Note 2 — PREFACE [a] [TO THE FIRST AND SECOND CANTOS.]

["In the 13th and 14th centuries the word 'child,' which signifies a youth of gentle birth, appears to have been applied to a young noble awaiting knighthood, e.g. in the romances of Ipomydon, Sir Tryamour, etc. It is frequently used by our old writers as a title, and is repeatedly given to Prince Arthur in the Faërie Queene"—(N. Eng. Dict., art. "Childe").

Byron uses the word in the Spenserian sense, as a title implying youth and nobility.]