GREAT ENGLISH SEAMAN

New Zealand Listener, Volume 4, Issue 79, 27 December 1940, Page 12

GREAT ENGLISH SEAMAN

Radio Tribute On Francis Drake’s 400th Anniversary

NOTHER chapter in the legend of A Drake’s Drum that is supposed to roll in the hour of England’s danger and lead Drake’s countrymen once more to victory, is quoted in the NBS programme commemorating the 400th anniversary of the birth of Francis Drake, to be given on December 29 from 2YA, The story is told of the rolling of a drum that was heard on a ship manned by West Country men at Scapa Flow awaiting the arrival of the German fleet in November, 1918. But the Germans surrendered.

One of the very greatest of English seamen was Francis Drake — in the opinion of some, the greatest seaman of all, greater even than Nelson. We do not know for certain when he was born. Some think in 1540, some in 1541. We keep the 400th anniversary of his birth, not only because he was the first British Commander to sail round the world; not only because he plundered the dominion’s of Queen Elizabeth’s enemies with such amazing audacity; not only because he singed the King of Spain’s beard at Cadiz, and helped to defeat the Spanish Armada in that long historic fight up the Channel. We remember him because he was the father of the British Navy; because he was the first British seaman to grasp the basic principle of strategy that you must go out and seek the enemy wherever he is and destroy him, and because he founded these traditions of service that animate the Navy to this day. Drake was a fighting seaman of superb genius and the creator of generations of sailors imbued with his spirit. In this hour of destiny, 1940, he must be remembered. Naturally, of course, famous Devon songs and stories accompany the radio presentation, particularly the poems of Alfred Noyes and Sir Henry Newbold, such as "Drake’s Drum," "Devon, O Devon," and "Homeward Bound," all to the musical setting of Stanford.

Queen Elizabeth’s Speech But the highlight of this feature is a record of the great speech by Queen Elizabeth at Tilbury when the Armada was threatening England, and when she cried that she might be a poor, weak woman, but she had the heart of a King. The noble words which spurred on her soldiers and sailors facing "the richest spoils of Mexico, the stoutest hearts of

Spain" will find an echo in the hearts of many listeners in this, another year of threatened invasion. The narrators of the NBS feature describe what sort of man Drake was, tell of some of his well-nigh incredible deeds, and explain his strategy; but the feature will be enjoyed and remembered equally for the fine old Devon songs and for the noble words of the Queen’s speech,