"With all the cheer that he may, Toward the bed there as she lay, Till he came to her the beddes side, And she lay still and nothing cried; For he did all his things fair, And was courteous and debonair." Confessio Amantis, lib. 6. fol. 138. [181] Extrait de l'Histoire de Du Gueslin, par P. H. Du Chastelet, p. 39, &c. [182] Froissart, vol. ii. c. 47. It is difficult to fancy the extravagant degree of estimation in which hawks were held during the chivalric ages. As Mr. Rose says in one of his notes to the Romance of Partenopex of Blois, they were considered as symbols of high estate, and as such were constantly carried about by the nobility of both sexes. Barclay, in his translation from Brandt, complains of the indecent usage of bringing them into places appropriated to public worship; a practice which, in the case of some individuals, appears to have been recognized as a right. The treasurer of the church of Auxerre enjoyed the distinction of assisting at divine service on solemn days, with a falcon on his fist; and the Lord of Sassai held the privilege of perching his upon the altar. Nothing was thought more dishonorable to a man of rank, than to give up his hawks, and if he were taken prisoner, he would not resign them even as the price of liberty. [183] Romance of Ipomydon. [184] Froissart, vol. i. c. 177; and Sir Walter Scott's note to the Romance of Sir Tristrem, p. 274. [185] This statement of the objects of the minstrelsy art, is taken from a manuscript cited by Tyrwhitt, Chaucer ii. 483. It is the railing of a sour fanatic, who wished to destroy all the harmless pleasures of life. But we may profit by his communication, while we despise his gloom. I shall add another description of the various subjects of minstrelsy from the Lay le Fraine. "Some beth of war and some of woe, And some of joy and mirth also; And some of treachery and of guile, Of old adventures that fell while; And some of jests and ribaudy; And many there beth of fairy; Of all things that men see, Most of love, forsooth, there be." [186] Sir Orpheo.