“There!” said the friar, with a deep sigh of relief in conclusion, as he exhibited the fruit of his prowess in triumph to Dame Lovell. “Methinketh that Richard himself could not better those letters!”
Dame Lovell looked with unfeigned admiration at the cabalistic characters, for such they were in her eyes, and declared them “right brave,” opining moreover that “learning was soothly a passing rare thing!”
Note 1. Knighthood is now conferred only by the Sovereign, who is “the fountain of honour,” or by a viceroy, as representing the Sovereign. In ancient times, however, “a knight could make a knight.” When the Duke of Suffolk was taken prisoner in battle by a simple squire, he asked, before surrendering his sword, “Are you a knight?” “No,” was the answer. “Kneel, then,” replied Suffolk, “that I may make you one; for I will never give up my sword to a squire.” The squire knelt, and Suffolk knighted his captor, and then delivered his sword to one who, by the laws of chivalry, had now become his equal.
Note 2. The reader does not need to search through the Acts of the Apostles for any mention of Saint Paul’s having been a doctor for it is one of the endless legends of the Middle Ages, of which Maundeville’s Travels are full.
Note 3. A very pleasant companion. “Fellow” and “companion” have now exchanged meanings, though we still speak of a bedfellow and the fellow to a glove.
Note 4. This “Americanism” is really an old English phrase, as many more so-called Americanisms also are.
Note 5. Idols. Our forefathers had a rooted idea that Jews and Mohammedans were idolaters. Their very word for idols, “Mawmetis,” was a corruption of the name of Mahomet.