SC - Myths -- Taillevent

[James Prescott]

At 19:35 -0600 2001-01-25, Decker, Terry D. wrote:
> If we were talking German, I think we would be talking about a knight
> (Ritter or "rider").  "Ecuyer" roughly translates as "rider".  However, this
> is French and the word appears to derive from the Old French "escuier" or
> esquire.  The term is likely being used to describe petite nobility, actual
> rank being determined by the custom of time and place.

The OED has a citation from 1380 for the use of 'squire' to also 
mean a servant or attendant or follower, without implication any 
longer of being of the gentry.

Thorvald