ia for them. He was not personally hostile to the King but thought,
like others, that if Charles saw the Parliament in arms against him, he
would realize that the nation was resolute in defence of its liberty.
The Earl of Bedford, at the head of his recruits, engaged the enemy near
Sherborne Castle, and was victorious; and at the battle of Edge Hill he
'was reported by Lord Wharton to have done extraordinary service.' Later
he was among those most anxious for a treaty of peace, but he suffered
from holding too moderate views. In taking up arms against the King he
had offended the Queen too bitterly to be well received when he, in
company with some other peers, went to the Court at Oxford, and his
sympathy with the King alienated him from the Parliament. Sincerely
anxious for peace, he soon saw the hopelessness of all efforts in that
direction, and long before the struggle was over he practically withdrew
from public affairs.

Tavistock's greatest glory, Sir Francis Drake, has already been spoken
of; but among the lesser lights is a Captain fully worthy to have sailed
in the company of Queen Elizabeth's illustrious Captains, though he
lived in the less triumphant days of Charles I. Captain Richard Peeke,
or Peke, or Pike (he signs himself Peeke in his pamphlet, but in a
private letter Dr. Meddus, a contemporary, refers to him as Pike), has
left no account of his career, only that of his great adventure in
Spain.

A local schoolmaster hails him with these flamboyant lines:

'Search whither can be found again the like
For noble prowess to our Tav'stock Pike,--
In whose renowned, never-dying name
Live England's honour and the Spaniard's shame.'

In 1625 Peeke joined the force that King Charles and Queen Henrietta
helped to start from Plymouth. Sir Edward Cecil was in command, and, as
a result of this expedition, earned for himself the nickname of
Sit-Still. Peeke's account is excellent, although he begins by saying
that he knows not 'the fine Phrases of Silken Courtiers'; but 'a good
Shippe I know and a poore Cabbin and the language of a Cannon ... as my
Breeding has bin Rough (scorning Delicacy) so must my Writings be.'

The first attack was made on 'Cales' (Cadiz), and Peeke gives a vivid
description of the hot and stubborn fight that took place before the
fort of Puntal surrendered. The whole army was then landed, but Peeke
did not go with them; 'for I was no Land Soldier, and therefore all that
whi