122 THE PACK HORSE IN HISTORY 



fair Barbarians of Germany and Gaul evolved 

 a notable idea. The gentleman rode to war 

 attended by a couple of mounted serfs who had 

 a remount for him if his charger fell, or even 

 replaced his loss in the fighting line. In late 

 times the Gothic gentleman became a knight, 

 and his attendants were esquires in training 

 until they won their spurs. 



See then how the Latin word equus for a 

 horse gives us equites as the rank of the ancient 

 gentry of Europe, and Esquire the rank of our 

 modern gentleman. The French word for 

 horse : cheval gives us Chivalr}^ and Chevalier. 

 The Spanish word caballo gives us Cavalry, 

 Caballero, and Cavalier. The horse has taught 

 us more than ever we taught him. 



The Pack Horse. While chariotr}' and 

 cavalry were mainly engaged in killing civiliza- 

 tion, the unobtrusive pack pony did almost as 

 much as the ship in spreading culture along the 

 channels of commerce. From the port of 

 London for example a pack trail starting at 

 Tower Hill ran w^estward along Newgate, 

 Holborn, Oxford Street, and Bayswater Road, 

 crossed the Thames at Oxenford, then branched 

 to the gold mines of Dolgelly and the tin 

 deposits of Cornwall. Along this artery flowed 

 the Phoenician culture. 



