HEMRICOURT. 431 



battle with an opposing faction— the Waroux — expressed 

 to him their fear that he was too heavily armed, but De 

 Waremme replied, ' Have no fear, for I swear to you, by 

 God and St George, that since it has required two men 

 to seat me on my good steed Moreal, it shall take at least 

 four to make me get off again.' And this was no idle 

 vaunt, as the events of the day proved. 



Another gigantic warrior who fought for the Awans 

 was the Sire de Hemricourt. The strength of limb and 

 massiveness of frame of this man were such that, except 

 his stirrup-leathers broke, it was impossible to unhorse 

 him ; and in confirmation of his prowess, the following 

 story is told : Being engaged as one of fifty knights 

 chosen to fight on the side of the King of Sicily, against 

 an equal party for the King of Arragon, a war-horse was 

 sent to him by the king to ride on the day of battle. 

 But Hem.ricourt, like the champion of Israel in the 

 choice of his weapons, would not trust his steed till he 

 had tried him. He therefore mounted, and, accompanied 

 by some friends and attendants, rode out into the country, 

 and, coming to a large lime-tree, he got off his horse, and 

 made his squires fasten his girths as he directed. He 

 then mounted again, and having had his legs tightly tied 

 to the girths, he seized a thick branch of the tree with 

 his right hand, and drove his spurs into his courser's 

 flanks ; but in spite of all its efforts, the horse was unable 

 to get away. Hemricourt, therefore, sent back the ani-^ 

 mal to the king, saying that it wanted both strength and 

 courage, and was dull to the spur. The king then sent 

 him another, which he submitted to the same test, and 

 the struggle between man and horse w^as long and violent. 



