A Corpse at St Andrew's Chapel

On a June afternoon in 1990 my wife and I found a delightful B&B in the tiny village of Mavesyn Ridware. Tony and Lis Page, the proprietors, became good friends. Nearly a decade later Tony and Lis moved to Bampton, where Susan and I were able to visit them in 2001. I saw immediately the town’s potential for the novels I intended to write. Tony and Lis have been a great resource for the history of Bampton, for which I am very grateful.

Dr. John Blair, of Queen’s College, Oxford, has written several papers illuminating the history of Bampton. These have been a great help, especially in understanding the odd situation of a medieval parish church staffed by three vicars.

When he learned that I had written an as yet unpublished novel, Dan Runyon, of Spring Arbor University, invited me to speak to his classes about the trials of a rookie writer. Dan sent some sample chapters of
The Unquiet Bones
to his friend, Tony Collins, Editorial Director of Monarch books at Lion Hudson plc. Thanks, Dan.

And thanks to Tony Collins, my editor, Jan Greenough, and all the people at Lion Hudson for their willingness to publish a new author with no track record.

To our many friends in the UK: your hospitality over the years has been a blessing. Thanks especially to Peter and Muriel Horrocks, Ron and Joan Taylor, George and Sally Kelsall, Frank and Jean Mitchell, and John and Jane Leech.

Mel Starr

Angelus Bell:
Rung three times each day – dawn, noon, and dusk – to announce the Angelus devotional.

Ascension Day:
Forty days after Easter. In 1365: May 22.

Avignon:
A city now in southern France where the popes resided from 1305 to 1378.

Bailiff:
A lord’s chief manorial representative. He oversaw all operations. Collected rents and fines, and enforced labor service. Not a popular fellow.

Beadle:
A manor officer in charge of fences, hedges, enclosures, and curfew. He served under the reeve. Also called a hayward.

Buttery:
A room for beverages, stored in “butts”, or barrels.

Candlemas:
Marked the purification of Mary after the birth of Christ. Women traditionally paraded to church carrying lighted candles. Tillage of fields resumed on this day.

Chasuble:
A sleeveless outer garment worn by a priest during the mass.

Compost:
A vegetable and fruit casserole, often including cabbage, parsnips, carrots, turnips, pears, and currants, flavoured with spices, wine, and honey.

Compostella:
A city in northwestern Spain thought to be the burial place of the apostle James. A popular pilgrimage goal.

Coney:
Rabbit.

Coppicing:
To cut a tree back hard to the base to stimulate the growth of young shoots.

Corpus Christi:
The Thursday after Trinity. In 1365: June 12.

Crenel:
Open space between the merlons of a battlement.

Donatist:
One who holds that sanctity in a priest is necessary for the administration of sacraments.

Dredge:
Mixed grains planted together in a field; often barley and oats.

Ember Day:
A day of fasting, prayer, and requesting forgiveness of sins. Observed four times per year on successive Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

Easter Sepulchre:
A niche in the wall of church or chapel where the host and a cross were placed on Good Friday and removed on Easter Sunday morning.

Farthing:
One-fourth of a penny – the smallest silver coin.

Feast of St. Edward:
March 18.

Fewterer:
The keeper of a lord’s hunting dogs.

Ganging:
A Rogation Day procession around the boundary of a village.

Gathering:
Eight leaves of parchment, made by folding the prepared hide three times.

Haberdasher:
Merchant who sold household items such as pins, buckles, buttons, hats, and purses.

Hallmote:
The manorial court. Royal courts judged free tenants accused of murder or felony, otherwise manorial courts had jurisdiction over legal matters concerning villagers. Villeins accused of murder might also be tried at hallmote.

Hayward:
See “beadle.”

Heriot:
An inheritance tax (called a fine) paid to the lord of the manor – usually the heir’s best animal.

Hocktide:
The Sunday after Easter; a time for paying rents and taxes. Therefore, getting out of hock.

Hue and cry:
Alarm call raised by the person who discovered a crime. All who heard it were expected to go to the scene of the crime and, if possible, pursue the criminal.

Hurdle:
A panel woven from willow or other pliable wood, used for fencing in animals.

King’s Eyre:
A royal circuit court, presided over by a traveling judge.

Kirtle:
The basic medieval undergarment.

Lammas Day:
August 1, when thanks was given for a successful wheat harvest.

Leirwite:
A fine for sexual relations out of wedlock.

Liripipe:
A fashionably long tail attached to a man’s cap.

Lombardy custard:
A custard made with the addition of dried fruit.

Lych gate:
A roofed gate in a churchyard wall under which the deceased rest during the initial part of a burial service.

Malmsey:
the sweetest variety of madeira wine, originally from Greece.

Marcher country:
Border lands between England and Wales, and England and Scotland.

Marshalsea:
The stables and associated accoutrements.

Maslin:
bread made from mixed grains, usually wheat and a coarser grain such as rye or barley.

Merlon:
A solid portion of wall between the open crenels of a battlement.

Michaelmas:
September 29. The feast signaled the end of the harvest. Last rents and tithes were due.

Pannage:
a fee paid to a lord for permission to allow pigs to forage in the forest.

Parapet:
The upper level of a castle wall.

Paschal moon
: The first full moon after March 21.

Pax board:
An object, frequently painted with sacred scenes, which was passed through the medieval church during service for all to kiss.

Pence:
A penny – the most common medieval English coin. Like the half-penny and farthing (one-fourth penny), made of silver. Twelve pennies made a shilling and twenty shillings a pound. There was no one-pound coin.

Pottage:
anything cooked in one pot, from soups and stews to simple porridge.

Poulterer:
The lord’s servant in charge of chickens, ducks, and geese.

Reeve:
The most important manor official, although he did not outrank the bailiff. Elected by tenants from among themselves, often the best husbandman. He had responsibility for fields, buildings, and enforcing labor service.

Rogation Days:
The Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Ascension Day. Also called “gang days.”

St Crispin’s Day:
October 25.

St David’s Day:
March 1.

St Scholastica Day Riot:
February 10, 1355. Several townsmen and students were killed in the riot.

St Swithin’s Day:
July 15.

Soapwort:
A perennial herb with pink or white flowers which emits a pleasant odor when bruised.

Surcoat:
An over-garment.

Toft:
Land surrounding a home. In the medieval period often used for growing vegetables.

Treaty of Bretigny:
Cemented the English victory over France at Poitiers in 1356.

Verderer
: In charge of the lord’s forest lands.

Villein:
A non-free peasant. He could not leave his land or service to his lord, or sell animals without permission. But if he could escape his manor for a year and a day he was free.

Vyaund cyprys:
A chicken and rice pottage, often tinted with blue coloring.

Whitsunday:
Pentecost; seven weeks after Easter Sunday. In 1365: June 1.

Woodbine:
A shrub often found twining about a tree – a variety of honeysuckle.

Yardland:
Thirty acres. Also called a virgate. In northern England also called an oxgang.