words cemented together, into the appellation of Admiral, signify a lord of the sea. Now the word Emir, or Amir, for they are coincident, was a denomination anciently used by the Arabian Caliphs, as a term of dignity and eminence; so many of them had the additional appellation of Amir Elmumunin, and Emir Omimelin; the first may be rendered Rex Orthodoxorum, or the king of persons orthodox; and the last may he translated Rex Credentium, prince or king of the believers; and, at this day, he that in Turky, by the command and designation of the Grand Signior, delivers the banners to the Sanzacks and Beglerbegs, by which they receive their investiture, is stiled Emir Halem, lord of the banner; or, if you will receive it in a more pompous epithet, the Turks chief standard-bearer; and this accords with what Leunclavius delivers in his Turkish pandects: "Emir Halen (says he) significat Dominum Vexillorum et Flammeolorum, qui scilicet supremus est Sultani Vexillifer, ac omnibus Beglerbegis ac Sanzacbegis, quum creantur, vexilla sua porrigit." And hence we read in the history of the holy war, that Robert, duke of Normandy, slew an eminent Saracenical Amir, whose standard had in summitate Argentea Hasta Pomum Aureum, which he offered at the sepulchre of our Saviour, having purchased it at twenty marks, of one who had taken it by right of war. Now this word Amir, or Emir, is deduced from the Arabick verb, Amara, which, rendered into Latin, is Dixit, or Edixit, or else extracted from the Hebrew verb, Amar, which, melted into Latin, signifies præcepit seu imperavit, and it is possible the Spanish word, Almirante, is contracted from El Amirante; and that again, by Moorish and Arabick channels from Alamir, which imports as much as the chief captain. Now, although vulgar use and custom, by apposition of this word 'A have restrained this great officer, only to the command of the sea, yet, in times of an elder aspect, it was of a more confused, or promiscuous signification; and was not alone confined to maritime. authority, but was likewise attributed to those eminent Saracenical soldiers and governors, who were engaged in a command by land, which was proportionate, and answerable in its latitude and extent, to that which was exercised by the ancient tribunes of the Roman militia; and this I can easily collect, from the authority and testimony of very ancient authors. And, first, Sigebert, the monk, in his chronicle, relates, that Mahomet, or Muhammed, so he calls him, about the year 630, constituted four governors in the Saracenical kingdom, which were called admirals. And Theophanes, in his chronicle cited by Meursius, tells us, that Muhammed, being about to die, designed four admirals, who were to subdue those, who, being of Arabick extraction, did yet assert the christian religion. And a nameless author, quoted by Bedwell, seconds this relation, by informing us, that a certain Caliph constituted four tribunes of his soldiery, vulgarly called admirals (Admirantes they are called in his stile, though in the phrase of Theophanes, above cited, they are stiled Amiræi) to every one of which, he gave the command of many subordinate officers and captains, and which commanders he called, The sharp swords of god. And Junius, out of the notes of Cedrenus upon Curopalates, discovers to us, that Mahomet, upon his decease, appointed four admirals, whom he enjoined to crush and extirpate all those Arabians who had embraced the christian religion: And farther relates, that they, to perfect his commands, advanced against Theodorus, chamberlain and general to the Greek Emperor, between whom and themselves, a fatal field was commenced; in which, three of these admirals and a numerous heap of other soldiers perished. The tyrant of Babylon, in the stile of Henry of Huntington, is named the admiral of Babylon; and the same author, in his chronicle, asserts twelve admirals of the Pagans, to have been slain at the siege of Antioch. And Rupert the monk, in the fourth book of his Saracenical history, affirms, that the son of Cassian, the great king of Antioch, and twelve admirals, which the Caliph of BabyIon (king he calls him) had employed with succours to the king above-mentioned, all perished at the siege of Antioch; and these twelve which had the appellation of admiral, annexed to them, he makes to be rulers