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de Portugal collides with us, shattering our spritsail and our cross-yard, then, another galleon wrecks our main mast with their broken foremast. Te collisions render my beloved ship unable to sail. We are not sinking – thank the Lord, but adriſt and prey to any English ship! Te wind is growing in strength, generating
white crests to form atop formidable waves within a heavy sea; these are causing havoc with the ineffectual tow arranged by the Duke by four pinnaces, two ships and a galleass. Aſter several failed attempts to move us, the craſt withdrew and joined the squadron. At the latter end of the day, immense shock
set into all onboard the Rosario. Our isolation on the tossing sea made us realise that the Duke had leſt the ship to fend for itself. I have lately discovered our fears were well-
founded: with disbelief, the Armada has carried on towards Calais. What a bizarre and cruel decision for the
Duke to make – not only to abandon us to our own devices and the protestant English but also to leave behind with us the enormous wealth of gold, silver and valuable plate within our manifest – a king’s ransom to help pay for the waiting invasion army in Flanders. Our commander, whom we would dearly throw into the sea, abandoned a great ship, a loyal crew, eager soldiers for battle, and our precious 46 bronze cannon, black powder and shot. Absurd! It is early morning, and I awake to a
It seems that our commander is giving away our ship in exchange for
our safety. Tinking of what could happen to our stranded and immobile Rosario, pounded and pummelled by English cannon and shot, we realise the decision – although uncomfortable and causing more nausea to erupt in my stomach – is the best that Valdés can make. Tis yielding to the English is a pitiful end to our glorious hope of being part of the invasion of England.
We all look forward to our rescue by our fellow Our commander - Don
Pedro de Valdés - has begun surrender negotiations with the English captain whom we soon discover is infamous El Draque (The Dragon) - Sir Francis Drake
multitude of sounds from saws, hammers and chisels in the hands of shouting carpenters furiously working timbers, desperately trying to repair our Rosario. Tese sounds change in an instant into cries from gunnery sergeants bellowing orders to their gunners to prepare our cannon to fire on a much smaller English ship approaching us from the cover of low- lying, early-morning mist. Someone identifies the name of the warship – the Revenge – and everyone onboard prepares themselves for armed confrontation with the fast moving and considerably more agile craſt. Before a single shot echoes across the
decks, a second shock hits us with profound amazement. Our commander - Don Pedro de Valdés - has begun surrender negotiations with the English captain whom we soon discover is infamous El Draque (Te Dragon) - Sir Francis Drake. Tis disheartening news soon filters total anger and despair throughout the decks – we cannot believe we are capitulating to the English without a fight!
countrymen when England and Queen Elizabeth fall and become part of our glorious Spain! My God! If the English queen knew what Drake
has done! Being on board the Rosario as the chief administrative clerk, I know Drake has acted in his usual way as a pirate and relieved the ship of a good proportion of its gold, silver, valuables and money. Te rumour is that he leaves enough to satisfy his queen’s coffers in London. Drake treats the crew well, taking 40 officers on
board the Revenge. Aſter this, the Rosario was towed into Torbay
harbour by the Roebuck, Captained Jacob Whiddon. Here it was examined and remaining manifest listed and described, before the exposed nature of the bay, caused the government to move the ship to the shelter of the River Dart. Passing Dartmouth Castle and St. Petrox church, the Rosario arrived at Dartmouth. It is Monday 7 August. I feel dejected – I have an order to stay on
board. Why? To organise most of the remaining sailors – 160 in total – kept prisoner on our ship, to work as slaves for a Sir John Gilbert, who owns Greenway Court mansion upriver. Teir status as proud Spanish sailors reduced to garden labourers, carrying out a plan to clear and level the English-titled enemy’s estate from his house, down to the river, known as the Dart. Te only positive view I can have of this arrangement is that the
majority of men - of all ranks - were chained and taken away to Torquay, to be incarcerated for the last thirteen days within what the English call a tithe barn, next to Torre Abbey. It is now 23 days since my removal from my ship and transport
to Esher in Surrey, to a pleasant place called Wayneflette Tower. My treatment by the English is fair, and now, to my surprise, I am charged with managing the administrative duties and affairs of my commander, Don Pedro de Valdés, who is under house arrest. What fate has in store for me – and the beautiful Rosario – I do not
know. I hope to return to my beloved Spain. My fate is in God’s hands.
‘The Rosario’ by Peter Sissons is available to purchase from the Dartmouth Community Bookshop and online at Amazon, Apple Books and
Lulu.com
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