horns, and his rings," for the losing of which he was punished. He lodged in the royal chamber, and, except during the three great festivals, acted as cupbearer to the king.
It was formerly very customary for ladies to join in the pleasures of the chase ; and Strutt informs us that when they did so it was usual to draw the game into a small compass by means of inclosores; and temporary stands were erected for them, from which, when not contented with being merely spectators of the sport, they shot at the game with arrows as it passed by. This appears to be the manner in which the hunting party was to be conducted, which was promised by the king of Hungary to his daughter in the old romance of the Squire of Low Degree, where he tells her,
"A lese of grehound with you to stryke.
And hert and hynde and other lyke.
Ye shal be set at such a tryst,
That herte and hynde shall oome to your fyst."—765–8.
Strutt is of opinion that the ladies had even separate hunting parties of their own.—Sports and Pastimes, p. 12.
Give it to whom he pleases.—Page 143.
Gawain (Gwalchmai) gives a different counsel in the French Romance of Eric and Enide, and endeavours to dissuade the King from the hunting of the White Stag.
"Monsignor Gauvain ne plot mie
Quant il ot la parole oīe.
Sire, fet-il, de ceste cace
N'aurois vous ja ne gré ne grâce.
Nous Savons bien trestot pieça
Quel costume le blanc cerf a;
Qui le blanc cerf ocire puet,
Par raison baisier li estuet,
Le plus bele à quanqu'il cort,
Des pnceles de vostre cort;
Mais en porroit venir molt grant
