![]() ![]() Who rode the country hunting was his sport. "A monk there was, one of the finest sort Was dapple-grey and bore the name of Scot." "He wore a tabard smock, and rode a mare." "There was a Merchant with a forking beardĪnd motley dress high on his horse he sat, Large hips, her heels spurred sharply under that." Modern verse translation of parts of the Prologue by Nevill Coghill, Penguin Classics, 1951: Could this be artistic licence, so that the images move "in" to the page centre? However, the artist's observation is true in that the lady rider would have been able to choose which side she preferred: the side saddle with fixed pommels for the knee had not been invented, so her position was not yet fixed.īut the sensual Wife of Bath rides like a man, vigorously astride and she has spurs, too! Lines from the Prologue The Prioress and the Nun ride demurely sidesaddle, facing to the side and with both feet level - one with her legs to the nearside, one to the off. Their seat on the horse looks strange to us now, because they ride very straight legged, with their long-toed shoes well pointed forward and their toes down in their stirrups. Their heads are small and necks sharply flexed, making the ears the most forward part of the animal. The word "fetlock" incidentally probably means "foot lock" - the hair at the fetlock joint. The other horses are smaller, but they all have distinct tufts on their fetlocks, like modern British native ponies they are not "clean legged" which might indicate Oriental blood, but neither do they have profuse feather. It bears a brand on its near hindquarter. This animal is closely observed: it has shoes with studs or sharp nails protruding from the under surface. The poet Chaucer himself rides a small grey pony sized animal, almost the smallest portrayed while the Knight's horse is much bigger than all the others. How much of what is seen is accurate, and how much is dramatic exaggeration, like modern cartoons or caricatures? Medieval view of the horses in the Tales Such contemporary illustrations of horses in use are informative but very difficult for us to judge today. The best accompanying contemporary illustrations of the "company" riding to Canterbury come from the Ellesmere manuscript, now in the Huntington Library, San Marino, California this is believed to have been written and drawn within 10 years of Chaucer's death ( ref). ![]() The interest, from the equestrian point of view, lies in the detailed portraits of the people involved, with their mounts. It reads rather like an account of a 20th century holiday trip in a motor coach, with its anecdotes and its small disagreements between the participants, and the general air of good humour that prevails. The story of the 29 travellers going on a pilgrimage to Canterbury is fictional, but it must have been based on keen observation of such excursions. The text was probably written between 13. Chaucer's Pilgrims in "The Canterbury Tales" ![]()
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