Page:The Book of Orders of Knighthood and Decorations of Honour of All Nations.djvu/216

98 and will of King Edward of England that he would cause to be made and re-erected the Great Castle of Windsor, which King Arthur had formerly made and founded, where first was begun and established the noble 'Round Table,' of which were so many good and valiant men and Knights, who went forth and toiled in arms and in prowess throughout the world. And that the same King would make an Order of Knights of himself and his children, and of the bravest of his land, and that they should be called the, and that the Feast should be kept from year to year, and should be solemnized at Windsor, the day of St. George." Froissart proceeds to narrate how the King assembled from all his countries, Earls, Barons and Knights, and how he carried out his royal intentions, but our space prohibits our extracting the graphic details.

But even with all these data, there is still a mystery hanging over the subject, which it is in vain to think of solving in the present day; and there is hardly less doubt with respect to the principal ensign, from which the Order has received its name. The popular tradition, derived from Polydore Vergil, is that having a festival at Court a lady chanced to drop her garter, when it was picked up by the King. Observing that the incident made the bye-standers smile significantly, Edward exclaimed in a tone of rebuke: "Honi soit qui mal y pense;" Dishonoured be he who thinks evil of at: and to prevent any further inuendos, he tied the Garter round his own knee. 'This anecdote, it is true, has been characterized by some as an improbable fable: why, we know not. It is strictly in accordance with the romantic habits of an age, when devotion to woman was one of the first duties of Knighthood. A garter has always been united with sentiments of gallantry, and, to wear a lady's favour, her glove, her ribbon, or any thing which belonged to her, was in those days