Their feudal discipline, moreover, in which the youth who entered the service of a veteran as page, rose in time to the rank of esquire and bachelor-at-arms, and finally won his spurs on some well-contested field, was eminently favourable to the training and proficiency of military talents.    From Wordnik.com.  [A Popular History of Ireland : from the Earliest Period to the Emancipation of the Catholics — Volume 1] Reference