p. 121)
settled beforehand, at a fixed rate, from a duke downwards.[93]

[Footnote 93: But though a person were a volunteer,
yet if, after "making his muster," he failed in his
duty, the punishment was both summary and severe.
In a subsequent expedition of Henry, Hugh Annesley
had made his muster in the company of Lord Grey of
Codnor, and had received the King's pay from him,
but tarried nevertheless in England. He was
summoned before the council, and confessed his
delinquency; his person was forthwith committed to
the Fleet, and his estates seized into the King's
hands.]

Whether there is any foundation at all in fact for the tradition of
Henry's resolution to take with him no married man or widow's son, the
tradition itself bears such strong testimony to the general estimate
of Henry's character for bravery at once and kindness of heart, that
it would be unpardonable to omit every reference to it altogether. The
song of Agincourt, in which it occurs, is unquestionably of ancient
origin; probably written and sung within a very few years of the
expedition.[94] Internal evidence would induce us to infer that it was
composed before Henry's death, and just after his marriage with
Katharine:

"The fairest flower in all France,
To the rose of England I give free."

[Footnote 94: The song will be found in a note on
our account of the battle of Agincourt.]

The ballad, at all events, is among the earliest of our English songs,
and was delivered down from father to son in the most distant (p. 122)
parts of the kingdom, when very few of those who preserved the national
poetry from oblivion could read. This circumstance easily accounts for
the many various readings which are found in different copies now,
whilst these in their turn tend to establish the antiquity of the
song. The admirable simplicity and true natural beauty of the verse
will justify its repetition here, though it has already appeared in
our title-page, when it ascribes to Henry the combination of valour
and high resolve, with merciful considerateness and tender feeling for
others. Be the authority for this reported restriction, imposed by
Henry on those who were commissioned to recruit soldiers for his
ex