[Illustration: Cover art] STORIES OF ELIZABETHAN HEROES STIRRING RECORDS OF THE INTREPID BRAVERY AND BOUNDLESS RESOURCE OF THE MEN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH'S REIGN BY EDWARD GILLIAT, M.A. (Oxon.) SOMETIME MASTER AT HARROW SCHOOL AUTHOR OF "FOREST OUTLAWS," "HEROES OF MODERN INDIA," "ROMANCE OF MODERN SIEGES," &c. &c. WITH FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS LONDON SEELEY, SERVICE & CO. LIMITED 38 GREAT RUSSELL STREET 1914 _UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME_ THE RUSSELL LIBRARY FOR BOYS & GIRLS A SERIES OF COPYRIGHT VOLUMES OF TRUE STORIES OF ADVENTURE _Fully Illustrated. Extra crown 8vo, 2s. 6d. each_ STORIES OF RED INDIAN ADVENTURE. By H. W. G. HYRST, Author of "Adventures in the Arctic Regions," &c. STORIES OF ELIZABETHAN HEROES. By Rev. EDWARD GILLIAT, M.A., sometime Master at Harrow School, Author of "In Lincoln Green," "Heroes of the Indian Mutiny," &c., &c. SEELEY, SERVICE & CO. LIMITED CONTENTS CHAPTER I The Elizabethan World CHAPTER II Sir John Hawkins, Seaman and Administrator CHAPTER III George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, the Champion of the Tilt-yard CHAPTER IV Sir Martin Frobisher, the Explorer of the Northern Seas CHAPTER V Sir Humphrey Gilbert, the Founder of Newfoundland CHAPTER VI Lord Howard of Effingham, the Trusted of the Queen CHAPTER VII Sir Richard Grenville, the Hero of Flores CHAPTER VIII John Davis, the Hero of the Arctic and Pacific CHAPTER IX Francis Drake, the Scourge of Spain CHAPTER X Sir Francis Drake, the Queen's Greatest Seaman CHAPTER XI Sir Richard Hawkins, Seaman and Geographer LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS "Sir Francis" ... Coloured Frontispiece [missing from source book] Attempt on Sir John Hawkins' Life Fire-Ships Capture of an Eskimo England's First Colony The Blowing-up of the "San Felipe" Sir Richard Grenville and the "Revenge" Drake captures Nombre de Dios Angling for Albatross _PUBLISHERS' NOTE_ _The contents of this volume have been taken from Mr. Gilliat's larger book entitled "Heroes of the Elizabethan Age," published at five shillings._ STORIES OF ELIZABETHAN HEROES CHAPTER I THE ELIZABETHAN WORLD Before we touch upon the lives of some of the heroes of the Maiden Queen, it were well to consider briefly what life was like in those days, and how it differed from our own. When on a November day in 1558 Sir Nicholas Throckmorton spurred his steaming horse to Hatfield, in haste to inform the Princess Elizabeth that Queen Mary was dead, he was bidden to ride back to the Palace of St. James's and request one of the ladies of the bedchamber to give him, if the Queen were really dead, the black enamelled ring which her Majesty wore night and day. So cautious had the constant fear of death made Anne Boleyn's daughter. Meanwhile a deputation from the Council had arrived at Hatfield to offer to the new Queen their dutiful homage.