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Lion Hudson - Mel Starr

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124 pages

English

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An engrossing read in the successful Chronicles of Hugh de Singleton, Surgeon series. Lady Philippa, the wife of Sir Aymer - a knight of the realm - disappears while travelling from her husband's manor to Bampton. They have simply vanished. As the disappearance may have happened while they were traveling on Lord Gilbert's lands, his surgeon and bailiff, Hugh de Singleton, is assigned to discover what has happened to the lady.Can Hugh help find her, or is it already too late?

Informations

Publié par	Lion Hudson
Date de parution	20 septembre 2019
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781782642688
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0450€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

The chronicles of Hugh de Singleton, surgeon
The Unquiet Bones
A Corpse at St Andrew s Chapel
A Trail of Ink
Unhallowed Ground
The Tainted Coin
Rest Not in Peace
The Abbot s Agreement
Ashes to Ashes
Lucifer s Harvest
Deeds of Darkness
Prince Edward s Warrant
Without a Trace

Text copyright 2019 Mel Starr
This edition copyright 2019 Lion Hudson IP Limited
The right of Mel Starr to be identified as the 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.
All the characters in this book are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Published by
Lion Hudson Limited
Wilkinson House, Jordan Hill Business Park,
Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 8DR, England
www.lionhudson.com
ISBN 978 1 78264 267 1
e-ISBN 978 1 78264 268 8
First edition 2019
Cover images w-ings (woods)
cwinegarden (brooch) / iStock
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
For Russell Clark Starr
(1904-2000)
and Mabel Osborne Starr
(1899-1966)
Contents
Acknowledgments
Glossary
Bampton to Oxford; fourteenth century
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Afterword
Acknowledgments
S everal years ago when Dr 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 chapters of Hugh de Singleton s first chronicle, The Unquiet Bones, to his friend Tony Collins at Lion Hudson. Thanks, Dan.
Tony has since retired, but many thanks to him and all those at Lion Hudson who saw Hugh de Singleton s potential. Thanks also to my editors - Jan Greenough for the first nine books, and Penelope Wilcock for the most recent - who know Sir Hugh well and excel at asking such questions as Do you really want to say it that way? and Wouldn t Hugh do it like this?
Dr John Blair, of Queen s College, Oxford, has written several papers about Bampton history. These have been valuable in creating an accurate time and place for Hugh.
In the summer of 1990 Susan and I found a delightful B B in a medieval village north of Lichfield named Mavesyn Ridware. Proprietors Tony and Lis Page became friends, and when they moved to Bampton some years later they invited us to visit them there. Tony and Lis introduced me to Bampton and became a great source of information about the village. Tony died in March 2015, only a few months after being diagnosed with cancer. He is greatly missed.
Ms Malgorzata Deron, of Poznan, Poland, offered to update and maintain my website. She has done a marvelous job. To see her work visit www.melstarr.net.
Glossary
Almoner: official of castle or monastery charged with dispensing alms - food or money - to the poor.
Ambler: an easy-riding horse, because it moved both right legs together, then both left legs.
Angelus: the church bell was rung three times each day - dawn, noon, and dusk - announcing the time for the Angelus Devotional.
Bailiff: a lord s chief manorial representative. He oversaw all operations, collected rents and fines, and enforced labor service. Not a popular fellow.
Banneret: a military rank superior to a knight.
Beadle: a manor official in charge of fences, enclosures, and curfew. He served under the bailiff and reeve. Also called a hayward.
Beans yfryed: beans first simmered, then fried in oil with onions and/or garlic.
Beaulieu: Cistercian abbey near Southampton.
Bruit: a sauce of white wine, breadcrumbs, onions, and spices.
Candlemas: February 2. Marked the purification of Mary. Women traditionally paraded to the village church carrying lighted candles. Tillage of fields resumed this day.
Capon: a castrated male chicken.
Chauces: tight-fitting trousers, often particolored, having different colors for each leg.
Coney: rabbit.
Coppice: to cut back a tree so that a thicket of saplings will grow from the stump. These shoots were used for everything from arrows to rafters, depending upon how long they were permitted to grow.
Corn: a kernel of any grain. Maize - American corn - was unknown in Europe at the time.
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 labor for wealthy villagers to make ends meet.
