Sir Francis Drake My Story

This story belongs to Trixie

and her daddy, Olly.

It's a tiny tale about how children

just like you lived in the

olden days, nearly 500 years ago.

-Look at all these boats.

-Which is your favourite one?

-That one.

That one? The long one?

Trixie loves going to look at them.

Well, Trix, I know a story about a little boy called Francis Drake.

He loved boats, just like you.

He lived a very, very long time ago.

When he grew up, Francis Drake became a very famous sailor.

He had a really big boat and he used to sail all around the world.

He lived at the time of Queen Elizabeth I,

which we call the Elizabethan times.

Why don't we go on an adventure and dress up to find out what

life was like when Francis was a little boy, all those years ago?

Yes!

Trixie and daddy Olly are going on a journey of discovery and together,

they're going to find out what life was like all those years ago.

Trixie and daddy Olly have come to the Red Lodge Museum in Bristol.

They've dressed up in sailors' clothes,

like Francis would have worn when he was young.

Trixie, look at our amazing clothes. What's your favourite thing about

-what you're wearing?

-My shoes and my hat.

Why is your hat your favourite thing?

I like that little bow at the back.

Do you think these clothes are smart?

I think they're scruffy.

Yeah, I think they're really scruffy.

Why do you think they're scruffy clothes?

-Because they were what sailors wore in Francis Drake's time.

-Yeah?

And they're for working.

-Yeah.

-What about me?

-I think it's your trousers.

I think my trousers are very silly.

-They're very, very baggy, aren't they?

-Yeah.

Now we're all dressed up, shall we see if we can see any ships?

Trixie and daddy Olly are not ready to go to sea just yet.

They've got lots to get ready first.

They're going to find out how sailors got ready for their voyages.

-So, what do you think these things might be for?

-Sewing, maybe?

Yeah, sewing.

-Did you know that sailors had to be really good at sewing?

-No.

-Shall we have a go?

-Yeah!

Come on, then. Try to push the needle through.

It might seem odd, but everyone on a ship had to be able to sew.

-Yeah, that's it.

-Dad?

-Yeah.

Why did sailors have to be so good at sewing?

They had to sew their sails.

-In case they got broken or something?

-Yeah, exactly.

They were out at sea, weren't they?

Sails often got torn when the ship was at sea.

-So they needed mending.

-Sailors also had to sew their own clothes.

-Was it hard?

-Really hard. Just like you're finding it hard now.

-Would you like to do sewing of a whole sail?

-Yeah!

-You would!

Good sewing, Trixie!

We've done some sewing, we've got our clothes,

can you think of anything else that we might need to do before we

-go to sea?

-A boat?

Well, we need a boat. What might we need to go on our boat?

-Hm, I know what.

-What's that?

-Food.

-That's right, food.

-Shall we go and have a look at some food?

-Yeah!

Sailors had to take all the food they needed with them.

They might be away at sea for many months, or even years.

Sailors spent more time at sea than they did on land.

Trixie and daddy Olly are looking at some food that sailors would

have eaten on their voyages.

-Trixie, what's on this plate?

-Bread.

-And what are these?

-Apples.

These apples and bread look really nice right now, don't they, Trix?

-Yeah.

-But sailors were at sea for a really long time.

There were no fridges or freezers back then,

so the food didn't stay fresh. This happened.

This is what happens to food if it's left for a really long time.

It goes mouldy.

Because fresh fruit goes mouldy,

sailors often didn't have enough vitamins.

They got a nasty illness called scurvy,

which made their bones ache and their teeth fall out.

But sailors were able to do something to try and keep the

food fresh longer.

-What do you think this is?

-Meat?

-Meat, yeah.

And what do you think is on top of it?

It looks like ice or something.

It looks like ice. It's not, it's actually salt.

What sailors did is put salt on their food because that would

help to keep it fresh.

The meat was covered in salt so it stayed free from mould and maggots.

Francis would have eaten food just like this.

-And, Trix, what are these?

-Biscuits?

Yeah, they're a special type of biscuit, called ship's biscuits.

They're made from flour and water and because they're really dry,

they lasted for a really long time.

-What are they like?

-They're really hard.

Shall I show you what the sailors used to do, so they could eat them?

-They put something on them?

-Well, sort of. They sucked them.

And they kept sucking until they were soft enough to eat.

They don't taste very nice.

Sailors had bad teeth.

They either sucked the ship's biscuits until they got

a bit softer, or they would crumble them up and mash them in

water to make a sort of porridge.

Sailors also caught fresh fish from the sea to eat.

Sometimes, they even ate turtles, or penguins.

-Shall we have a go at tasting them, Trix?

-Why not?

