I Answered This Much In Sum, That, Howbeit Neither Our Friendship, Which
Could Not Be Great, Seeing Their King And
They were friends to the
greatest enemy of Christ, the pope of Rome, and our king and we defied
him,
Nor yet their cause against our neighbours and special friends of
England, could procure any benefit at our hands for their relief or
comfort; nevertheless they should know by experience that we were men,
and so moved by human compassion, and christians of better religion
_nor_ [than] they, which should _kythe_ [appear manifest] in the fruits
and effects plain contrary to theirs: For, whereas our people, resorting
among them in peaceable and lawful affairs of merchandise, were
violently taken and cast in prison, their goods and _gier_ [chattels]
confiscate, and their bodies committed to the cruel flaming fire for the
cause of religion, they should find nothing amongst us but Christian
pity and works of mercy and alms, leaving to God to work in their hearts
concerning religion as it pleased him. This being truly reported again
to him by his townsmen, with great reverence he gave thanks and said,
"He could not make answer for their _kirk_ [church], and the laws and
order thereof, only for himself, that there were divers Scotsmen who
knew him, and to whom he had shewn courtesy and favour at Calice[352],
and as he supposed some of this same town of Anstruther."
[Footnote 352: _Calice_ in this passage, and _Calais_ in one subsequent,
certainly means Cadiz in Spain; which to this day is often called
_Cales_ by English mariners. - E.]
So [I] shewed him that the bailies had granted him licence, with the
captains, to go to their lodging for their refreshment, but to none of
their men to land, till the overlord of the town were advertised, and
understood the kings majesties mind _anent_ [concerning] them. Thus with
great courtesie he departed.
That night the _laird_ [lord of the manor] being advertised, came; and,
on the morn, with a good number of the gentlemen of the countrey round
about, gave the said general and the captains _presence_, [audience] and
after the same speeches in effect as before, received them in his house,
and suffered the souldiers to come a land and ly altogether to the
number of thirteen score, for the most part young beardless men,
_silly_, [weak] travelled, and hungered; to the which, one day or two
_kail pottage_[353] and fish was given; for my advice was conform to the
prophet Elizeus [Elisha] his to the king of Israel in Samaria, _Give
them bread and water, &c._
[Footnote 353: A mess formerly much used in Scotland among the commons,
being a kind of soup maigre, composed of _kail_, a species of greens or
coleworts, boiled in water, and thickened with oat-meal, grits, or
shelled barley. - E.]
The names of the commanders were Jan [Juan] Gomes de Medina, general of
twenty hulks, captain Patricio, captain de Lagaretto, captain de
Luffera, captain Mauretio, and Seingour Serrano. But verily all the
while, my heart melted within me for desire of thankfulness to God, when
I remembered the prideful and cruel natural temper of the people, and
how they would have used us, in case they had landed with their forces
among us, and the wonderful work of Gods mercy and justice in making us
see them, the chief commanders of them, to make such due-gard
[submission] and courtesie to poor seamen, and their souldiers, so
abjectly, to beg alms at our doors and in our streets.
In the mean time, they knew not of the wrack of the rest, but supposed
that the rest of the army was safely returned [to Spain,] till one day I
got in St Andrews, in print, the wrack of the gallies in particular,
with the names of the principal men, and how they were used, in Ireland
and our Highlands, in Wales and other parts of England. The which, when
I recorded to Jan Gomes, by particular and special names, he cried out
for grief, _bursted and grat_ [burst into tears.] This Jan Gomes shewed
great kindness to a ship of our town, which he found arriested at
_Calais_[354] at home coming, _rode_[355] to court for her, and made
great _russe_ [praise] of Scotland to his king, took the honest men to
his house, and inquired for the laird of Anstruther, for the minister,
and his host, and sent home many commendations: But we thanked God in
our hearts, that we had seen them in that form.
[Footnote 354: This must signify Cadiz, as mentioned before. - E.]
[Footnote 355: Perhaps ought to have been _wrote_. - E.]
SECTION VII.
_A cruising Voyage to the Azores in 1589, by the Earl of
Cumberland_[356].
We learn from Hakluyt, II. 647, that this narrative was written by Mr
Edward Wright, an eminent mathematician and engineer, who was the real
author of that admirable invention for charts, commonly called
_Mercators projection_, but unjustly, as Mr Wright complains in his work
entitled _Vulgar Errors_, where he charges Mercator with plagiarism.
From the narrative, Mr Wright appears to have been engaged in the
expedition and on board the Victory[357].
[Footnote 356: Hakluyt, II. 647. Churchill, III. 161. Astley, I. 206.]
[Footnote 357: Astley, I. 206. a.]
* * * * *
The right honourable the Earl of Cumberland, intending to cruize against
the enemy, prepared a small fleet of four ships only[358] at his own
charges, one of which was the Victory[359] belonging to the queens royal
navy. The others were the Meg and Margaret, two small ships, one of
which was soon obliged to be sent home as unable to endure the sea,
besides a small caravel. Having assembled about 400 men, sailors and
soldiers, with several gentlemen volunteers, the earl and they embarked
and set sail from Plymouth Sound on the 28th June 1589, accompanied by
the following captains and gentlemen. Captain Christopher Lister, an
officer of great resolution, Captain Edward Careless, _alias Wright_,
who had been captain of the Hope in Sir Francis Drakes expedition to
the West Indies against St Domingo and Carthagena; Captain Boswel, Mr
Mervin, Mr Henry Long, Mr Partridge, Mr Norton; Mr William Monson,
afterwards Sir William[360], who was captain of the Meg and
vice-admiral, and Mr Pigeon, who was captain of the caravel.
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