You may have heard of Sir Francis Drake, El Draque, one of the most successful British naval commanders, and the first Englishmen (and third man overall) to sail around the world. Drake’s world plunders brought much gold and wealth back to England, and with his defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, Drake became a legend.
To the Spanish, of course, Drake was a pyrating devil, a dragon spawn of Satan that was allied with demons and witches. Granted, the Spanish were stinging from Drake’s uncanny ability to sink their ships and pillage their colonial settlements, but there were rumors and genuine fear that Drake’s success came from the supernatural.
To be fair, Drake’s accomplishments can be attributed to him being a brave explorer and a skilled mariner. However, there are a few instances in his career where the impossible became the standard. For your consideration:
- During his circumnavigation of the world, Drake managed to sail through the Straits of Magellan in sixteen days. It had taken Magellan over thirty
- Against extraordinary odds, he destroyed the Spanish fleet in 1588 thanks, in part, to a massive storm
- Drake (just Drake) brought so much treasure back to England that the coffers were full for YEARS (that’s A LOT of plunder, mates!)
Again, all of these accolades could be attributed to Drake’s prowess and ambition…that is, until Dr. John Dee, one of Drake’s benefactors and his friend, enters the equation.
Who was Dee? Dr. John Dee was a scholar who had the largest library in England. He loved animatronics. He collected and catalogued hundreds of books, scrolls, and maps from all over the world. People travelled from far away to scour the shelves of his library. Queen Elizabeth I visited Dee often for advisement and held him in very high esteem.
Dee’s library was rumored to also contain forbidden texts. There were whispers about a secret part of the library that housed books which described wild magic and how to control the elements. Dee was believed to be a master magician, a magus, a male witch, if you will, of the highest degree. He claimed to converse with angels with whom he spoke through the use of a black magic mirror.
Where does this magic mirror fit into the Sir Francis Drake legend? Well, glad you asked. While I was plundering the world (wide web) for a book I was writing about spooky pyrate stuff, I read the following on the History Channel website, “Drake’s skills as a naval commander were so feared that many of his enemies became convinced that he was a practitioner of witchcraft. Superstitious Spanish mariners whispered tales of how Drake possessed a magic mirror that allowed him to spy the location of all the ships on the sea, and there were rumors that he was in league with a demon or even Satan himself.” (https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-francis-drake).
I did know a bit about the mysterious John Dee already. I was familiar with Drake and his maritime exploits. However, I was not aware of their connection. As I continued my research, I discovered that Dee was one of Drake’s most enthusiastic supporters, and that Dee did indeed possess an alleged magic mirror, (that is on display at The British Museum in London!)
Sooo…me bein’ a believer that superstition and myth usually arise from some kernel of actuality, my brain kind of exploded when I considered Dr. John Dee’s magic mirror + Sir Francis Drake’s amazing success + Dee and Drake’s relationship + Spanish belief that Drake had a magic mirror…could Drake have had a magic mirror? Did Dee use magic to aid Drake in his adventures? Hmmm…
I did write a short story about where my brain went, and I had some fun with the possibilities. We will probably never know if Drake had a magic mirror, but, on the other hand, we will probably never know that he didn’t. Thus, a story is born.
If you’d like to read my short story, “Drake’s Magic Mirror”, it’s included in a collection of spooky pyrate stories called “Haunted Pirate Tales from the Pearl Inn.”
Next time “Old Roger”…until then, keep plunderin’ !
Virginia Chandler 