“Then commeth oure owner lyke a lorde, And speketh many a royall worde, And dresseth hym to the hygh borde To see all thyng be well.” Thus, with the demand for shipping to carry cargo and pilgrims across the open sea, there was every chance given to the Mercantile Marine, and by the fifteenth century the single-masted ship had begun to be displaced by the three-master, for the reason that the merchantman was becoming bigger, and it was necessary to split the sails up for ease in handling. Thus the big cargo ship now has a small square foresail on her foremast, a big square mainsail on her mainmast, and a triangular lateen sail on the mizzen-mast. The mere fact that the last-mentioned, characteristic, Mediterranean sail was added to northern ships during the fifteenth century, is evidence of the influence which the Portuguese and Spanish ships were having on our distant-voyaging vessels. Sea transportation was becoming the rule, and no longer the exception; trade overseas was increasing; merchants and seamen were fast becoming imbued with new ideas seen in strange lands, and in fact the world was beginning to awake. The biggest of the ships carried a main topsail, and by this time the rudder had been shifted from the quarter to aft, as it is to-day. The hull is in a transition state, still feeling the influence of the Viking type, but not yet a wholesome creature. The forecastle, sterncastle and main topmast castle are still there, but they have become amalgamated with the general design of the hull rather than being mere additional platforms. There is a contemporary manuscript which shows such craft under way, at anchor, and even being towed out of harbour by the ship’s boat against a head wind, past a flaming beacon which marks a promontory. And even at this time there were such things as pilots’ guides for the coasts of England and Wales, as well as sailing directions for the Bay of Biscay.