Besides all this, it was necessary for an esquire who wished to fulfil his duties properly to possess a number of physical qualities, great versatility of talent and capability, and a zeal that never flagged. At court, as in the larger seignorial households, there were various classes or categories of esquires who performed totally distinct duties, which in less important households were all entrusted to the same individual. The first in importance was the body esquire, or the esquire of honour; then the chamber esquire, or chamberlain; the carving esquire, the stable esquire, the cup-bearing esquire, &c., all separate personages, whose names sufficiently indicate their duties. It is scarcely necessary to remark that esquires, besides the domestic services expected from them within their master’s house, had especially to give proofs of their vigilance and skill in the duties of the stable--duties which, as an historian aptly observes, were of necessity noble, since the military aristocracy never fought but on horseback. It was the duty of all first esquires to break in their master’s chargers, and to teach the younger esquires the routine of the stable. The duty of attending to the arms and armour devolved upon another class of esquires. We may add that, as each seignorial castle was also a species of fortress, most of the esquires, in addition to their other tasks, were required to perform certain military duties analogous to those practised in a regular stronghold, such as rounds, sentry duty, watches, &c. (Fig. 121). When their lord mounted his horse, his esquires shared amongst them the honour of assisting him; some held his stirrup, others carried various parts of his armour, such as the armlets, the helmet, the shield, the gauntlets, &c. When a knight was merely going for a ride or on a journey, he usually bestrode a sober kind of hack that was called a palfrey, but when he was going to take the field, one of his esquires led at his right hand (whence the name of _destrier_ given to this sort of steed) a charger or high horse, which the knight only mounted at the last moment. Hence the expression, “to ride the high horse,” which has become proverbial. [Illustration: Fig. 121.--German Knight, engraved by Burgmayer from designs by Albert Dürer, taken from a collection entitled “Vita Imperatoris Maximiliani” (Fifteenth Century).] As soon as the knight had decided to mount his charger, his squires proceeded to arm him, that is to say, they firmly fastened together all the different pieces of his armour on his body with straps attached to metal buckles for the purpose; and it may be well conceived that no slight care was required to properly adjust such a cumbrous and complicated steel or iron casing; an esquire’s neglect, indeed, frequently caused his master’s death.