of twelve distinct territories or provinces. And the same author, in the beginning of his fifth book, relates, that the ambassadors of the Caliph of Babylon, in their addresses to the French chieftains, stile that monarch, the admiral of Babylon. Dominus noster, Admirallus Babylonia, mandat vobis Francorum Principibus salutem; so in his phrase runs their appellation. Monstrelet, an author of good estimate, mentions Arcubalistarum Admirallum, an admiral of the Arcubalists, or of those persons who were armed with cross-bows; and lastly, Matthew Paris, in his life of William Rufus, tells us, of one Corbaran, who, after he had marshalled his army, and brought his squadrons into form and order, put those troops under the command of twenty-nine kings and admirals. But as this eminent maritime officer, in these latter times, hath by prescription constantly assumed the name of admiral; so, in the times of an elder inscription, he was not always stiled Admirallus, but very frequently Magnus Drungarius Classis, or the great Drungar of the navy, an office of eminency and high estimate under the Greek Emperors; yet this title was not so confined to the sea, but that it was attributed likewise to those noble persons, who ma naged the command of the land militia; and therefore the learned Meursius notes, that there was Magnus Drungarius Bigle, that is, Vigilio seu Excubiarum Præfectus, the chief commander or prefect, to whose inspection, the care of the watch was solely intrusted; the ensign or monument of whose authority, as the same Meursius intimates, with a scepter or truncheon of a purple colour, richly gilded and adorned at the bottom. Now the etymo. logy of this word Drungarius, as Leunclavius asserts, is derived from the modern Greek guy, and signifies the same with them, as Agla does with the Turks, and may be interpreted to be that scepter or truncheon, which is the symbol of their office and authority; hence the Drungarii amongst the Greeks, and the Aglarij amongst the Turks, are equivalent to our colonels in Christendom. But the more proper and genuine etymology of the word, as it is used by Vopiscus and Vegetius, is extracted from Drungus or Druncus, which in their sense imports as much as Globus Militum, and may, without distorting the phrase, be interpreted a squadron of soldiers. Vegetius, in his Discourse de Re Militari, lib. iii. cap. 16. observes, that scire Dux debet contra quos Drungos, hoc est, globos hostium quos equites oporteut poni; and Vopiscus, in the year 280, relating the victories of Probus the emperor, over the Blemii and the Germans, tells us, that he, to enhanse the pomp and magnificence of his conquests, omnium gentium Drungos duxit, he carried squadrons or heaps, of all those nations he had subdued, before his triumphant chariot. I should now wind up this discourse, but finding so many eminent persons of the English nation, to have been invested and dignified with the title of admiral, I thought it a labour not unworthy consideration, to represent to the publick view a just scale or series of those worthy heroes, who have been in their several generations, by the favour of the prince, advanced to this office, whose catalogue is exactly registered in the learned and elaborate pages of Sir Henry Spelman's Glossary. Marthusius the Arch-pirate in old Latin records, stiled ArchiPirata, and Nautarum Princeps, was admiral under king Edgar, and had several subordinate commanders under his jurisdiction (Præfecti they are called in the record) who had the command under this Marthusius of almost a thousand ships; a report, if we consider the bulk and dimension of those maritime vessels, which were employed in those times, not altogether improbable; where note, that although, in these modern ages, the name of Pirate is still applied to one, who supports himself by pillage and depredation at sea, yet, in times of an elder inscription, the word Pirata or Pirate, was sometimes attributed to those persons to whose care the mole or peer of any haven (called in Latin Pyra) was intrusted, and by whose inspection it was provided, that those places should receive no prejudice, which were the occasion of so much advan tage to the públick interest. After the mention of Marthusius, there is a gap or interval in the Register of the Admirals, and none recorded until the