William Verstile 1769
CHAPTER XI
MANNERS AND COURTESY
A child should always say what's true,
And speak when he is spoken to,
And behave mannerly at table,
At least as far as he is able.
—A Child's Garden of Verse. Robert Louis Stevenson, 1895
In ancient days in England, manners and courtesy, manly exercises, music and singing, knowledge of precedency and rank, heraldry and ability to carve, were much more important elements in education than Latin and philosophy. Children were sent to school, and placed in great men's houses to learn courtesy and the formalities of high life.
Of all the accomplishments and studies of the Squire as recounted by Chaucer in the Canterbury Tales, but one would now be taught in English college—music. Of all which were taught, courtesy was deemed the most important.
"Aristotle the Philosopher
this worthye sayinge writ
That manners in a chylde
are more requisit