te armour, although the real Arthur's warriors probably had only
shirts of mail and shields with which to ward off the blows of the
enemy. They live in moated castles instead of in halls of wood,
and they are more often engaged in tournaments than in struggles
with the heathen. In fact, those who wrote the stories represented
their heroes as living such lives as they themselves led. Just in
the same way, Dutch painters used to represent the shepherds in the
Bible story as Dutch peasants; just so David Garrick, the great
actor of the eighteenth century, used to act the part of a Roman in
his own full-bottomed wig and wide-skirted coat.

It must not be forgotten that, in those far-away days when there
were few who could even read or write, there was little that, in
their ignorance, people were not prepared to believe. Stories of
marvels and magic that would deceive no one now, were then eagerly
accepted as truth. Those were the days when philosophers expected
to discover the Elixir of Life; when doctors consulted the stars in
treating their patients; when a noble of the royal blood, such as
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, could fall into disgrace because his
wife was accused of trying to compass the king's death by melting a
wax image of him before a slow fire.

Of all the stories, perhaps the most mystical is that of the Quest
of the Holy Grail, and it has features peculiar to itself. Nuns
take the place of fair ladies; there are hermitages instead of
castles; and the knights themselves, if they do not die, become
monks or hermits. The reason for this change in scene and character
is, that this is a romance in which the Church was trying to teach
men, by means of a tale such as they loved, the lesson of devotion
and purity of heart.

The story sprang from certain legends which had grown up about the
name of Joseph of Arimathea. It was related that, when our Lord was
crucified, Joseph caught in a dish, or vessel, the blood which
flowed from His wounded side. In later years, the pious Jew left
his home and, taking with him the precious vessel, sailed away on
unknown seas until he came to the land of Britain. In that country
he landed, and at Glastonbury he built himself a hermitage, where
he treasured the sacred dish which came to be known as the Saint
Grail. After Joseph's death, the world grew more wicked, and so the
Holy Grail disappeared from the sight of sinful men, although, from
time to time, the vision of it was