The Chronicle
May 1353
1 May 1353
May Day in Ambermead started early. The young ones were up before dawn bringing in the may (blossoming hawthorn boughs) from the woods, and Maud Miller was Queen of the May. There was dancing on the green all afternoon, and Adam Brewer and Joan of Thornbury danced together for most of it. Two travelers came in from the road and lodged at the inn: Roger of Stanton, a tinker who mends pots, kettles and pans, and Ralph of Hatherley, a pedlar with a tray of combs, thread, spoons and cheap brooches. It was a clear day for it.
3 May 1353
Two travelers came through Ambermead on a cloudy 3 May. Simon of Westcott, a pilgrim on his way to Our Lady's shrine at Walsingham, carried a staff and a scrip (a small bag for the road) and was given a bed by the priest for the night. Robert of Long Marston, a wool dealer's factor with a tally stick and a sharp eye for a fleece, lodged at the inn.
5 May 1353
Thomas atte Well stopped by the Millers' house today. It was a cloudy day, mild enough for a neighborly visit, and the second week of May has the fields looking green and the weeding about to begin.
6 May 1353
Thomas atte Well called on the Millers today, the second day running. It was a clear, bright day in early May, with the sowing done and the fields green.
7 May 1353
Cloudy skies over Ambermead today. Stephen Brewer and Thomas atte Well both called on the Millers, and Thomas has now been there three days running. Evening brought Simon of Brookfield, a juggler and tumbler who plays the pipe and tabor (a small drum), in from the road. He's lodging the night at the inn.
9 May 1353
A tinker named Simon of Hatherley came in from the road today and took a bed at the inn. He carries a little brazier and a bag of patches, so if you have a leaky pot, kettle or pan, he's the man to ask. Adam Brewer also called on the Millers under a gray, overcast sky.
10 May 1353
Cecily Cooper stopped by the Millers' house today. It was a cloudy day, mild for early May, and the fields are green with the spring sowing.
11 May 1353
Adam Brewer stopped in at the Millers' today, and Maud Miller came home with a good string of fish from the lake. It's a cloudy day, and fish is welcome on any table.
12 May 1353
Whitsun brought the church-ale to the green today, a village party where ale is sold to raise money for the church. There were games and dancing, and people came over from Northshire to join in. By the end of the day it had raised 1s 11d for the church. The weather stayed clear for it.
13 May 1353
Thomas and Edith atte Well both stopped in at the Millers' house today. It was a cloudy day, the morning after the Whitsun church-ale on the green, so it was a quiet one after the dancing and games.
14 May 1353
Two travelers stopped at the inn tonight. Simon of Oakham, a juggler and tumbler who plays the pipe and tabor (a small drum), came in from the road, and so did Emma of Stanton, a pedlar with a pack of needles, pins, ribbons, laces and little knives. Edith atte Well spent part of a cloudy day calling on the Millers.
15 May 1353
Simon of Fairford, a chapman (a traveling seller) with cloth, girdles and purses, came in from the road today and is staying the night at the inn. It's the third traveling trader there in as many days, after Simon of Oakham, the juggler, and Emma of Stanton, the pedlar. The weather is clear, so the roads are good for them.
16 May 1353
Two men came in from the road today and slept in the church porch: Nicholas of Hatherley and Simon of Hatherley. They served together in France, Nicholas as a groom to a knight, and he came back without the knight. The two are now walking home together. Juliana Miller is in bed with a sore throat. The weather is clear, so at least the mill house has a bright day around it.
18 May 1353
Juliana Miller is still unwell after a few days with a sore throat, and the Millers had help again today. Adam Brewer took pottage to their door, and Thomas atte Well called in on them. It was a clear day in mid-May.
19 May 1353
Pottage went to the Millers' door twice today. Adam Brewer carried a pot over, and Edith atte Well took another. Juliana Miller has been in bed with a sore throat since the 16th, and her neighbors are keeping the household fed while she rests. It was a clear day.
20 May 1353
Stephen Brewer and Thomas atte Well each took pottage to the Millers today. Juliana Miller has been in bed with a sore throat since the 16th, and neighbors have been carrying food to the house nearly every day. It's a clear day in the middle of May, with the fields green and the weeding under way.
21 May 1353
Another quiet day of looking in on the Millers, where Juliana is still dealing with her sore throat. Adam Brewer went to see her, and Thomas atte Well called at the house too. It's a clear day in late May, and the pottage has been going to their door for several days now.
22 May 1353
Pottage went to the Millers' door again today. Adam Brewer and Thomas atte Well both carried it over, as neighbors have been doing there most days lately. Word has also come that Roger Warrener and his family, from Hatherley, will keep the lord's warren. That's the patch of land where the lord's rabbits are raised.
23 May 1353
Corpus Christi today. After Mass the priest carried the Host (the consecrated bread) around the churchyard under a canopy, with flowers strewn along the path. It was a clear day for it. Cecily Cooper called on the Millers, where neighbors have been dropping by with pottage and visits all week.
24 May 1353
Stephen Brewer stopped in at the Millers' today, and Adam Brewer carried a pot of pottage over to the priest's household. It was a clear, bright day, good weather for the late-May weeding.
25 May 1353
Clear weather today, and a quiet one in the village. Stephen Brewer called on the Millers, and Adam Brewer took pottage over to the priest's household again. In the evening William of Hatherley, a pilgrim walking home from Canterbury, came in off the road. He wears a little lead flask of St Thomas's water around his neck. The priest gave him a bed for the night.
26 May 1353
Pottage went to the priest's house twice today. Adam Brewer carried a pot over, as he has the last few days, and Edith atte Well took one too. It's a gray, overcast day, good weather for walking a pot down the street while it's still warm.
27 May 1353
Pottage went to the priest's household again today. Stephen Brewer carried it over, and Adam Brewer stopped by the house too. It has been a cloudy day, and neighbors have kept the priest's table supplied for several days running now.
28 May 1353
Another quiet, clear day in Ambermead, and the priest's house kept getting visitors. Stephen Brewer called in, and Adam Brewer brought pottage round again, as he has most days this week.
29 May 1353
Clear weather today, and the Brewers' visits continued. Stephen Brewer and Adam Brewer both stopped in at the Millers' house.
30 May 1353
The Warreners have arrived. Roger Warrener came from Hatherley today with his wife Alice and their two children, Amice, 5, and Margery, 2, and took up the keeping of the lord's warren, the land where the lord's rabbits are kept. They arrived in the rain, and the village now has 19 people in seven households. Stephen Brewer and Joan of Thornbury both stopped in at the Millers' house today.
31 May 1353
Cecily Cooper stopped by the Millers' house today, one more neighbor looking in on a house that has had a steady stream of callers lately. The sky stayed cloudy all day. The Warreners, who arrived yesterday to keep the lord's warren, are still settling in, and Ambermead now has 19 people in 7 households.