Drake’s Drum
In time of crisis, so the legend goes, Sir Francis Drake will come to our aid again, as once he did against the Spanish Armada.
1898
Queen Victoria 1837-1901
In time of crisis, so the legend goes, Sir Francis Drake will come to our aid again, as once he did against the Spanish Armada.
1898
Queen Victoria 1837-1901
Drake’s Drum is a snare drum painted with the arms of Sir Francis Drake, which went with him on his historic voyage around the world in 1577-80. It is said that before his death, he instructed his heirs to keep it safe at Buckland Abbey, his family home in Devon, and promised that if ever England were under threat the people should beat the drum, and he would return. The drum survives to this day.
Spelled as in West Country dialect.
Drake he’s in his hammock an’ a thousand mile away,
(Capten, art tha sleepin’ there below?)
Slung atween the round shot in Nombre Dios Bay,*
An’ dreamin’ arl the time o’ Plymouth Hoe.
Yarnder lumes the Island, yarnder lie the ships,
Wi’ sailor lads a-dancin’ heel-an’-toe,
An’ the shore-lights flashin’, an’ the night-tide dashin’,
He sees et arl so plainly as he saw et long ago.
Drake he was a Devon man, an’ ruled the Devon seas,
(Capten, art tha sleepin’ there below?),
Rovin’ tho’ his death fell, he went wi’ heart at ease,
An’ dreamin’ arl the time o’ Plymouth Hoe.
“Take my drum to England, hang et by the shore,
Strike et when your powder’s runnin’ low;
If the Dons* sight Devon, I’ll quit the port o’ Heaven,
An’ drum them up the Channel as we drummed them long ago.”*
Drake he’s in his hammock till the great Armadas come,
(Capten, art tha sleepin’ there below?),
Slung atween the round shot, listenin’ for the drum,
An’ dreamin’ arl the time o’ Plymouth Hoe.
Call him on the deep sea, call him up the Sound,
Call him when ye sail to meet the foe;
Where the old trade’s plyin’ an’ the old flag flyin’
They shall find him ware an’ wakin’, as they found him long ago.
Spelled as in West Country dialect.
From The Island Race (1898), by Sir Henry John Newbolt (1862-1938).
* Nombre de Dios is a town in Panama. After Drake died of dysentery in 1595, he was buried at sea while his ship was anchored off Portobelo a little further round the bend of Panama’s northern coast. For Drake’s circumnavigation of the globe, see The Voyage of the ‘Golden Hinde’.
* In this case, ‘Dons’ means Spanish nobility. Much of Drake’s career centred on England’s standing quarrel with Spain. King Philip II of Spain believed that as the widower of Queen Mary I of England, he should be King of England, but the crown went to Mary’s half-sister Elizabeth I. Elizabeth’s support for Protestant rebels in the Spanish Netherlands, and Drake’s harassment of Spanish ships in Central America, added fuel to the fire.
* A reference to the victory of the Royal Navy over the Spanish Armada in 1588. King Philip hoped his impressive fleet and the soldiers transported aboard them would allow him to conquer England, take the crown, and return the country to Roman Catholicism. Drake was one of the leading commanders of the successful English defence. See The Spanish Armada.
1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?
2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate his ideas more effectively?
3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?
Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.