THE LAST FIGHT OF THE REVENGE BY S r WALTER RALEIGH WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY HENRY NEWBOLT, M.A., AND ILLUSTRATIONS BY FRANK BRANGWYN, A.R.A. LONDON: GIBBINGS AND COMPANY 1908...

“In the year 1591 was that memorable Fight of an English Ship called the Revenge , under the command of S r Richard Greenvill; Memorable (I say) even beyond credit, and to the Height of some Heroicall Fable. And though it were a Defeat, yet it exceeded a Victory.” Sir FRANCIS BACON “S r Richard Greenfield got eternall honour and reputation of great valour, and of a experimented Souldier, chusing rather to sacrifice his life, and to passe all danger whatsoever, then to fayle in his Obligation....

It was in 1577, the year in which the Golden Hind sailed from Plymouth on her ever-memorable voyage, that the Revenge first took the water. Probably, says Arber (but I cannot find upon what authority), she was built at Chatham by Sir John Hawkins. According to Sir John Laughton she was launched at Deptford. Ships are the children of predestination, as every sailor knows: from the moment when they leave the slips they are either lucky or unlucky. In the opinion of the younger Hawkins the Revenge

Drake was beyond doubt the greatest man who ever set foot in the Revenge , but it was not for him, or any like him, to sail her to the fulfilment of her unparalleled destiny. The imagination of two great peoples has made of him an almost supernatural hero, a gigantic figure of romance; but in spite of his inexhaustible courage, his dazzling fortune, and the touch of extravagance which he caught from the spirit of his time, he was neither a Don Quixote nor a Prince Fortunate of mere adventures. F

Is this a condemnation? Is Sir Richard Grenville of the Revenge , after three centuries of fame, to be summed up as a ferocious and domineering fire-eater, hateful to his subordinates and disobedient to his chief? I do not think so. It is true that we cannot look to him for an example of what a seaman should be, or what an officer should do, but he is none the less a beacon to all Englishmen, because he was a great fighter and above the fear of death. To breathe the inspiration of his genius, it