Elizabethan Adventurer: Life of Captain Christopher Carleill (Rachel Lloyd) lands on the shelves of my shop, where it will be found in my Biography section. priced at just £4.00!
London: Hamish Hamilton, 1974, Hardback in dust wrapper.
Contains: Black & white plates; Maps;
From the cover: Captain Christopher Carleill was soldier, sailor, adventurer, an early exponent of the use of military tactics in warfare, and the loyal servant of Queen Elizabeth. For seven years he had fought for the Prince of Orange against the efficient Spanish army in the Netherlands. This experience was to lead to his brilliant handling of the land forces in Drakes West Indies voyage of 1585. His youthful service with the Sea Beggars in Zeeland had also taught him to fight at sea; in 1577 he was to take his own ships to help the Huguenots besieged in Brouage, and later was to escort the Muscovy Merchant fleet round the North Cape to Russia, returning with an ambassador from the Court of Ivan the Terrible.
He was step-son to Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeths Secretary of State, who used him in the promotion of expeditions to the New World. Carleill wrote the first treatise on colonisation in North America. His sympathetic relationship with his stepfather throws a new light on this enigmatic statesman.
He spent three years in Ulster. Ancient feuds between the septs tore that savage land, complicated by the invading Scots and the occupying English. While he was Governor of the Palace of Carrickfergus and Seneschal of Clandeboye, ships from the Spanish Armada were wrecked off the Irish coast, and he was involved with escaping Spaniards.
He was to die in poverty, in an age when men were obliged to live on their wits and to beg for royal favour. Mrs Lloyd describes with sympathy his struggle for survival, culminating in his tragic death.
Very Good in Very Good Dust Wrapper. A little rubbing to the edges of the dust wrapper with a short, closed, tear to the foot of the upper panel. Price Clipped. Small ding to the top edge of the upper board. Pages very gently age-tanned.
Red boards with Gilt titling to the Spine. [XIII] 205 pages. Index. Bibliography. 8¾” x 5¾”.
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