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This
worthy man was, as Chaucer tells us, "a very
perfect,
gentle
knight," and "In many a noble army had he been.
A
mortal battles had he
been fifteen.
"
His shield, as he is seen showing it to the company at
the
"Tabard" in the illustration, was, in the peculiar language of the
heralds, "argent, semée of roses, gules," which means that
on a white
ground red roses were scattered or strewn, as seed is sown by the
hand.
When
this knight was called on to propound a puzzle, he said to the
company, "This riddle a wight did ask of me when that I fought with the
lord of Palatine against the heathen in Turkey.
In
thy hand take a
piece
of chalk and learn how many perfect squares thou canst make with one of
the eighty-seven roses at each corner thereof."
The
reader may find it
an
interesting problem to count the number of squares that may be formed
on
the shield by uniting four roses.
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