Sir Francis Drake playing bowls, with the Spanish Armada in sight at Plymouth Hoe, England in 1588. The story has it that when told of the arrival of the Armada he replied that there was time to finish the game and lick the Spaniards too. Sir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral, 1540  1596. English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver and politician of the Elizabethan era. From Bibby's Annual published 1910.