Great Britain -- History -- Medieval period, 1066-1485 -- Juvenile fiction; Guilds -- Juvenile fiction; Middle Ages -- Juvenile fiction
The captains of the hosts of God
Know every man by name,
When from the torn and bleeding sod
Their spirits pass like flame.
The maid must wait her lover still,
The mother wait her son,--
For very love they may not leave
The task they have begun.
If secret plot of greed or fear
Shall bid the trumpets cease,
And bind the lands they held so dear
To base dishonored peace,
How shall their white battalions rest
Or sheathe the sword of light,--
The unbroken armies of our dead,
Who have not ceased to fight!
NOTES
PEIROL OF THE PIGEONS
The troubadour, minstrel and jongleur or joglar, were not the same
in dignity. A troubadour or trouvere was a poet who sang his own
compositions to his own music. A jongleur was a singer who was not a
poet, though he might make songs. He corresponded more nearly to the
modern vaudeville performer. The minstrel was something between the two.
THE TAPESTRY CHAMBER
Saint George was not formally adopted as the patron saint of England
until some time after this.
LULLABY OF THE PICT MOTHER
This song may be sung to a very old Scotch air called “O can ye sew
cushions.”
THE WOLVES OF OSSORY
The werewolf superstition is very persistent, and has been held in many
countries until quite recent times.
ST. HUGH AND THE BIRDS
The reference is to St. Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln, who is represented with
his pet swan in most of his portraits. He founded a Carthusian monastery
by the invitation of Henry II., at Witham in Somerset, and built the
choir and a considerable part of Lincoln Cathedral. The stories of his
love for birds are found in old chronicles.
THE SWORD OF DAMASCUS
An armorer's shop very like the one described has been brought from
Abbeville and set up in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in one of the
rooms devoted to armor.
THE WISDOM OF THE GALLEYS
“Y'Allah!” (O God!) is a common exclamation, often used as meaning “Make
Haste!” Abu Hassan is “the father of Hassan,” In Moslem countries a
father often uses his son's name in this way, allowing his own to be
almost forgotten.
Khawaja, Khawadji or Howadji is a title of respect given exclusively to
unbelievers.
The Breach of Roland--Roncesvalles.
Jebel el Tarik--Gibraltar.
Iskanderia--Alexandria.
“Ma sh' Allah!” (What does God mean!) the commonest exclamation of
surprise.
Feringhi--Frankish, French.
Kafir--Infidel, heathen, a term of extreme contempt.
Ahmed ibn Said--Ahmed the son of Said.
THE EBBING TIDE
Hy-Brasail is the Celtic name for the Fortunate Islands, the Isles of
Avilion, said to be situated somewhere west of Europe. The dead were
said to go westward to these islands, which were a paradise.
THE END OF A PILGRIMAGE
John de Matha founded the Order of the Holy Trinity, sometimes known as
the Redemptorist Fathers, sometimes as the Mathurins. He was afterward
made a saint. He was the first to make any serious effort to alleviate
the condition of prisoners, especially slaves among the Moslems.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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