was made for the North Sea. Leaving a squadron, under Lord Henry Seymour, to assist the Dutch in blocking up the Prince of Parma, and sending another, under Sir William Winter, to guard the coast, the Lord Admiral with the main body of his victorious fleet pursued the flying foe as far as the Firth of Forth. He confidently believed it was the duke's design to put in there, and he had taken measures for his utter destruction; but finding that the Spaniards bore on their course to the north, he relinquished the pursuit. thrown ashore by a tempest near the little seaport of Anstruther, on the coast of Fife; but so far were the inhabitants from taking this opportunity of imprisoning or otherwise punishing their enemies, who were now completely at their mercy, that they supplied the Spanish soldiers and seamen with clothing, food, and shelter, while the commander (who was an admiral) and his officers were kept by a gentleman at his house until they obtained the king's permission to depart home. Thus far Mevil tells us in his Diary; and Lediard adds that they were sent by James VI. to the Duke of Parma, in the Netherlands; a third authority has it, after a year's detention in Scotland. For three successive Sundays the Scots celebrated the victory of the English. Most miserable was the future fate of the Armada. Of the duke's vessels, many were cast away among the Scottish isles, and seventeen, with 5,394 men on Of all the ships that sailed from Lisbon, only board, on the coast of Ireland; among others, a fifty-three returned to Spain; of the four galeases stately galleon and two Venetian ships of great of Naples, but one; of the four galleons of Portugal, burden. All who were shipwrecked in Ireland were but one; of the ninety-one great hulks from many put to the sword, or perished by the hands of the provinces, there returned only thirty, fifty-eight common executioner; the Lord-Deputy, by whose being lost. In short, Philip lost in this expedition barbarous orders this was done, excusing himself eighty-one ships, 13,500 soldiers, above 2,000 prion pretence that they might join the rebels. Thirty-soners in England and in the Low Countries; and, eight ships, that were driven by a strong west wind to conclude, there was no noble or honourable into the Channel, were there taken by the English, family in all the Spanish peninsula but had to and others by the Rochellers, in France. mourn for a son, a brother, or a dear kinsman, who had found his grave in the Channel, on the shores of Ireland, or amid the bleak rocky isles of Western Scotland. Distressed, tossed, and wasted by storms and miseries, the remnant came home about the end of September, only to encounter sorrow, shame, and dishonour. The chief treasure-ship, it was long alleged, was plundered and blown up by Macleod of Dunvegan, in the west of Scotland; and towards the close of the last century a frigate was sent by the Spanish Government to investigate the story and the locality. Whether the crew found any treasure in the bay is unknown; but, from the circumstance of their mutinying and becoming pirates, it was currently supposed they had done so. A cannon from this or one of the other wrecks of the Armada is now in the castle of Inverary. Macleod is said to have used her artillery and soldiers successfully in the furtherance of a feud with one of his neighbours. In the treatment of those unfortunate castaways, Scotland, though sternly Presbyterian, was very unlike Catholic Ireland. There was one incident occurred at this period which, though it had little to do with the great events we have narrated, has been deemed worthy of a place in history, inasmuch as it shows that the detestation of Catholicism, rendered more keen by the recent warlike attempt to subvert the Protestant institutions of both kingdoms, did not in any degree repress the promptings of humanity towards Catholic people in distress. Early one morning, many days before the fate of the Armada was known in Scotland, one of the Camden says that Philip received the news of the ill-success of his fleet with heroic patience; and that when he heard of its total defeat, he thanked God it was no worse. But, according to Anthony Coppley, an English fugitive, who was present, Philip was at mass when the tidings came, and at its conclusion "he swore that he would waste and consume his crown, even to the value of a candlestick (pointing to one that stood upon the altar) but either he would utterly ruin Her Majesty and England or else himself, and let Spain become tributary to her." The Duke of Medina Sidonia was forbidden to appear at Court. His title was taken from a small city in Eastern Andalusia, which was made, in 1445, a duchy for the powerful family of Gusman, of which there were three other dukes and two marquises. The Spanish priests, who had so frequently blessed the Armada and foretold its success, were puzzled for a time to account for such a victory being won by heretics, till they |