1. =The Singeing of the King of Spain's Beard. 1587.=--After Mary's execution Philip claimed the crown of England for himself or his daughter the Infanta Isabella, on the plea that he was descended from a daughter of John of Gaunt, and prepared a great fleet in the Spanish and Portuguese harbours for the invasion of England. In attempting to overthrow Elizabeth he was eager not merely to suppress English Protestantism, but to put an end to English smuggling and piracy in Spanish America, and to stop the assistance given by Englishmen to the Netherlanders who had rebelled against him. Before his fleet was ready to sail Drake appeared off his coast, running into his ports, burning his store-ships, and thus making an invasion impossible for that year (=1587=). Drake, as he said on his return, had singed the king of Spain's beard. 2. =The Approach of the Armada. 1588.=--The Invincible Armada,[18] as some foolish Spaniards called Philip's great fleet, set out at last in =1588=. It was to sail up the Channel to Flanders, and to transport Parma and his army to England. Parma's soldiers were the best disciplined veterans in Europe, while Elizabeth's were raw militia, who had never seen a shot fired in actual war. If, therefore, Parma succeeded in landing, it would probably go hard with England. It was, therefore, in England's interest to fight the Armada at sea rather than on land. [Footnote 18: 'Armada' was the Spanish name for any armed fleet.] [Illustration: Sir Martin Frobisher, died 1594: from a picture belonging to the Earl of Carlisle.]