I once asked a little English lad why his compatriots ate roast goose on the 29th of September, the anniversary of the defeat of the Spanish Armada.
"Because," he answered proudly, "the King of Spain was such a goose as to come and attack our navy!"
A colleague of mine asked the same question in a different manner, and obtained an equally wonderful answer.
"What is it the English eat on the 29th of September to commemorate the defeat of the Spanish Armada?" he asked.
"Roast duck, sir, because it was Drake who beat the Spanish!"
[ [12] ] I have always been doubtful whether these battles are properly related in histories published in England.
XI.