Note 1 — Chapter I

Sir Harris Nicolas, in his "History of the Royal Navy," interprets the Latin word marcare (or marchare) "to mark," and, in referring to this incident, says that Bernard was accorded the right of "marking the men and subjects of the King of Portugal," etc. It is curious that so diligent and accomplished a chronicler should have fallen into this error. The verb marcare, as he would have discovered by reference to the "Glossarium" of Du Cange, the learned French archæologist, was in fact a bit of "law Latin," coined for a purpose; that is, to express in one word the rights conceded by a letter of marque; it will not be found in any ordinary Latin dictionary. The grant of a licence to "mark" the subjects of some monarch, and their goods, is, indeed somewhat of an absurdity—clearly, the "marker" would first have to catch the men and their possessions!