What do you think it would be like if you had to eat these every day?

Not good!

Now they know what sailors took with them,

Trixie and daddy Olly are ready to go to sea, just like Francis.

There were lots of big ships sailing to many parts of the world,

buying and selling things or exploring.

When he was 12 years old, Francis got a job on a boat like this,

which was taking things across the sea to France.

His new job was as a ship's boy.

Trixie and daddy Olly are on a big ship,

like the one Francis would have worked on.

They're exploring to see what the different parts of the boat do.

So, Trix, how do you think they used to steer the ship?

-By a wheel?

-Where do you think the steering wheel is?

I don't see it anywhere, Dad.

I think they used this to steer. Shall we have a go?

OK, push it all the way across.

Ships' wheels hadn't been invented yet.

Instead, the captain would have used a lever like this to steer the ship.

Wow!

Half the sailors kept watch over the ship, while the other half slept.

They swapped every four hours.

There were no clocks,

so they used something called an hourglass to measure time.

When the sand has run from top to bottom,

that is four hours up and it's time for the crew to swap over.

Trix, ship boys like Francis would have rung the bell and turned

the hourglass to tell the sailors when to change watch.

Do you want to have a go?

Now, it's time to change watch, Trixie's ringing the bell...

..and turning over the hourglass,

so these sailors know it's time to start work.

And these ones can have a well-earned rest.

Because they were the least important people on the ship,

the ship's boys had to do all the jobs no-one else wanted to do.

Oh, this is hard work.

Yeah.

They had to do a lot of cleaning.

-Sailors call this swabbing the decks.

-Ooh.

Ship boys were the lowest rank on the ship and had to do all

the muckiest jobs.

What does lowest rank mean?

Lowest rank meant that they were the least important people on the ship.

-And they had to do all the jobs that nobody else wanted to do.

-Really?

-Trix, would you like to do this?

-Yeah.

-Really?

-I'm finding it fun.

Are you? What if you had to do the whole deck?

Yes, I would love to do the whole deck.

Back then, all ships leaked a little bit,

so water would collect in the very bottom of the ship.

Ship's boys had to pump out the water,

but it was the worst job on the ship because the water got very smelly.

Phoof!

Some of the sailors on the ship had to keep watch from the

highest point. It's called the crow's nest.

-Can you see something called a crow's nest?

-Up there.

-Up there?

You're right, right at the top of the mast, look at that,

right up there.

See that rope ladder running all the way up to the crow's nest?

Well, that was called the rigging.

Did you know that the sailors had to climb up there with bare feet?

They had to do that to help them grip onto the ropes.

-It's really high up there.

-It's very high, isn't it?

Francis worked very hard as a ship's boy.

And after many years, he became captain of his own ship.

Francis' ship was called the Golden Hind.

He worked for Queen Elizabeth, discovering new lands,

winning wars at sea, and getting treasure from those countries.

He gave the treasure to the Queen.

Trixie and daddy Olly are going ashore to look at the kind of

treasure Francis would have brought Queen Elizabeth.

Do you think there'll be lots of treasure when we get to the beach?

Yeah.

The big ship couldn't go right up to the beach

because it would get stuck.

Sailors used smaller boats like this one to row ashore and get treasure.

Did you know that Francis Drake brought all sorts of things

-back to England from around the world?

-No.

All the treasure had to be noted down

so we can tell the Queen what we've got.

-Could you help me?

-Yeah.

-What shall we write down first?

-A bowl.

-OK, a silver bowl.

What's next?

A gold jug.

A gold jug.

Francis brought back lots of valuable treasure.

The Queen was so happy that she knighted him on his ship and

he became Sir Francis Drake.

There's lots of treasure here.

I think this will be great to take back to the Queen.

-Argh!

-Argh!

-Have you had a nice day, Trixie?

-Yes, the best day ever.

It's been lots of fun finding out what happened a long, long time ago.

Can you remember some of the things we did?

Trixie and daddy Olly had to clean the ship.

What was that job called?

Mopping the top, or swabbing the decks?

You're right! Swabbing the decks.

What's the highest point of the ship called

where sailors could keep watch?

Crow's nest, or an eagle's branch?

Brilliant, it's a crow's nest.

-What did you enjoy doing the most?

-Going on the big boat.

What was your favourite thing, Daddy?

My favourite thing was going on the rowing boat,

but really most of all, I enjoyed spending time with you.

What a journey of discovery.

That was Trixie and daddy Olly's tiny tale about what it was

like living as a sailor like Sir Francis Drake nearly 500 years ago.

Now daddy Olly has shared this story with Trixie,

it's time for Trixie to start her very own story.

Do you know someone with a story to share?