That all men had joy of hys dede. [23]
Here we find reading mentioned; which, however, does not appear to have been of any great importance in the middle ages, and is left out in the Geste of King Horne, another metrical romance, [24] which seems to be rather more ancient than the former. Young Horne is placed under the tuition of Athelbrus, the king's steward, who is commanded to teach him the mysteries of hawking and hunting, to play upon the harp,
Ant toggen o' the harpe
With his nayles sharpe,
to carve at the royal table, and to present the cup to the king when he sat at meat, with every other service fitting for him to know. The monarch concludes his injunctions with a repetition of the charge to instruct him in singing and music:
Tech him of harp and of song.
And the manner in which the king's carver performed the duties of his office is well described in the poem denominated the Squyer of Lowe Degree: [25]
There he araied him in scarlet red,
And set a chaplet upon his hedde;
A belte about his sydes two,