Elizabeth I was nearly 50 when her fancy was taken by a 'tall, handsome and bold man' in his late twenties named Walter Raleigh. It is not clear how this obscure adventurer from the west country gained her attention. The legend that he laid his cloak over a 'plashy place' for her to walk on is usually dismissed as apocryphal, but Raleigh's personal seal depicted a coat of arms enveloped by a cloak. Perhaps, therefore, the story is true.
By 1584 Raleigh had been appointed Captain of the Guard and every vintner in the country had to pay him £1 a year licensing fee. Such material success made others jealous, but Raleigh's unpopularity cannot be ascribed to envy alone. He was a supremely arrogant man who positively exulted in being disliked. One contemporary alleged, 'No man is more hated É His pride is intolerable, without regard to any.' Though he could be a fascinating conversationalist, setting aside two hours every day for 'inquisitive discourse', his manner was generally sneering and sarcastic, and he made many enemies with his 'bitter scoffs and reproachful taunts'.
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