Francis Drake by Roger Pocock (1906)
Roger Pocock's account of Francis Drake begins in 1573, four years after Drake's ship the Judith escaped from San Juan d'Ullua, by which time Drake had already spent those intervening years raiding, plundering, and burning along the Spanish main, earning himself the name Dragon among the Spanish. In 1573 he sailed from Plymouth with five small ships, intent on carrying English power into the South Seas for the first time. After capturing vessels near the Cape de Verde Islands and enduring fifty-four days in unknown waters before sighting the Brazils, he made his way to Magellan's Straits to rest his men. There a captain found guilty of mutiny and treason was court-martialled, and Drake offered him the choice of a ship to return to England, banishment among the savage tribes of the Land of Fire, or death. The man chose death at the hands of his countrymen, and the episode was conducted with grave ceremony: officers and prisoner took holy communion together, dined a final time, and parted with a handshake. Emerging into the Pacific alone after bad weather scattered his squadron, Drake learned from an Indian in a canoe of a gold-laden galleon at Santiago on the coast of Chili. The Spaniards of the South Seas were wholly unprepared for him. The galleon's crew, mostly ashore, had left behind a small company who drummed a welcome, only to be routed by Master Moon brandishing a large sword and crying down, dog, at every man until they fled to the hold. The town's people escaped to the bush, leaving the English to help themselves to a cargo of gold and wine worth some fifty thousand pounds, along with other provisions, Parson Fletcher among the beneficiaries with a silver chalice, two cruets, and an altar cloth. The English continued northward, methodically stripping the coast. A sleeping Spaniard on the beach yielded thirteen bars of silver, taken without waking him. A pack-train of llamas carried eight hundred pounds weight of silver. Three barks were searched, twelve ships cut adrift, and a bark with eighty pounds weight of gold and a gem-set golden crucifix was seized. The greatest prize was the galleon Cacafuego, overtaken at sea, disabled by a shot that brought down her mizzenmast, and found to contain thirteen chests of royals of plate, four score pounds weight of gold, twenty-six tuns of silver, and a quantity of jewels and precious stones. The galleon's pilot was relieved of one of his two silver cups, and the ship's steward received the other. Having taken every ship and town along the coast without killing or serious fighting, and with Drake conducting all his business with elaborate courtesy and piety, the expedition returned to England having circumnavigated the globe. Queen Elizabeth dined aboard Drake's ship at Greenwich and knighted him with a stroke of her sword. When Drake attempted to use the three wiverns of the Drake family as his coat of arms, protests at his presumption led the queen to grant him a specially devised heraldic device featuring a terrestrial globe, a ship guided by a hand from a cloud, and in the rigging a wivern hanged by the neck. Parson Fletcher, who wrote the account of the voyage, later fell from Drake's favour so completely that Drake formally consigned him to the devil and made him wear on his breast a notice proclaiming him the falsest knave alive. Drake's next voyage left the Indies in flames and brought tobacco back to the astonishment of England. When Philip II was assembling a great armada against England, Drake struck first, appearing on the Spanish coast with thirty sail, destroying a hundred ships, sweeping from port to port, and returning to Plymouth laden with plunder including a treasure galleon taken off the western islands. The following year Drake served as vice-admiral under Lord Howard in the defeat of the Spanish Armada. In 1589 he led a fleet in a failed attempt to deliver Portugal from Spanish rule. His last voyage was undertaken alongside his old commander Sir John Hawkins, returning once more to the West Indies. After varying fortunes of defeat and reprisal, pestilence struck the fleet at Nombre de Dios and felled Drake. His body was committed to the sea.
By Roger Pocock · First published 1906 · Genre: Historical Fiction, Adventure, Biography · 1,249 words
First lines
A. D. 1573
The _Judith_ had escaped from San Juan d'Ullua and her master, Francis Drake, of Devon, was now a bitter vengeful adversary, from that time onward living to be the scourge of Spain. Four years he raided, plundered, burned along the Spanish main, until the name Drake was changed to Dragon in the language of the dons.
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Genres
- Historical Fiction — The work is a fictionalized narrative account of Francis Drake's life and voyages, blending historical events with literary storytelling techniques and dramatic embellishment.
- Adventure — The narrative centers on Drake's daring maritime expeditions, battles, treasure hunts, and dangerous voyages across unknown waters, emphasizing action and peril.
- Biography — The work traces Drake's life from his early conflict at San Juan d'Ullua through his final voyage, presenting a chronological account of his major achievements and character.
- Naval History — The text extensively details Drake's maritime operations, naval tactics, ship encounters, and his role in significant naval events including the Spanish Armada.
Tags
biography · maritime history · exploration · Spanish Armada · naval warfare · Tudor period · England · Spain · 16th century · piracy · circumnavigation · colonial history
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Francis Drake is listed on Textopian as an article by Roger Pocock, dated 1906 CE.
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- Work type: Article
- Author: Roger Pocock
- Date: 1906 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Adventure, Biography, Naval History, Pirate Fiction
- Length: 1,249 words
- Structure: 1 section, 14 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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