Cr cy: French village where, in 1346, Edward III defeated the French army.
Cresset: a bowl that could be filled with oil and with a floating wick used for lighting.
Cyueles: deep-fried fritters made of a paste of breadcrumbs, ground almonds, eggs, sugar, and salt, then fried.
Daub: a clay and plaster mix, reinforced with straw and/or horse hair, used to plaster the exterior of a house.
Demesne: land directly exploited by a lord and worked by his villeins, as opposed to land a lord might rent to tenants.
Dexter: a war horse, larger than pack horses and palfreys. Also the right-hand direction.
Dowry: a gift from the bride s family to the groom, intended for her support during marriage and during widowhood, should her husband predecease her.
Dredge: mixed grains planted together in a field - often barley and oats.
Eels in bruit: eels served in bruit sauce.
Farrier: a smith who shoes horses.
Farthing: one-fourth of a penny. The smallest silver coin.
Gathering: eight leaves of parchment made by folding the prepared hide three times.
Gentleman: a nobleman. The term had nothing to do with character or behavior.
Glebe: land belonging to or providing revenue for a parish church.
Grange: a farm associated with and providing food and revenue for an abbey.
Groat: a silver coin worth four pence.
Groom: a household servant to a lord, ranking above a page and below a valet.
Grope Lane: street in Oxford now known as Magpie Lane.
Hallmote: the manorial court. Royal courts judged free tenants accused of murder and felony; manorial courts had jurisdiction over legal matters concerning villagers.
Hanoney: eggs scrambled with onions and fried.
Hosteller: monastic official in charge of providing for abbey guests. Also called guest master.
Hue and cry: alarm call raised by the person who discovered a crime. All who heard were expected to go to the scene of the crime and, if possible, pursue the felon.
Infangenthef: the right of a 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: a medieval undershirt.
Lady: a title of rank for a female. As with gentleman it had nothing to do with character or behavior.
Lammastide: August 1, when thanks was given for a successful wheat harvest. From Old English loaf mass.
Leech Lombard: a dish of ground pork, eggs, raisins, currants, and dates, with added spices. The mixture was boiled in a sack until set, then sliced for serving.
Liripipe: a fashionably long tail attached to a man s cap and usually coiled on top of the head.
Lych gate: a roofed gate at the entry to a churchyard under which the deceased would rest during the initial part of a medieval funeral.
Marshal: a high-ranking official having charge of a lord s stables, military resources, and ceremonies.
Marshalsea: the stables and their associated accoutrements.
Martinmas: November 11, the traditional date to slaughter animals for winter food.
Maslin: bread made with a mixture of grains, commonly wheat and rye or barley.
Meselade: a dish of beaten eggs and bread, sprinkled with sugar.
Michaelmas: September 29. The feast signaled the end of the harvest. Last rents and tithes were due.
Michaelmas Term: the academic term from September to Christmas.
Midsummer s Eve: June 23/24. (By the fourteenth century the Julian calendar was about ten days off.)
Palfrey: a riding horse with a comfortable gait.
Parchment: animal skin, usually sheep or goat, prepared for writing.
Pardoner: religious official who raised money by selling indulgences.
Porre of peas: a thick pea soup made with onions, spices, and sugar.
Portcullis: a grating of iron or wood hung over a passage and lowered between grooves to prevent access.
Pottage: anything cooked in one pot, from the meanest oatmeal to a savory stew.
Pottage of whelks: whelks boiled and served in a stock of almond milk, breadcrumbs, and spices.
Pound: there was no one pound coin in the fourteenth century. The term represented twenty shillings or 240 pence.
Quarter noble: a coin worth one shilling and eight pence.
Radcot Bridge: assumed to be the oldest bridge over the River Thames. Built in about 1200, and still in use for light vehicles on the A4095 between Clanfield and Faringdon.
Reeve: an important manor official, although he did not outrank the bailiff. Elected by tenants from among themselves, he had responsibility for fields, structures, and enforcing labor service.
Refectory: the abbey dining hall.
Rice moyle: a dish of rice simmered in almond milk, saffron, and sugar.
Runcie: a small common horse of lower grade than a palfrey.
St. Beornwald s Church: today called the Church of St Mary the Virgin, in the fourteenth century it was named for an obscure Saxon saint.
Shilling: twelve pence. Twenty shillings made a pound, although there were no shilling or pound coins.
Solar: a small room in a castle, more easily heated than the great hall, where lords preferred to spend time, especially in winter.