'"Here you may see the portrait of his face,
Who for his country's honor oft did trace
Along the deep; and made a noble way
Unto the growing fame, Virginia.
The picture of his mind, if ye do crave it,
Look upon Virtue's picture, and ye have it."'
The 'golden anchor' was a jewel which the Queen had given him as a special mark of favour, for she looked on him very graciously, in spite of the fact that his efforts did not then seem as if they would be crowned with success. A song was made about the year 1581, in which he and Sir Francis Drake divide the honours.
'Sir Francis, Sir Francis, Sir Francis is come,
Sir William, and eke Sir Robert, his son,
And eke the good Earl of Southampton
Marcht on his way most gallantly on;
Then came my Lord Chamberlain, with his white staff,
And all the people begun for to laugh.
And then the Queen begun to speak,
"You're welcome home, Sir Francis Drake!"
'the Queen's Speech.
'"Gallants all of British blood,
Why do ye not sail in th' ocean flood?
I protest ye are not all worth a Philberd
Compared with Sir Humphrey Gilberd."
'The Queen's Reason.
[Probably added in 1584-85.]
'For he walkt forth a rainy day,
To the Now-Found-land he took his way,
With many a gallant fresh and green.
He never came home again,
God bless the Queen!'
Notes to this song explain: 'We understand as the three-fold holders of the name, "Sir Francis," three persons; Sir Francis Drake, Knighted by the Queen after his return from circumnavigating the world in 1580: Sir Francis Walsingham, and Sir Francis Vere. Sir William Cecil, Lord Burleigh, and his son, Sir Robert.... The Lord Chamberlain probably meant the despicable Sir James Crofts, who hated and calumniated Drake.'