Also thou mayst see, my berd is ful yong yet to make a purfyl of hit.
But telle thou thy kynge this, I owe hym none homage, ne none of myn
elders, but, or it be longe to, he shall do me homage on bothe his
kneys, or else he shall lese his hede by ye feith of my body, for
this is ye most shamefullest message that ever I herd speke of. I
have aspyed, thy kyng met never yet with worshipful men; but tell hym, I
wyll have his hede without he doo me homage. Thenne ye messager
departed." ("The Byrth, Lyf and Actes of Kyng Arthur," edit, by Caxton,
1485, reprinted 1817.)
"To make any one's beard" is an old saying, which means "to cheat him,"
or "to deceive him." We read in Chaucer's _Prologue to the Wife of
Bath_ thus:--
"In faith he shal not kepe me, but me lest:
Yet coude I make his berd, so mete I the"
[Illustration: Geoffrey Chaucer, born about 1340, died 1400.]
And again, in the "Reve's Tale," the Miller said:--
"I trow, the clerkes were aferde
Yet can a miller make a clerkes bearde,
For all his art.
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