A GLORIOUS PERIOD. 273 



He knew well alle the havens, as thei were, 

 From Scotland to the Cape of Fynestere, 

 And every cryk in Bretayne and in Spayne, 

 His barge y-cleped was the Magdelayw"." 



In the reign of Henry V., the most glorious period up to that time of the 

 British Navy, the French lost nearly all their navy to us at various times; among 

 other victories, Henry Page, Admiral of the Cinque Ports, captured 120 merchantmen 

 forming the Rochelle fleet, and all richly laden. Towards the close of this reign, about 

 the year 1416, England formally claimed the dominion of the sea, and a Parliamentary 

 document recorded the fact. "It was never absolute," says Sir Walter Raleigh, "until 

 the time of Henry VIII ." That great voyager and statesman adds that, " Whoever 

 commands the sea, commands the trade of the world; whosoever commands the trade, 

 commands the riches of the world, and consequently the world itself." 



A curious poem is included in the first volume of Hakluyt's famous collection of 

 voyages, bearing reference to the navy of Henry. It is entitled, " The English Policie, 

 exhorting all England to keep the Sea,," &c. It was written apparently about the year 

 14)35. It is a long poem, and the following is an extract merely : 



"And if I should conclude all by the King, 

 Henrie the Fift, what was his purposing, 

 Whan at Hampton he made the great dromons, 

 Which passed other great ships of the Commons; 

 The Trinitie, the Grace de Dim, the Holy Ghost, 

 And other moe, which as nowe be lost. 

 What hope ye was the king's great intente 

 Of thoo shippes, and what in mind be meant : 

 It is not ellis, but that he cast to bee 

 Lord round about environ of the see. 

 And if he had to this time lived here, 

 He had been Prince named withouten pere : 

 His great ships should have been put in preefes, 

 Unto the ende that he uient of in chiefes. 

 For doubt it not but that he would have bee 

 Lord and Master about the rand see : 

 And kept it sure, to stoppe our ennemies hence, 

 And wonne us good, and wisely brought it thence, 

 That our passage should be without danger, 

 And his license on see to move and sterre." 



When the king had determined, in 1415, to land an army in France, he hired ships 

 from Holland, Zeeland, and Friesland, his own naval means not being sufficient ,* the 

 transport ; among his other preparations, " requisite for so high an enterprise," boats 

 covered with leather, for the passage of rivers, are mentioned. His fleet consisted of 

 1,000 sail, and it left Southampton on Sunday, the llth of August, of the above-mentioned 

 year. When the ships had passed the Isle of Wight, es swans were seen swimming in 

 the midst of the fleet, which was hailed as a happy auspice." Henry anchored on the 

 following Tuesday at the mouth of the Seine, about three miles from Harfleur. A council 

 35 



