CHAUCER 131 



a beast to carry him — whereas the steed ridden 

 by "the Clerk of Oxenford " was "as leane as 

 any rake." 



The Wife of Bath, on the other hand, with her 

 "great spurs," sat astride an "amblere"; the 

 Ploughman rode "a mere"; the Shipman from 

 Dartmouth rode "a rouncy as he couth"; while the 

 Reeve " sat upon a fit good stot that was all pomely 

 gray, and highte Scot." In the " Knight's Tale " 

 we find the King of Ynde riding " a horse of baye." 



Apparently at this time greater attention 

 was paid to the breeding and rearing of horses 

 for war than for hunting or for "speed com- 

 petitions " or any other purpose. Evidently 

 King Richard had become more fully aware of 

 the possibilities that existed for the use of 

 powerful cavalry than any of his predecessors 

 had done. Indeed he is said to have expressed 

 upon one occasion a strong wish that his army 

 might one day consist of cavalry only. 



He believed, too, that the heavier the chargers 

 were the more formidable the regiment must be, 

 and so wholly did this belief obsess him that 

 upon occasions he betrayed a tendency to over- 

 look the fact that the heaviest horses in the 

 world, the most finely trained — in short, the best 

 — must necessarily prove comparatively useless 

 unless their riders, in addition to being brave and 

 well armed, were thoroughly trained horsemen 

 and well disciplined. 



