Drake's Drum

[1] It was still with him for his final voyage and as he lay on his death bed off the coast of Panama in 1596 he ordered the drum returned to England, where in times of trouble it should be beaten to recall him from heaven to rescue the country.

[1][3] Plymouth was devastated in the air raids that followed, reminding some of the ancient legend that “If Drake’s Drum should be moved from its rightful home, the city will fall”.

Drake's Drum has been the title and subject of poems by Sir Henry Newbolt[6] and the Victorian poet Norah M.

The drum was also mentioned in Bernard Cornwell's 1988 novel Sharpe's Rifles as analogous to the Gonfalon of Santiago Matamoros that features heavily in the story.

A composition called "Drake's Drum" can also be heard on the album by British instrumental band Acoustic Alchemy, Natural Elements (1988).

Drake's Drum is mentioned in the Sabbat song "Behind the Crooked Cross" from their 1988 album History of a Time to Come.

Replica of Drake's Drum, from the Buckland Abbey education centre
Formation badge of the 45th Infantry Division