Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 2.djvu/190

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [HS.VIIL SEPT. 6,1913.


Tiorth-aisle wall of St. Margaret's Church The main lights are devoted to Scriptural subjects, and below are depicted Blake addressing the envoy on board his ship at Malaga ; his body being towed up the Thames for burial ; and the re-interment at St. Margaret's. At the foot is the following inscription :

" To the glory of God, and to the memory of Colonel Robert Blake, Admiral at Sea, Chief Founder of England's Naval Supremacy, died August 7th, 1657 ; ejected from his grave in the 4.bbey and buried in St. Margaret's Churchyard, September, 1661."

Then come the following lines by Lewis Morris :

Kingdom, or Commonwealth, were less to thee, But to crown England Queen o'er every sea. Strong sailor, sleeping sound as sleeps the just, Best here ! Our Abbey keeps no worthier dust.

DRAKE.

Plymouth. In 1883 a bronze statue of Sir Francis Drake was erected here. It represents the famous Elizabethan admiral .standing erect in characteristic attitude, bareheaded, and wearing a sword. In his 'right hand are a pair of compasses, the points of which open upon a globe, and his left hand rests upon his hip. The massive pedestal is approached from all sides by three steps, and on the front of the upper one is carved the word

DRAKE.

"The statue is the work of Sir J. E. Boehm, R.A.

Tavistock. A replica of the Plymouth statue of Drake was presented to his native place by the ninth Duke of Bedford in 1883. The figure is 10 ft. high, and its granite pedestal 13 ft. high. In the latter are inserted three bronze bas-reliefs representing Drake (1) playing bowls on Plymouth Hoe, (2) knighted on his ship by Queen Eliza- beth, (3) buried at sea. The inscription describes him as " one of the first who in his voyages put a girdle round the globe."

There is also a statue of Drake at Offen- burg, the gift of Andrew Frederick of Stras- burg. It contains an inscription eulogizing the benefit conferred on mankind by Drake in the discovery of the potato.

A movement has recently been set on foot to erect a statue in London.

THE CABOTS.

Bristol. One of the most conspicuous objects in the neighbourhood of Bristol is the Cabot Tower on Brandon Hill. It was erected by public subscription in 1897-8 to commemorate the four hundredth


anniversary of the discovery of North America (Newfoundland) by John and Sebastian Cabot in 1497. The foundation stone was laid by the Marquis of Dufferin and Ava on 24 June, 1897, the anniversary day of the discovery.

" The tower is a square structure of an orna- mental character, adapted from a well-known example in the Department of the Loire, in France. It has buttresses at the angles from base to sum- mit, and so that it should not appear heavy, the sides of the square, reckoning to the outsides of the buttresses, were built so as not to exceed 27 ft. The style of the design, although original, is typical of the style prevalent in England at the time of Henry VII."

The tower was opened by Lord Dufferin on 6 Sept., 1898.

On St. Augustine's Bridge, Bristol, is a tablet stating that from near that spot sailed John Cabot's ship Matthew, provided by Bristol enterprise and manned by Bristol sailors, on 10 May, 1497. (See 8 S. xi. 501; xii. 49, 129, 189, 208.)

Halifax, Nova Scotia. On 15 Aug., 1912, the Duke of Connaught, as Governor- General of Canada, dedicated a tower which had been erected here to commemorate the gift of self- government to the Colony in 1758. This function was attended by the Lord Mayor of Bristol (Sir Frank Wills) and the Lady Mayoress and others for the purpose of formally presenting a bronze relief tablet affixed to the interior wall of the tower. This tablet is a copy of a painting in the City Art Gallery. Below it is the following inscription :

" The above bronze relief was presented by the citizens of Bristol , England | to the citizens of Halifax, Nova Scotia, to commemorate the building of | this Tower. | Unveiled the 15th of August, 1912, by the Governor- General of the | Dominion of Canada, H.R.H. the Duke of Con- naught, K.G., | in the presence of | The Right Hon. the Lord Mayor of Bristol, Sir Frank W. Wills ; Henry L. Riseley, Sheriff of Bristol 1905-6 ; | The Master of the Society of Merchant Venturers, C. C. Savile ; G. Palliser Martin, President of Bristol Chamber of | Commerce and Shipping, 1911. | The Relief shows John Cabot & lis son Sebastian (the latter holding the Charter of Henry VII.) receiving | the blessing of Abbot N"ewland, ' Xailheart,' and the farewell of the Mayor of Bristol & friends when on | the eve of sailing on their voyage of discovery. The ship Matthew,' her sails emblazoned with the Royal | & Bristol City Arms, lies below Old Bristol Bridge, with the tower of St. Mary Redcliff in

he background."

CAPT. COOK.

Whitby. On 2 Oct., 1912, Lord Charles Beresford unveiled a statue of Capt. Cook, the gift to the town of the Hon. Gervase Beckett, M.P. This is the