Part 10 (2/2)
Sir John Chandos was one of the brightest of that chivalrous circle which sparkled in the reign of Edward the Third. He was gentle as well as valiant; he was in the van with the Black Prince at the battle of Cressy; and at the battle of Poictiers he never left his side. His death was unlooked for and sudden. Some disappointments had depressed his spirits, and his attendants in vain endeavoured to cheer them.
”And so he stode in a kechyn, warmyng him by the fyre, and his servantes jangled with hym, to {thentent} to bring him out of his melancholy; his servantes had prepared for hym a place to rest hym: than he demanded if it were nere day, and {therewith} there {came} a man into the house, and came before hym, and sayd,
'Sir, I have brought you tidynges.'
'What be they, tell me?'
'Sir, surely the {frenchmen} be rydinge abrode.'
'How knowest thou that?'
'Sir,' sayd he, 'I departed fro saynt Saluyn with them.'
'What way be they ryden?'
'Sir, I can nat tell you the certentie, but surely they take the highway to Poiters.'
'What {Frenchmen} be they; canst thou tell me?'
'Sir, it is Sir Loys of Saynt Julyan, and Carlovet the Breton.'
'Well, quoth Sir Johan Chandos, I care nat, I have no lyst this night to ryde forthe: they may happe to be {encountred} though I be nat ther.'
”And so he taryed there styll a certayne s.p.a.ce in a gret study, and at last, when he had well aduysed hymselfe, he sayde, 'Whatsoever I have sayd here before, I trowe it be good that I ryde forthe; I must retourne to Poictiers, and anone it will be day.'
'That is true sir,' quoth the knightes about hym.
'Then,' he sayd, 'make redy, for I wyll ryde forthe.'
”And so they dyd.”
The skirmish commenced; there had fallen a great dew in the morning, in consequence of which the ground was very slippery; the knight's foot slipped, and in trying to recover himself, it became entangled in the folds of his magnificent _surcoat_; thus the fall was rendered irretrievable, and whilst he was down he received his death blow.
The barons and knights were sorely grieved. They ”lamentably complayned, and sayd, 'A, Sir Johan Chandos, the floure of all chivalry, vnhappely was that glayue forged that thus hath {wounded} you, and brought you in parell of dethe:' they wept piteously that were about hym, and he herde and vnderstode them well, but he could speke no worde.”--”For his dethe, his frendes, and also some of his enemyes, were right soroufull; the Englysshmen loued hym, bycause all n.o.blenesse was founde in hym; the frenchmen hated him, because they doubted hym; yet I herde his dethe greatly complayned among right n.o.ble and valyant knightes of France[72].”
Across this surcoat was worn the scarf, the indispensable appendage of a knight when fully equipped: it was usually the gift of his ”ladye-love,” and embroidered by her own fair hand.
And a knight would encounter fifty deaths sooner than part with this cherished emblem. It is recorded of Garcia Perez de Vargas, a n.o.ble-minded Spanish knight of the thirteenth century, that he and a companion were once suddenly met by a party of seven Moors. His friend fled: but not so Perez; he at once prepared himself for the combat, and while keeping the Moors at bay, who hardly seemed inclined to fight, he found that his scarf had fallen from his shoulder.
”He look'd around, and saw the Scarf, for still the Moors were near, And they had pick'd it from the sward, and loop'd it on a spear.
'These Moors,' quoth Garci Perez, 'uncourteous Moors they be-- Now, by my soul, the scarf they stole, yet durst not question me!
”'Now, reach once more my helmet.' The Esquire said him, nay, 'For a silken string why should you fling, perchance, your life away?'
'I had it from my lady,' quoth Garci, 'long ago, And never Moor that scarf, be sure, in proud Seville shall show.'
”But when the Moslems saw him, they stood in firm array: He rode among their armed throng, he rode right furiously.
'Stand, stand, ye thieves and robbers, lay down my lady's pledge,'
He cried, and ever as he cried, they felt his faulchion's edge.
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