Chapter 15
Daily we waited word or sign-- They were our children, these Who held the unsleeping battle-line Beyond the haunted seas, Who gave their golden unlived years And that clear pathway trod Lifting through sunset gates of fire To the far tents of God.
Through trackless realms of unknown space They wander, unafraid, For nothing do they fear to face In worlds that God has made. Freed from the shattered bonds of earth They meet their comrades free, To share the service of the Lord In truth and loyalty.
Elizabeth's wise admirals guard Their dear-loved England's coast. From Somme and Meuse no cannon barred The Maid's undaunted host. And still the Foreign Legion hears In every desperate chance Her children's crashing battle-cry-- “For France! For France! For France!”
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.
Kafir--Infidel, heathen, a term of extreme contempt.
Ahmed ibn Said--Ahmed the son of Said.
THE EBBING TIDE
Hy-Brasail is the Celtic name for the Fortunate Islands, the Isles of Avilion, said to be situated somewhere west of Europe. The dead were said to go westward to these islands, which were a paradise.
THE END OF A PILGRIMAGE
John de Matha founded the Order of the Holy Trinity, sometimes known as the Redemptorist Fathers, sometimes as the Mathurins. He was afterward made a saint. He was the first to make any serious effort to alleviate the condition of prisoners, especially slaves among the Moslems.
The legend of the Star of Bethlehem referred to is one which is still current in India.