eighth year of Henry the Third; and then Richard de Lucy, of Newington Lucies in Kent, begins the catalogue, from whom Richard Lucy of Charlecot in Warwickshire, Esq; is in a collateral or younger line originally descended. After whom the ensuing roll of admirals is without any intermission or interruption, in an even clew or series, conducted down to our times. Tho. de Moleton had the custody of the narrow seas (Custos Maris the record stiles him) in the forty-eighth year of Henry the Third. Will. de Leybourne, of Leybourne Castle, was in a convention held at Bruges, in the fifteenth year of Edward the First, stiled admiral. After his exit, the office of admiral being held of too vast concernment to be managed and wielded by one person, there were three admirals created, in the twenty-second of Edward the Second. One had the care of the parts towards the north, which was committed to John de Botetort; a second had the charge of the sea-coast southward, which was committed to William de Leybourne; and a third had the custody of the western shore, which was delegated to the inspection of an Irish knight. Afterwards this office was invested in two; the first whereof had the custody of the English shore, from the Thames Mouth, northwards: The second of whom had the charge of the western shore, from the Mouth of the Thames south-west; a register of which here follows: Admirals of the North. 34 Edw. 1. Edward Charles 8 Edw. II. Joseph Botetort 10 Edw. II. Joseph Perbrun, alias Perburne 15 Edw. II. John Perbrun 16 Edw. II. John Perbrun 18 Edw. II. John Sturmie Admirals of the West. Gervase Allard Nicholas Crioll, 10 Edw. II. Sir Robert Leybourne John Athey, 12 Edw. II. Sir Robert Leybourne Robert Battaile, alias Battel But I know not, upon what exigency or emergent occasion, this office in the year 1325, that is, in the nineteenth year of Edward the Second, was again intrusted to the custody of three, which were John Otervin, Nicholas Crioll, and John de Felton, which are stiled, in the record, Admirals of Yarmouth, Portsmouth, and of the West. But, about the latter part of this very year, this office was again reduced to the care and charge of, a catalogue of whom offers itself up to our present consideration: John Sturmy Joseph de Leybourne Admirals of the West. Nicholas Crioll, 19 Edw. II. Admirals of the North and West, in the Time of Edward 1 Edw. III. John Perbrun-Waretius de Valoigns 8 Edw. III. John de Norwich-William de Clinton 10 Edw. III. Thomas Oughtred-Robert de Hegham, alias Higham 10 Edw. III. John de Norwich-Geffrey de Say 10 Edw. III. Robert de Ufford, and John de Roos-William de Manston, alias Manton 11 Edw. III. Sir Walter Manney-Bartholomew Burgherst 12 Edw. III. Thomas de Drayton-Peter Dard, alias Bard 13 Edw. III. Robert de Morley, Baron of Hengham-Robert Trussell 14 Edw. III. Robert de Morley-Richard Fitz-Allen, Earl of Arundell 16 Edw. III. William Trussell-William Clinton, Earl of Huntington 17 Edw. III. William Trussell-Robert Beaupell 18 Edw. III. Robert Ufford-John de Montgomery 20 Edw. III. Robert Ufford-Reginald de Cobham 21 Edw. III. Sir John Howard-Richard Fitz-Allan, Earl of Arundell 22 Edw. III. Walter, Lord Manney-Richard Fitz-Allan 22 Edw. III. Sir Robert de Morley-Sir John de Montgomery 24 Edw. III. Robert de Causton-Sir Reginald de Cobham 25 Edw. III. Robert de Morley-John de Beauchampe, Earl of Warwick 25 Edw. III. William de Bohun, Earl of Northampton-Henry, Duke of Lancaster 26 Edw. III. William de Bohun-Thomas de Beauchampe, Earl of Warwick 29 Edw. III. Robert de Morley, Baron of Hengham-John de Beauchampe 30 Edw. III. Robert de Morley-Guy de Brian 33 and 34 Ed-Robert de Morley-Guy de Brian Guy de Brian ward III. } 34 Edw. III. John de Beauchampe 35 Edw. III. Robert Herle 38 Edw. III. Ralph Spigurnell These three managed the office of admiral alone. But, in the forty-third year of Edward the Third, the custody of the narrow seas, extending north and west, was again intrusted to two, whose names are thus registered: Admirals of the North. 43 Edw. III. Nicholas Tamworth 44 Edw. III. John Nevill 45 Edw. III. Ralph de Ferrars 46, 47, 48 Ed. III. William `Nevill 50 Edw. III. William de Ufford, Earl of Suffolk ward III. } Sir Michael de la Pole, Lord of Wingfield Admirals of the West. Robert Aston Guy de Brian Robert Aston Sir Philip Courtney |