Note 198 — BOOK III. (continued 2)
Reading edition
Personal attendants, as the name implies. They followed the knights in battle, and never quitted their side:
The Duke of York so dread, The eager vaward led, With the main Harry sped, Among his henchmen. Drayton's Ballad of Agincourt.
This office was long retained by the Highland chiefs, and usually conferred on a foster brother. Before a battle, the Frenchmen carried, as in the text, the arms of the knight ready for use.