The reign of Queen Elizabeth has been called the Golden Age of English History. And among the heroic figures of that stirring time there are few more striking than the little group of Devonshire men who played so gallant a part in making England great:--Drake and Hawkyns, the scourges of Spain; Ralegh, courtier and soldier, sailor and author; Gilbert, the discoverer of Newfoundland; and Grenville, who at Flores, in the _Revenge_ of immortal memory, kept at bay a Spanish fleet of fifty-three sail. [Illustration: Signatures of Drake and Hawkyns] The great event of the reign was the defeat of the Armada. And although Howard of Effingham, the Lord High Admiral, showed himself a skilful and intrepid sailor, it is Drake whom we always think of first in connection with the victory. It was Drake whose buccaneering exploits on the coasts of Spain and her colonies did so much to heighten Philip II's ambition to humiliate England. It was Drake who, in 1587, dashed into Cadiz, where the Armada was preparing, and by destroying 100 ships and vast quantities of stores, delayed for a whole year the sailing of the expedition. And when at last the Armada had been sighted, it was Drake who, according to the commonly received tradition, thinking it wiser to wait until the enemy's fleet had passed Plymouth Sound, and so take them in the rear, persuaded his fellow-captains to stay and finish that never-to-be-forgotten game of bowls, before the English ships, lying ready in the Catwater, should slip their moorings and stand out to sea. It was Drake who was foremost in the attack. It was Drake who took the _Capitana_, the flagship of Pedro de Valdez, and brought her, the first prize of the great victory, into Torbay. And when the English fireships had scattered the hostile fleet in headlong flight, it was Drake who was foremost in the chase. [Illustration: Flagon taken by Drake from the "Capitana" of the Armada (_In Windsor Castle_)] [Illustration: Drake's Drum] Among the relics of Devonshire's greatest hero, carefully treasured by his descendants at his old home at Buckland Abbey, are his sword and the famous drum that he carried with him round the world; while at Nutwell Court are flags that he flew while in command of the _Pelican_, the miniature of herself given to him by Queen Elizabeth, and other objects of the greatest historical interest. And among the Royal plate in Windsor Castle is preserved the noble wine-flagon of bold silver-gilt _repoussé_ work, standing nearly a yard high, which Drake took from the _Capitana_ of the Armada and presented to Queen Elizabeth. An illustration of it, from a photograph taken for this book by command of the Queen, is here shown for the first time. [Illustration: The "Mayflower" Stone on Plymouth Quay]