_glas_ (pronounced _glâ_), 'passing bell.'
_vitreux_: 'glassy,' 'lack-lustre.' The sunken eyes seemed of an
unfathomable depth.
_Iblis_. See note on PUISSANCE ÉGALE BONTÉ,
_Escurial_. The vast and gloomy palace near Madrid built by Philip II in
the form of a gridiron in memory of St. Laurence, on whose feast-day he
won the battle of St. Quentin.
_L'Inde_. The inclusion of India in Philip's dominions can hardly be
justified. As King of Spain he possessed nothing in India, and as King
of Portugal only a few trading stations and fortresses.
For Hugo's conception of the power and position of Spain at this epoch,
see _Le Rhin: Conclusion_, II, III.
L. 130. Prescott describes Philip as being habitually grave in manner,
unsocial and sombre, and always dressed in black. The Order of the
Golden Fleece was the only jewel he ever wore.
L. 137. 'Better a ruined kingdom, true to itself and its king, than
one left unharmed to the profit of the Devil and the heretics.
'--Correspondence of Philip, quoted by Prescott in the History
of Philip II.
_Burgos_, the ancient capital of Old Castile. _Aranjuez_, a town in the
province of Toledo, where Philip had a summer residence.
_la toison d'or_, the Golden Fleece, an order of knighthood founded by
Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in 1420.
_grincer un sourire_: a bold and vivid expression, _grincer_ meaning 'to
gnash the teeth.'
_gastadour_, from the Lat. _vastator_, ravager, despoiler.
_l'Escaut_, the Scheldt. The _Adour_ is a river in Southern France, but
no ships for the Armada came from France. One suspects the influence of
_gastadour_ in the line above.
_mestre de camp_, an old term for commander of a regiment.
L. 182. There were no German vessels in the Armada. _ourque_, more
usually written _bourque_, is a small Dutch or Flemish cargo-boat with
two masts. It is something between the modern ketch and the old Flemish
'bilander'.
_moço_, Spanish word for 'cabin-boy'.
_Pausilippe_, a promontory near Naples.