[72] This strange practice prevailed, says Mr. Ellis, (Specimens of early English Poetry, vol. i. p. 325.) at a time when the day-dress of both sexes was much warmer than at present, it being generally bordered, and often lined with furs; insomuch that numberless warrens were established in the neighbourhood of London for the purpose of supplying its inhabitants with rabbit skins. "Perhaps," continues Mr. Ellis, in his usual style of pleasantry, "it was this warmth of clothing that enabled our ancestors, in defiance of a northern climate, to serenade their mistresses with as much perseverance as if they had lived under the torrid zone."
[73] This circumstance was satirised, as the reader must remember, by Cervantes, who did not always spare chivalry itself in his good humoured satire of the romances of chivalry.
[74] Du Cange, articles Barbani radere, and Capilli. The complete shaving of the head was not often submitted to by knights. It was generally thought sufficient if a lock of hair was cut off.
[75] In the Fabliau of the order of knighthood the exhortation is somewhat different, and necessarily so, for the candidate was a Saracen. It was not to be expected that he would vow to destroy his erring brethren. The exhortation deserves to be extracted, for it contains some particulars not noticed in the one which I have inserted in the text. Whether specially mentioned or not, attendance at church and serving the ladies were always regarded as essentials of a knight's duty.
"Still to the truth direct thy strong desire, And flee the very air where dwells a liar: Fail not the mass, there still with reverend feet Each morn be found, nor scant thy offering meet: Each week's sixth day with fast subdue thy mind, For 'twas the day of PASSION for mankind: Else let some pious work, some deed of grace, With substituted worth fulfil the place: Haste thee, in fine, where dames complain of wrong, Maintain their right, and in their cause be strong. For not a wight there lives, if right I deem, Who holds fair hope of well-deserv'd esteem, But to the dames by strong devotion bound, Their cause sustains, nor faints for toil or wound." WAY'S _Fabliaux_, vol. i. p. 94.
The expressive conciseness of the exhortation to the duties of knighthood in the romance of Ysaie le Triste is admirable. "Chevalier soies cruel a tes ennemys, debonnaire a tes amys, humble a non puissans, et aidez toujours le droit a soustenir, et confons celluy qui tort a vefves dames, poures pucelles et orphelins, et poures gens aymes toujours a ton pouvir, et avec ce aime toujours Saincte Eglise."