It isn’t often I am quite so exuberant following a morning chow at the golf club. Today was one of those exceptions. Clinically it was my further introduction to Sir Francis Drake who it turns out was a bit of a scoundrel.  A young seaman with ambition. Not to mention an inviolate participate in the African slave trade which is historically and shockingly dismissed as somehow appropriate for Bourgeoise English and European merchant conduct (in which naturally the aristocracy willingly participated for lucrative financial reasons).

Queen Elizabeth I saw it fitting to honour Drake, not only with £10,000, but also with a knighthood. It was thought that she dined on the Golden Hind at Deptford in 1581 and it was after this meal that he became Sir Francis Drake. But in fact, she delegated the job of knighting Drake to Marquis de Marchaumont, a French ambassador. This was to avoid drawing attention to Drake’s achievements and making it seem that she approved of his tactics, to appease the Spanish.

You recognize no doubt the wealth of diplomatic and calculated deference at play in this brief catalogue of Drake’s successes. I too this morning was withdrawn from immediate approbation of Sir Francis Drake. The competing opposition was however both palpable and plausible. I broke the fast with a young woman who I understand enjoys the celebrity of Sir Francis Drake in her distinguished French family background. I am pleased to welcome this attractive young lady as her Uncle Billy (so I am known of course to my niece and goddaughter) to our family nexus because she is so manifestly intelligent and unique. I confess that “flattery is a net before another man’s feet” (and for that reason I hesitate to go on) but quite honestly on this occasion it is well deserved. And, yes, this in spite of whatever you may think of Sir Francis Drake. Indeed when we afterwards rallied chez nous the topic of ancestry once again surfaced upon review of a family photograph and heraldic symbol.  We agreed it is a more compelling subject upon old age than in the heat of one’s advancement in life; though it was clear even without a pursuit of genealogy there remained meaningful identity with one’s lineage.

But for the moment I was overcome by the excitement of youth, its ambitions and progress. While I suppose it is easy (or wishful merely) to translate interest in youthful productivity into a common aspiration or eventuality, I confess in this circumstance I am for some reason overtaken not by hope so much as curiosity. The lineal influence of Sir Francis Drake (perhaps in particular his circumnavigation success) has unwittingly become a metaphor for what I envision as a currency centuries later in what in my opinion is an equally enthusiastic endeavour.

Sir Francis Drake (c. 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer and privateer best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580. This was the first English circumnavigation, and second circumnavigation overall.

There is a composition to youth apart from its natural characteristics. I speak of nature’s sporadic ingredients, the fascinating draw upon ancient lines of evolution. And the capital of employment and learning. For whatever reason I am prompted in this instance to view the development of the enterprise as artistic and long-lasting.