Page:The history of yachting.djvu/157

 Rh frigate built in England, but the name was of earlier origin as well as the vessel, and was first used in the Mediterranean. The English word frigate is from the Italian Fregata, which was originally a swift vessel without decks, used by the Rhodians, and propelled by sails and oars.

As we have seen, the Disdain was built during the reign of James I., whereas, the above mentioned are the principal ships built during the reign of King Charles I., and the period of the Commonwealth. No records of "pleasure-ships" appear during those gloomy and tempestuous years of England's history. The nation was occupied with other things. During 1652-53 and 1665-66 the naval wars between England and Holland comprise some of the most desperate sea-battles that history records. In each of these wars the ultimate victory was with England's fleets, although it is probable that England was never so hard pressed on the sea as during those periods. Indeed, the defeat of the Armada was a parade compared to these sea-battles.

During the former of these wars (1652), the Dutch Admiral Tromp sailed down the English Channel with a broom at his mast-head, in token of his intention to sweep the flag of England from the seas. There is a tradition in the Isle of Thanet that the English Admiral Blake replied by hoisting the first long narrow pennant ever set: "A coach-whip to flog the Dutchmen home again," he called it. This is believed to have been the origin of this pennant. If England had her Blake, Rupert, and