When the French host, with banners waving, and clarions sounding, and crowds of peasants shouting, "Kill! kill! kill!" advanced upon Cressy, and when the English, after sitting quietly on the grass, rose undauntedly to meet their foes, I lost no time in mounting my steed and taking my place among the squires and pages who surrounded the Prince of Wales. At that time the clouds that had for hours obscured the face of day had dispersed, and the sun, shining between the two armies, flashed on their armour and weapons. It was a fair sight to behold, and the eye of the prince gleamed with enthusiasm as he gazed on the exciting spectacle.
"Now may we be thankful to God and to good St. George," exclaimed the young hero, "that the sun at length deigns to shine on our array."
"My lord," said Sir Thomas Norwich with a smile, "that, it seems to me, is a blessing which has been equally vouchsafed to our enemies."
"But mark you not the difference, and how much it is in our favour?" said the prince proudly. "The sun," continued he, "is on our backs, and in their faces; and methinks," added he, "that is a circumstance which they can hardly deem to their advantage, and for which it becomes us to be devoutly thankful."
Such was the conversation that took place by the prince's standard after we mounted our horses, and almost as he uttered the last words the battle began in earnest.
I cannot pretend to have any accurate recollection of what took place for hours after the embattled hosts met in the shock of war. It was in reality my first field; my blood was hot; my brain was on fire; and my memory retains nothing beyond a vague idea of the confusion and carnage caused by the clash of steel, the rush of war-steeds, and the flights of arrows that darkened the air and carried destruction into the ranks of the foemen. I believe, however, that the novelty, the excitement, and the very terror of the scene had upon me an intoxicating influence; and I have been told that I fought like one drunk with new wine.
As the hours sped on, however, I became more calm; and, some time after the attempt of the Count of Alençon and the Count of Flanders to turn the fortune of the day had ended in their fall, and the utter discomfiture of their forces, I recovered possession of my senses sufficiently to be aware that it was after the hour of vespers, that I had left the battle, and that I was keenly pursuing a young warrior, evidently of high rank, who, seeing that all hope of victory had departed, was bent on escaping from a field which his friends had irretrievably lost.
Even in my soberer mood I had no inclination to favour his project of escape, and I loudly summoned him to turn and prove that he was not a coward.
"What ho!" cried I, "turn about. You ought to be ashamed of yourself thus to fly from a single adversary."