The Earl of Derby's Return to London in ijpj 173 



Al armed, sauf hir heddes, in al hir gere, 

 Ful richely^ in alle maner thinges; 

 For trusteth wel that dukes, erles, kinges,^ 

 Were gadered in this noble companye, 

 For love, and for encrees of chivalrye. 



and servants {D. A., pp. liii-liv). From the accounts covering the early 

 days of July, we are led to infer a considerable retinue. Thus there 

 appear to have been bought, for July 2, 3, and 4, seventeen bushels of 

 oats, which, if we allow six quarts a day to each horse, would provide 

 for thirty horses three days; what proportion of this, if any, was used 

 for sumpters, we can hardly say. At Rochester, on July 2, there were 

 purchased: white bread for over $13; wine for nearly $60 (say 15 

 gallons); beer, 18 gallons; salt for $1.25. The very next day were pur- 

 chased: white bread for nearly $17; wine, over 30 gallons; beer, 23 

 gallons ; to say nothing of three whole sheep, etc. How many men, 

 on the basis of the Rochester purchases, will drink 60 quarts of wine 

 and 72 quarts of beer in one day? MisS Bateson speaks of a quart of 

 each per head daily at a somewhat earlier date (Mediaeval England, p. 314). 

 The number of this retinue of course affected the speed of Henry's 

 movements. Lucy Toulmin Smith says of the journey from Canterbury 

 to London (D. A., p. Ixxi) : This was slow traveling for a man who 

 was accustomed to move rapidly, but it was perhaps a stately progress 

 and welcome home to the popular young earl after the long and difficult 

 pilgrimage.' In general, according to the same authority (p. Ixxxiii), 

 'he moved along with considerable retinue and state', for (p. Ixxx) 'he 

 was one of the most important princes in England, moving among the 

 flower of knighthood of his time, at home and abroad,' (ib.) 'grandson 

 of Edward HI,' (ib.) 'heir to the great wealth of his maternal grand- 

 father, Henry, the first Duke of Lancaster,' (p. Ixxxi) 'able to command 

 a large following of knights and gentlemen.' That he might have traveled 

 more rapidly is clear, since in 141 5 Henry V journeyed by the following 

 stages: London (July 30), Dartford (31), Rochester (31), Canterbury 

 (Aug. i), returning thus: Canterbury (Aug. 2), Sittingbourne (2), 

 Rochester (2), Dartford (3), London (3) ; so Wylie, Reign of Henry 

 the Fifth, p. 95, who remarks that this proves conclusively 'that in the 

 summer, at any rate, the pilgrimage could be managed in two days and 

 one night on the road.' King John of France, in 1357, took a day for 

 each of these stages — Canterbury to Rochester, Rochester to Dartford, 

 Dartford to London (Kervyn 6. 18). Cf. p. 166, note 3; Tatlock, 'The 

 Duration of the Canterbury Pilgrimage' (Pub. Mod. Lang. Assoc. 21 

 (1906). 478-485). 

 ^ In T. and C. 2, 625, Troilus was 



Al armed, save his heed, ful richely. 

 " Poetically raised from the knights and squires who actually accom- 

 panied him. 



..1 



