ncient metrical English one. That it is difficult to find who Sir
Guy was, or in fact, to prove that there ever was a Sir Guy at all, is
nothing to the purpose; leave we that to antiquarians, and their musty
folios. Guy of Warwick was well known from west to east, even as far
as Jerusalem, where, in Henry the Fourth's time, Lord Beauchamp was
kindly received by those in high stations, because he was descended
from

"A shadowy ancestor, so renowned as Guy."

One tapestry on this attractive subject which was in Warwick Castle,
before the year 1398, was so distinguished and valued a piece of
furniture, that a special grant was made of it by King Richard II.
conveying "that suit of arras hangings in Warwick Castle, which
contained the story of Guy Earl of Warwick," together with the Castle
of Warwick and other possessions, to Thomas Holland, Earl of Kent. And
in the restoration of forfeited property to this lord after his
imprisonment, these hangings are particularly specified in the patent
of King Henry IV., dated 1399.

And the Castle wherein the tapestry was hung was worthy of the heroes
it had sheltered. The first building on the site was supposed to be
coeval with our Saviour, and was called Caer-leon; almost overthrown
by the Picts and Scots, it lay in ruins till Caractacus built himself
a manor-house, and founded a church to the honour of St. John the
Baptist. Here was afterwards a Roman fort, and here again was a
Pictish devastation. A cousin of King Arthur rebuilt it, and then
lived in it--Arthgal, first Earl of Warwick, a Knight of the Round
Table; this British title was equivalent to _Ursus_ in Latin, whence
Arthgal took the Bear for his ensign: and a successor of his, a worthy
progenitor of our valiant Sir Guy, slew a mighty giant in a duel; and
because this giant's delicate weapon was a tree pulled up by the
roots, the boughs being snagged from it, the Earls of Warwick,
successors of the victor, bore a ragged staff of silver in a sable
shield for their cognisance.

We are told that,--

"When Arthur first in court began,
And was approved king,
By force of arms great victoryes wanne,
And conquest home did bring.
Then into England straight he came
With fifty good and able
Knights, that resorted unto him,
And were of his round table."

Of these the most renowned were Syr Perceval, Syr Tristan, Syr
Launcelot du Lac, Syr Ywain, Syr Gawain, Syr Galaas, Syr Meliadu