hym, to {thentent} to bring him out of his
melancholy; his servantes had prepared for hym a place to rest hym:
than he demanded if it were nere day, and {therewith} there {came} a
man into the house, and came before hym, and sayd,

'Sir, I have brought you tidynges.'

'What be they, tell me?'

'Sir, surely the {frenchmen} be rydinge abrode.'

'How knowest thou that?'

'Sir,' sayd he, 'I departed fro saynt Saluyn with them.'

'What way be they ryden?'

'Sir, I can nat tell you the certentie, but surely they take the
highway to Poiters.'

'What {Frenchmen} be they; canst thou tell me?'

'Sir, it is Sir Loys of Saynt Julyan, and Carlovet the Breton.'

'Well, quoth Sir Johan Chandos, I care nat, I have no lyst this night
to ryde forthe: they may happe to be {encountred} though I be nat
ther.'

"And so he taryed there styll a certayne space in a gret study, and at
last, when he had well aduysed hymselfe, he sayde, 'Whatsoever I have
sayd here before, I trowe it be good that I ryde forthe; I must
retourne to Poictiers, and anone it will be day.'

'That is true sir,' quoth the knightes about hym.

'Then,' he sayd, 'make redy, for I wyll ryde forthe.'

"And so they dyd."

The skirmish commenced; there had fallen a great dew in the morning,
in consequence of which the ground was very slippery; the knight's
foot slipped, and in trying to recover himself, it became entangled in
the folds of his magnificent _surcoat_; thus the fall was rendered
irretrievable, and whilst he was down he received his death blow.

The barons and knights were sorely grieved. They "lamentably
complayned, and sayd, 'A, Sir Johan Chandos, the floure of all
chivalry, vnhappely was that glayue forged that thus hath {wounded}
you, and brought you in parell of dethe:' they wept piteously that
were about hym, and he herde and vnderstode them well, but he could
speke no worde."--"For his dethe, his frendes, and also some of his
enemyes, were right soroufull; the Englysshmen loued hym, bycause all
noblenesse was founde in hym; the frenchmen hated him, because they
doubted hym; yet I herde his dethe greatly complayned among right
noble and valyant knightes of France[72]."

Across this surcoat was worn the scarf, the indispensable appendage of
a knight when fully equipped: it was usually the gift of his
"ladye-love," and embroidered by her own fair hand.

And a knight would encounter fifty deaths sooner than part with this
cherished emblem.