Samkin Aylward

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Samkin Aylward is a principal character in Arthur Conan Doyle's novel The White Company.

An elite archer, he has spent much of his life as a soldier and eventually falls in with The White Company of Sir Nigel Loring, to whom he swears unswerving fealty. His excellent shooting skills, hardy constitution, sense of humour, and a hearty dose of luck have seen him through many battles, allowing him to pursue his chief pastime - wooing and flirting with women.

Sam met up with Alleyne Edricson and Hordle John at the Pied Merlin and, after discussing his lucrative life as a soldier of fortune, managed to convince Hordle John to wager his allegiance to the White Company against a feather bed in a wrestling competition. Samkin won and claimed John's promise to join, to which John replied "I count it not a fly; for I had promised myself a good hour ago that I should go with thee, since the life seems to be a goodly and proper one. Yet I would fain have had the feather-bed."

It is his valor that saves Sir Nigel's life on numerous occasions, and his wisdom that allows Hordle John and Alleyne Edricson to grow in strength and standing in The White Company.