The Tainted Coin
The Tainted Coin
By the same author
(in sequence)
The Unquiet Bones
A Corpse at St Andrew’s Chapel
A Trail of Ink
Unhallowed Ground
The Tainted Coin
The fifth chronicle of Hugh de Singleton, surgeon
MEL STARR
Copyright © 2012 by Mel Starr
This edition copyright © 2012 Lion Hudson
The right of Mel Starr to be identified
as author of this work has been asserted by him in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Published by Monarch Books
an imprint of
Lion Hudson plc
Wilkinson House, Jordan Hill Road, Oxford OX2 8DR, England
Tel: +44 (0) 1865 302750 Fax: +44 (0) 1865 302757
Email: [email protected]
www.lionhudson.com/monarch
ISBN: 978 0 85721 250 4
e-ISBN: 978 0 85721 401 0
First edition 2012
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Cover image: Corbis/Ron Nickel/Design Pics
For Peter and Muriel Horrocks
Thanks for the wonderful memories of days spent at Trethevy Farm
Contents
Acknowledgments
Several years ago when Dan Runyon, professor of English at Spring Arbor University, learned that I had written an as yet unpublished medieval mystery, he invited me to speak to his fiction-writing class about the trials of a rookie writer seeking a publisher. He sent sample chapters of
The Unquiet Bones
to his friend Tony Collins. Thanks, Dan.
Thanks to Tony Collins and all those at Monarch who saw Master Hugh’s potential. Thanks especially to my editor, Jan Greenough, who excels at asking questions like, “Do you really want to say it that way?” and “Wouldn’t Master Hugh do it this way?”
Dr. John Blair, of Queen’s College, Oxford, has written several papers about Bampton history. These have been invaluable in creating an accurate time and place for Master Hugh. Tony and Lis Page have also been a wonderful source of information regarding Bampton. I owe them much.
Ms Malgorzata Deron, of Poznan, Poland, has offered to update and maintain my website. She has done a wonderful job. To see the results of her work, visit
www.melstarr.net
Glossary
Alaunt:
a large hunting dog.
All Saints’ Day:
November 1st.
All Souls’ Day:
November 2nd.
Almoner:
monastic official in charge of charity and care of the poor.
Aloes of lamb:
lamb sliced thin and rolled in a mixture of egg yolk, suet, onion, and various spices, then baked.
Angelus Bell:
rung three times each day; dawn, noon, and dusk. Announced the time for the Angelus devotional.
Apples in compost:
apples cooked with a sauce of malmsey wine, sliced dates, sugar cinnamon, and ginger.
Bailiff:
a lord’s chief manorial representative. He oversaw all operations, collected rents and fines, and enforced labor service. Not a popular fellow.
Baxter:
a professional baker, usually female, who often sold on the streets.
Beadle:
a manor official in charge of fences, hedges, enclosures, and curfew. Also called a hayward, he served under the reeve.
Blanc de sire:
ground, cooked chicken, thickened with rice flour and cooked in almond milk.
Boon work:
the extra hours of labor service villeins owed the lord at harvest.
Bruit of eggs:
an egg-and-cheese custard.
Buttery:
a room for storing beverages, stored in “butts” or barrels.
Cabbage with marrow:
cabbage cooked with bone marrow, breadcrumbs, and spices.
Calefactory:
the warming room in a monastery. Benedictines allowed the fire to be lit on November 1st. The more rigorous Cistercians had no calefactory.
Capon farced:
chicken stuffed with hard-boiled egg yolks, currants, chopped pork, breadcrumbs, and various spices.
Cellarer:
the monastic official in charge of food and drink.
Chapman:
a merchant, particularly one who traveled from village to village with his wares.
Chardewarden:
pears cooked in wine sauce with breadcrumbs and various spices.
Chauces:
tight-fitting trousers, sometimes of different colors for each leg.
Compline:
the seventh and last of the daytime canonical hours, observed at sunset.
Coney in cevy:
rabbit stewed with onions, breadcrumbs, and spices in wine vinegar.
