The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #163054   Message #3886066
Posted By: Gurney
31-Oct-17 - 08:59 PM
Thread Name: DTStudy:Sir Francis Drake / Eighty-Eight
Subject: RE: DTStudy:Sir Francis Drake / Eighty-Eight
I understand, and stand to be corrected, that the Armada was pounded by superior gunnery and driven off by fireships, and did in fact 'sail up the coast' and around the top of Scotland, and down the west coast of Ireland, where damaged ships were cast ashore by gales. The surviving Spanish seamen married there, and are the ancestors of what are called the 'black' Irish. From their hair colour, I hasten to add.
This is a memory of a statement heard from Cyril T. 50years ago, and as I said, I stand to be corrected.

Cyril's singing of the song was obviously from a source mentioned here, and included the device of adding an "-a" to the end of a line to help the rhyme.