s half-brothers were riding up to town from
Plymouth, when Raleigh's horse stumbled and threw him within the
precincts of a beautiful Dorsetshire estate, then in possession of the
Dean and Chapter of Salisbury, and that Raleigh, choosing to consider
that he had thus taken seisin of the soil, asked the Queen for
Sherborne Castle when he arrived at Court. It may have been on this
occasion that Elizabeth asked him when he would cease to be a beggar,
and received the reply, 'When your Majesty ceases to be a benefactor!'
His first lease included a payment of 260_l._ a year to the Bishop of
Salisbury, who asserted a claim to the property. In January 1592, after
the payment of a quarter's rent, Raleigh was confirmed in possession,
and began to improve and enjoy the property. It consisted of the manor
of Sherborne, with a large park, a castle which had to be repaired, and
several farms and hamlets, together with a street in the borough of
Sherborne itself. It is a curious fact that Raleigh had to present the
Queen with a jewel worth 250_l._ to induce her 'to make the Bishop,'
that is to say, to appoint to the see of Salisbury, now vacant, a man
who would consent to the alienation of such rich Church lands as the
manors of Sherborne and Yetminster. John Meeres, afterwards so
determined and exasperating an enemy of Raleigh's, was now[5] appointed
his bailiff, and Adrian Gilbert a sort of general overseer of the works.

Raleigh had been but two months settled in possession of Sherborne, with
his ninety-nine years' lease clearly made out, when he passed suddenly
out of the sunlight into the deepest shadow of approaching disfavour.
The year opened with promise of greater activity and higher public
honours than Raleigh had yet displayed and enjoyed. An expedition was to
be sent to capture the rich fleet of plate-ships, known as the Indian
Carracks, and then to push on to storm the pearl treasuries of Panama.
For the first time, Elizabeth had shown herself willing to trust her
favourite in person on the perilous western seas. Raleigh was to command
the fleet of fifteen ships, and under him was to serve the morose hero
of Cathay, the dreadful Sir Martin Frobisher. Raleigh was not only to be
admiral of the expedition, but its chief adventurer also, and in order
to bear this expense he had collected his available fortune from various
quarters, stripping himself of all immediate resources. To help him, the
Queen had bought The Ark Raleigh,