The naval Battle of Portland, or Three Days' Battle, took place during 18–20 February 1653 (28 February – 2 March 1653 Gregorian calendar), during the First Anglo-Dutch War, when the fleet of the Commonwealth of England under General at Sea Robert Blake was attacked by a fleet of the Dutch Republic under Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp escorting merchant shipping through the English Channel.

The battle failed to settle supremacy of the English Channel, although both sides claimed victory, and ultimate control over the Channel would only be decided at the Battle of the Gabbard which allowed the English to blockade the Dutch coast until the Battle of Scheveningen, where Admiral Maarten Tromp was killed in a firefight. Wikipedia

Admiral Robert Blake (1599-1657) is the hero of The Admiral’s Broom. The struggle with the Dutch for supremacy of seas began in earnest in 1652. The Dutch Commander, Admiral van Tromp, boasted that he would tie a broom to his main mast as a symbol that he would sweep the sea free of the English. Blake retorted that he would whip the Dutch, and strapped a heavy whip to his mast. Between 19th May 1652 to 31st July 1683, Blake shattered Holland’s navy in a series of lightning engagements. He died at sea in 1657.https://www.kevindaly.org.uk/posts/peter-dawson-full-sail-songs-of-the-sea https://www.kevindaly.org.uk/posts/peter-dawson-full-sail-songs-of-the-sea

The Admiral's Broom - Song by Frederick Bevan from 1891. "New version" words by Frederic E. Weatherley during First World War. Weatherly earned his living first as a coach in Oxford and subsequently at the Bar, but he is best known as a songwriter. He is said to have written over 3,000 songs, of which the best known are Roses of Picardy, The Holy City and the most famous words written for the Londonderry Air, Danny Boy. https://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/about-brasenose/history/222-famous-brasenose-names/505-fe-weatherly-songwriter

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Frederic Weatherly, Songwriter 1848-1929, article from Brasenose College https://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/about-brasenose/history/222-famous-brasenose-names/505-fe-weatherly-songwriter
THE ADMIRAL’S BROOM   - Peter Dawson       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBnBdUXU1io
ROSES OF PICARDY  Various recordings       https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Roses+of+Picardy
DANNY BOY  Various recordings       https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Danny+Boy.
THE HOLY CITY  - The Three Tenors       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tld1MZ2F4GA