Sir Francis Drake playing bowls on Plymouth Hoe English pointer One putto holds a scroll

One putto holds a scroll bearing the legend: 'Ecce Philosophorum Princeps'

Plate 30A from the book Historia testudinum iconibus illustrata by Johann David Schoepff (Erlangen

Original: blueprint paper

The Old Navy Pay Office

Sir Francis Drake playing bowls on Plymouth Hoe English pointer One putto holds a scrollSir Francis Drake playing bowls on Plymouth Hoe, 1588 (c1900). The famous game of bowls supposedly played by Sir Francis Drake whilst awaiting the arrival of the Spanish Armada. The story, probably apocryphal, goes that when Drake was informed that the Armada had been sighted, rather than putting to sea immediately, he decided that he had time to 'finish the game and beat the Spaniards too'. From Peeps into the Past by Trelleek, published c1900.