What are the answers to these riddles?

[Moonraker]

Oh I didn't know that, now I've got it! Never heard of that term before for a servant!

Have you never sung the carol, Good King Wenceslas?

Hither, page, and stand by me,
If thou knowst it, telling
Yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?
Sire, he lives a good league hence,
Underneath the mountain
Right against the forest fence
By Saint Agnes fountain.

Bring me flesh and bring me wine
Bring me pine logs hither
Thou and I shall see him dine
When we bear them thither.
Page and monarch, forth they went
Forth they went together
Through the rude winds wild lament
And the bitter weather

In his masters step he trod
Where the snow lay dinted
Heat was in the very sod
Which the Saint had printed
Therefore, Christian men, be sure
Wealth or rank possessing
Ye, who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessing.

Obviously, the page in question has the king (monarch) as his master!

[Bertie]

Well remembered, Moonraker.

A lesser known example is in the Basil Rathbone version of Sherlock Holmes films - Sherlock Holmes Faces Death. Based (loosely!) on Conan Doyle's short story The Musgrave Ritual, they change the ritual in the TV version to...

Where was the light on the face of the messenger?
Where did he speed?
To guard the queen's page.
Who to repel?
The King's cautious page.
What then this disaster?
Page slaughters page.
Who came to slay him?
The bloodthirsty bishop.
Where shall he go?
Deep down below.
Away from the thunder,
let him dig under.

[Bertie]

This all reminds me of the Milton Jones joke:

"I Googled 'lost medieval servant boy', but it just said missing page cannot be found."

[Anita Bensoussane]

The expression 'Page' was definitely used here in hotels https://www.britishpathe.com/video/savo ... y-aka-page but I think in Emil it was a Lift Boy - who performed a different role.

Thanks for the video clip, Splodj! I hadn't heard the word being used in that context before.

[IceMaiden]

I have heard and sung Good King Wensclas Moonraker, but like Hey Jude and God Save the Queen I couldn't tell you what the lyrics are beyond the title and a few of the most well known bits . I suspect neither could most people.

[Fiona1986]

You also get pages in American libraries - not a pun, actual staff called pages but I have no idea what their exact role is. American libraries seem to have a much more complicated hierarchy of staff than we do in the UK.

[Boodi 2]

I seem to remember that when I was young many moons ago there was a popular hairstyle called a "Pageboy cut", which I think I had at one stage!!!

[Boatbuilder]

You're right, Monique. I think I have a picture somewhere of one of my daughter's with one when they were young.

edit: I've just found one of those pictures - taken in 1982 when my younger daughter was nine..

[Fiona1986]

I had a cousin with that exact haircut in the 80s, same colour of eyes and hair as well!

[Boatbuilder]

And I used to go to Dundee in the 80s as well!

[tix]

I think it must be a generational thing because several decades ago everyone knew what a 'Page' was (apart from those found in books) - and they may still exist.

My recollection is that a Page would be a small boy who attends to some prominent figure ...... perhaps a princess; he may hold her veil to save it from trailing in the mud as she takes a walk past cheering crowds, and being a kind of dogsbody he'd assist in other ways as well.

I could imagine Old King Cole with a few Pages around him.

Dunno if the word is supposed to be capitalized.

[Moonraker]

Dunno if the word is supposed to be capitalized.

Wouldn't have thought so, unless you are referring to a particular page, making it a proper noun.

[tix]

" ..... unless you are referring to a particular page, making it a proper noun."

************************************
Yes, that makes sense.

[Boodi 2]

Spot on John, that is the same hairstyle that I had in the late 1970s! The photo of your daughter brings back many memories!!

[Anita Bensoussane]

Some of my friends had that hairstyle in the late 70s/early 80s. I was 12 in 1982 so your photo takes me back to my own childhood, John (Boatbuilder). I used to wear polo neck jumpers and pinafore dresses like that up to the age of 10 or 11, and I too used to enjoy playing with Lego (which is still a popular toy today, of course).