The Story of Sir Francis Drake

During the life of Francis Drake, Philip the Second of Spain was the most powerful king in Europe. Spain and the Netherlands belonged to him, parts of Italy, France, and Germany...

The four centuries before the sixteenth, in which Drake lived, have been called the Age of Discovery. The world widened before men’s eyes as new lands and seas, new peoples, and...

It was in January 1569 that the “troublesome voyage” ended for Drake, and in the summer of that year he married a Devonshire girl, named Mary Newman. The stories of his most fam...

After the return to the ship Captain Rance departed. But Drake had a new plan in his head; he meant to attack Cartagena, the capital of the Spanish Main. Sailing into the harbou...

There were forty-eight men of the party, of whom eighteen only were English. The Maroons carried arms and food, and got more food with their arrows from time to time. Every day...

Drake well knew that delay and idleness would soon spoil the spirits of his men, so he at once divided them into two companies, under himself and John Oxenham, to go roving in t...

So we see that both of Drake’s ships, the _Pascha_ and the _Swan_, were left behind in the West Indies, and he made a quick voyage home in the well-built Spanish frigate. We hea...

On the 20th of August the three ships entered the Straits of Magellan. Before the “high and steep grey cliffs, full of black stars,” of Cape Virgins, at the entrance against whi...

It was in the autumn of 1580 that Drake returned from his three years’ voyage. Wynter had brought the news home that Drake had entered the Straits of Magellan, but since then on...

When Drake returned to England, it was to hear the news of the “Babington plot.” This was a plot to assassinate Elizabeth, and to place Mary of Scotland on the throne. In 1587 M...

Drake’s raid upon the Spanish coast made it impossible for the Armada to sail in 1587. But after waiting so long Philip made his preparations with an almost feverish haste. The...

The great Armada was scattered, and yet the English did not feel secure from their enemy. The sight of that fleet so near their shores in “its terror and majesty,” and the memor...

Drake had settled in Buckland Abbey, which he had bought from Sir Richard Grenville. He helped to prepare and furnish ships for some of the different excursions against Spain, a...