II 



FROM THE SEVENTH CENTURY TO THE 

 CONQUEST. 



The Venerable Bede says that the En^- 

 Hsh did not commonly use saddle horses 

 until about a.d. 631. At this period, which 

 marks the dawn of the Christian era in 

 Britain, preaching monks travelled the 

 country, and it was considered a mark of 

 humility for these early missionaries to 

 travel on foot. Prelates and churchmen of 

 rank were allowed by law to ride, but were 

 counselled to use mares, in order to spare 

 the horses for military purposes. It is to 

 be observed that, although cavalry as a 

 fighting arm was unknown in Britain for 

 the first thousand years of the Christian era, 

 horses of a sturdy and enduring stamp were 

 as essential to the efficiency of troops, as 

 they became at a later date when armoured 

 horsemen formed perhaps the must formid- 

 able part of an army. Until they acquired 

 the knowledge from their Xorman con- 

 querors, the inhabitants of this country 

 knew nothing of the art of fighting on 

 horseback, but at the same time the " theio-ns 

 and hus-carles " — picked household troops, 

 generally consisting of big men — employed 

 horses to carry them from place to place, 



