The captains of the hosts of God
   Know every man by name,
 When from the torn and bleeding sod
   Their spirits pass like flame. 
 The maid must wait her lover still,
   The mother wait her son,—­
 For very love they may not leave
   The task they have begun.

 If secret plot of greed or fear
   Shall bid the trumpets cease,
 And bind the lands they held so dear
   To base dishonored peace,
 How shall their white battalions rest
   Or sheathe the sword of light,—­
 The unbroken armies of our dead,
   Who have not ceased to fight!

NOTES

PEIROL OF THE PIGEONS

The troubadour, minstrel and jongleur or joglar, were not the same in dignity.  A troubadour or trouvere was a poet who sang his own compositions to his own music.  A jongleur was a singer who was not a poet, though he might make songs.  He corresponded more nearly to the modern vaudeville performer.  The minstrel was something between the two.

THE TAPESTRY CHAMBER

Saint George was not formally adopted as the patron saint of England until some time after this.

LULLABY OF THE PICT MOTHER

This song may be sung to a very old Scotch air called “O can ye sew cushions.”

THE WOLVES OF OSSORY

The werewolf superstition is very persistent, and has been held in many countries until quite recent times.

ST. HUGH AND THE BIRDS

The reference is to St. Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln, who is represented with his pet swan in most of his portraits.  He founded a Carthusian monastery by the invitation of Henry II., at Witham in Somerset, and built the choir and a considerable part of Lincoln Cathedral.  The stories of his love for birds are found in old chronicles.

THE SWORD OF DAMASCUS

An armorer’s shop very like the one described has been brought from Abbeville and set up in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in one of the rooms devoted to armor.

THE WISDOM OF THE GALLEYS

“Y’Allah!” (O God!) is a common exclamation, often used as meaning “Make Haste!” Abu Hassan is “the father of Hassan,” In Moslem countries a father often uses his son’s name in this way, allowing his own to be almost forgotten.

Khawaja, Khawadji or Howadji is a title of respect given exclusively to unbelievers.

The Breach of Roland—­Roncesvalles.

Jebel el Tarik—­Gibraltar.

Iskanderia—­Alexandria.

“Ma sh’ Allah!” (What does God mean!) the commonest exclamation of surprise.

Feringhi—­Frankish, French.