Coppice:
to cut a tree back to the base to stimulate the growth of young shoots. These were used for anything from arrows to rafters, depending upon how much they were permitted to grow.
Cotehardie:
the primary medieval outer garment. Women’s were floor-length, men’s ranged from thigh to ankle.
Cotter:
a poor villager, usually holding five acres or less, he often had to work for wealthier villagers to make ends meet.
Cresset:
a bowl of oil with a floating wick used as a lamp.
Cyueles:
deep-fried fritters made of a paste of bread crumbs, ground almonds, eggs, sugar, and salt.
Demesne:
land directly exploited by a lord and worked by his villeins, as opposed to land a lord might rent to tenants.
Deodand:
an object which had caused a death. The item was sold and the price given to the King.
Dexter:
to the right hand. Also a large, powerful war horse.
Egg leech:
a thickened custard.
Extreme Unction
(or Last Rites): a sacrament for the dying. It must not be premature. A recipient who recovered was considered as good as dead. He must fast perpetually, go barefoot, and abstain from sexual relations.
Farrier:
a smith who specialized in shoeing horses.
Farthing:
one fourth of a penny. The smallest silver coin.
Fistula:
An abnormal passage developed between two organs, sometimes from an abscess to the body’s surface.
Gentleman:
a nobleman. The term had nothing to do with character or behavior.
Gersom:
a fee paid to a noble to acquire or inherit land.
Groom:
a lower-rank servant to a lord, often a youth and usually assistant to a valet.
Haberdasher:
a merchant who sold household items such as pins, buckles, hats, and purses.
Habit:
a monk’s robe and cowl.
Hallmote:
the manorial court. Royal courts judged free tenants accused of murder or felony. Otherwise manor courts had jurisdiction over legal matters concerning villagers. Villeins accused of murder might also be tried in a manor court.
Hamsoken:
breaking and entering.
Infangenthef:
the right of the lord of a manor to try and execute a thief caught in the act.
King’s Eyre:
a royal circuit court, presided over by a traveling judge.
Kirtle:
the basic medieval undergarment.
Lammastide:
August 1st, when thanks was given for a successful wheat harvest. From “loaf mass”.
Leach lombard:
a dish of ground pork, eggs, raisins, currants, and dates, with spices added. The mixture was boiled in a sack until set, then sliced for serving.
Leech:
a physician.
Liripipe:
a fashionably long tail attached to a man’s cap.
Lychgate:
a roofed gate in a churchyard wall under which the corpse rested during the initial part of a burial service.
Maintenance:
protection from punishment for misdeeds; provided for knights who served a powerful lord and wore his livery.
Mark:
a coin worth thirteen shillings and four pence.
Marshalsea:
the stables and their associated accoutrements.
Maslin:
bread made from a mixture of grains, commonly wheat and rye or barley and rye.
Mews:
stables, often with living quarters, built around a courtyard.
Nones:
the fifth canonical office, sung at the ninth hour of the day – about 3 p.m.
Page:
a young male servant, often a youth learning the arts of chivalry before becoming a squire.
Palfrey:
a riding horse with a comfortable gait.
Pannaging:
turning hogs loose in an autumn forest to fatten on roots and acorns.
Passing bell:
ringing of the parish church bell to indicate the death of a villager.
Pomme dorryce:
meatballs made of ground pork, eggs, currants, flour, and spices.
Pottage:
anything cooked in one pot, from soups and stews, to simple porridge.
Pottage of eggs:
poached eggs in a sweet sauce of honey, sugar, and cinnamon.
Reeve:
the most important manor official, although he did not outrank the bailiff. Elected by tenants from among themselves, and often the best husbandman, he had responsibility for fields, buildings, and enforcing labor service.
Reredorter:
the monastery toilets.
Runcey:
a common horse of lower grade than a palfrey.
Sacrist:
the monastic official responsible for the upkeep of the church and vestments, and time-keeping.
St. James’s Wort:
ointment from this plant was used for wounds, and a syrup was added to wine for easing pain.
