When Knights Were Bolder

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30947, 31 December 1965, Page 5

When Knights Were Bolder

[Specially written for “The Press” by CYRIL HANKINSON, former editor of “Debretts’ Peerage.”]

JN the New Year Honours List there will appear the names of nearly a hundred gentlemen upon whom Her Majesty has signified her intention of conferring the honour of knighthood.

Knighthood is the most .ancient title of honour known in Britain, and its origin dates back for over a thousand years, one of the earliest instances being when Alfred the Great bestowed the honour upon his favourite grandson, Athelstan. Horsemanship The qualities demanded of knights in the early days and the arduous ceremonies attending their initiation were such that many of the elderly and substantial looking gentlemen who will drive to Buckingham Palace to receive the accolade at one of the forthcoming investitures would probably ask leave to decline the proffered honour if they were called upon to submit to the ordeals which had to be endured by their forebears.

Ancient knighthood was definitely associated with equestrians, but today one fancies that most knights would prefer backing a horse to riding one and the golden spurs with which their ancestors were presented would soon find a home in the cabinet of family relics as an ornamental memento of an auspicious occasion. Feats With Arms Not even that distinguished knight of the turf, Sir Gordon Richards, had the temerity to ride one of his mounts into the forecourt of the Palace to prove to the world that there was at least one knight willing and able to answer his summons to the Sovereign’s presence in the manner prescribed in the days of chivalry. Time was, however, when knights were expected to ride to Court, for investiture, with an esquire riding on either side of them.

Knighthood was also associated with men of arms and in its earliest days was reserved for them exclusively. The first civilian to receive the honour is believed to have been William Walworth, Lord Mayor of London, in 1381, but he gained the honour as a reward for an act of a military nature, by killing an enemy

of the King in the shapq of Wat Tyler, who led a force of rebels from Kent against King Richard 11. Later King Henry VIII knighted his serjeants-at-law, and when James VI arrived from Scotland to become James I of England, he soon displayed his keen Scottish business instincts by retailing honours at substantial fees. He found knighthoods such a popular “buy” that in the second year of his feign he disposed of no fewer than 300. The traditional military qualifications troubled him not at all and civilians were quite acceptable provided they could pay the fee. The ancient ceremonies of investiture for knights were partly courtly and partly religious. A sword used to be girded on, but later this was amended to the modern ceremony of the accolade in which the recipient of the honour is tapped on the shoulder with a sword by the Sovereign. James I, who was famed for his awkwardness, in spite of the experience gained by dubbing an immense number of knights, was only saved by quick action on the part of the Duke of Buckingham, from thrusting his sword into Sir

Kenelm Digby’s eye when knighting him.

Knights-elect had to spend the evening before their investiture in the chapter room at Westminster. A bath was made ready with cross-hoops over it covered with tapestry for defence against the night air.

The knight was then shaved and had his hair cut, after which some of the senior knights were sent to give him counsel and to direct him in the order and feats of chivalry. Bathed Next, esquires of the King’s Household with minstrels playing, proceeded to the room, whilst the squires of the knight-elect on hearing the sounds of approach'ing music undressed him and put him into the bath. With the arrival of the King’s esquires, and with the poor knight still in the bath, [further instructions were given about the nature of the bath and an injunction that he should thereafter keep his body and mind undefiled, after which each of the senior knights poured water upon his shoulders. Finally, having been clothed in something warm, the victims had to pray and watch throughout the night and then to hear matins before being conducted to the Sovereign to be dubbed and invested. Seeing that our ancestors were mostly strangers to baths, the intensity of the ordeal must have been considerable. Even as late as 1725. when George I revived the Order of the Bath, the statutes of the order required that knights should observe the full ritual of preparation as in medieval times with all its crudities. It is scarcely surprising, therefore, that a sense of modesty plus the fear of contracting pneumonia soon i led to the statutes being disregarded.

Across .3—What’s in store for the Army? (9) 7 Individual caught in dishonesty. (3) 8— Likely attendees of stag parties? (11) 10— Gone to rebuild a European city. (5) 11— She might be alone or confused? (7) 13—It solves a problem of defence. (6)

14—Murphy’s coat? (6) 17—Respect is due to royal

staff. (7) 19—Many depend on being washed. (5)

20—Rose to go shooting—in her finery? (3, 2,2, 4) 22—1 am all for 13. (3)

23—What broken ribs meant to a clan member. (9)

Down 1— The sands are running out for its owner. (4-5) 2 Reminding about small car on the trail. (11) 3 The majority are on time. There’s the rub? (7) 4 There’s a gee-gee in the river- and you bother

about petty details! (6) 5 Dance making sunburn 6 Negative weight comes up. (3)

disappear. (5) 9—He handles cattle for investors? (5-6) 12—Heed paid to military pos-

ture. (9) 15— Wanting the lot here, one is not necessarily greedy. (7) 16— Turn over a new leaf and become solid again. (6) 18—What’s that hat in photo peer is wearing? (5) 21—One of eight? (3) (Solution, Page 3.)