English: Cover draft for 'Four Etched Plates by W.L. Wyllie R.A. Illustrating the Poem 'Our Fathers' by Captain Ronald A Hopwood RN...'

An initlal draft for the cover of 'Our Fathers', with the text in Wyllie's hand. For the etched version published by Robert Dunthorne, Liverpool, see PAF2157-PAF2161. There are also two sets of drafts for the pages that follow, PA0929-PAF0932 and PAF2128-PAF2131.

Captain (later Rear-Admiral) Ronald Arthur Hopwood (1868–1949) was a naval officer and writer of verse. He began his naval career in 1882, became a gunnery specialist, retired in 1919 as a rear-admiral, and was acclaimed in 1941 as poet laureate of the Royal Navy by 'Time' magazine. As an author, his first and still best-known work was his poem 'The Laws of the Navy' - a tract of good-humoured 'words to the wise', written when he was a lieutenant and originally published in the 'Army and Navy Gazette' in 1896. This became popular in both the British and American fleets. Despite its dedication (see PAF2158) 'To the Memory of the Nameless Killed and Wounded', 'Our Fathers' was in fact written during pre-First World War naval manoeuvres in 1913 and was first included in Hopwood's 'The Old Ways and other poems' (1916). However, in its form and layout, this separate undated edition, illustrated by Wyllie, exactly mirrors the republication of 'The Laws of the Navy', as also separately reissued during the war with etched illustrations by Lieutenant Rowland Langmaid RN (another well-known marine artist), but which came first remains to be clarified. Hopwood published several other books of verse, was also a considerable authority on sailing warships, and continued writing into the Second World War. Robert Dunthorne, who published Wyllie's version of 'Our Fathers' was the London (Bond Street) dealer with whom he had a long association from 1883. His Liverpool connection reamains to be clarified