rd_."

'THE QUEEN'S REASON.

[_Probably added in 1584-85._]

'For he walkt forth a rainy day,
To the _Now-Found-land_ he took his way,
With many a gallant fresh and green.
He never came home again,
God bless the Queen!'

Notes to this song explain: 'We understand as the three-fold holders of
the name, "Sir Francis," three persons; Sir Francis Drake, Knighted by
the Queen after his return from circumnavigating the world in 1580: Sir
Francis Walsingham, and Sir Francis Vere. Sir William Cecil, Lord
Burleigh, and his son, Sir Robert.... The Lord Chamberlain probably
meant the despicable Sir James Crofts, who hated and calumniated Drake.'

The song probably reflects the temper of the time.

'They never came back agen.
God bless the Queen.'

The lines are very characteristic of the spirit of the age that was
bound to conquer. There was sorrow for those who were gone, but no
complaint, no grudging those who had perished where the fame or power of
the Queen could be furthered. Gloriana's subjects found no price too
great, no sacrifice worth counting; a leader might fall, but the great
scheme must go on, her rule spread farther and wider, and the hazards
and failures overstepped.

Although upon all parts of the South Hams there hovers a spell that is
inexplicable, perhaps it is felt more in Dartmouth than in any other
place one can think of. Possibly it is the loveliness of sea and land,
flowers in the crevices of the cliffs hanging low towards the water's
edge, the round tower rising out of the sea, the picturesqueness of the
town, with its thronging associations, or just the intangible influences
of bygone days. But there is something of enchantment about the tower,
especially when it is contemplated from the water. And to fully
appreciate the whole, one should slip out of the harbour past the Mew
Stone, where the sea-gulls rise like a drift of snowflakes on a sudden
gust, into the midst of sliding walls of transparent green water beyond,
where--if there is wind enough--glassy hillocks all round, at moments,
hide everything else from sight. Besides the fascination of watching
waves towering above the boat, and following it as if they would fall
over and bury it in their depths, and climbing them, with the sudden
plunge into the hollow beyond, it may be, especially if shoals of
mackerel are near, that one may have the pleasure of coming upon a flock
of gulls, swimmi