CHAPTER XV

Summary

As for the orders and distinctions of the whole people, according to their condition and quality, be it remarked there are four sorts of persons. In the first are comprehended the king, called Rasquan, the queen, called Renequillague, and those who are of his race and of the lineage of former kings; princes, called Calans, princesses, Camenaz, and great lords. The second is the order of dignities, offices, and rank granted by the king, in the which precedence is likewise carefully observed; the third is the nobility; the fourth, the common people. I will begin with the third, that being the rank conferred by birth, and separating its possessors from the common people. Dignities and offices are casualties independent of this rank. There are a great number of nobles here and there throughout the islands. Such as are not nobles durst not sit with them, nor even in the presence of a nobleman so long as he is standing; and should they see one how far off soever coming behind them, they must needs wait and let him pass before them. So, if one has a cloth or anything else thrown over his shoulder, he takes it down. Noble women, though married to men of inferior condition, lose not their rank: even the children the issue of such marriages are noble by virtue of the mother's estate, even were the father of the lowest order.