The Chronicle
December 1353
1 December 1353
The first of December, wet and short, with the drizzle hanging on all day. Adam Brewer and Robert Fowler both looked in on the Warreners.
2 December 1353
A wet, gray day in the first week of Advent, and dark by four. Stephen Brewer paid Robert Fowler a penny for the pottage he brought round during the flux and the herbs he took to Joan. John of Brookfield, an archer home from the French war with his bow on his back and his pay long spent, walked in off the road and slept by the Fletchers' hearth. Alan Shepherd laid a new north sill, the timber a wall stands on, under the Shepherds' house, Beatrice Shepherd lent the priest's household 6d till market day, and Maud Miller is in bed with a sore throat.
3 December 1353
A wet, gray 3 December, with dark coming by four. Henry Cooper gave the Fletchers a hand with their firewood, and Beatrice Shepherd called on the Warreners. The manor court sat in the hall, with Thomas atte Well answering for being taken in the lord's wood by night, and the ale-tasters' reports to hear. The steward has put it all to the lord.
4 December 1353
Maud Miller is still down with her sore throat, and Edith atte Well walked a pot of pottage over to her at the mill. Henry Cooper spent part of the short, gray day helping the Warreners get their firewood in, with dark coming on by four.
5 December 1353
Stephen Brewer brought a pike home from the lake on a dark, overcast 5 December, and called on the Warreners, while Robert Fowler called at the Millers, where Maud is up again after her sore throat. A pedlar, Ralph of Brookfield, came in off the road with a pack of needles, pins, ribbons, laces and little knives, and took a bed at the inn.
6 December 1353
Another pike out of the lake on 6 December, this time Adam Brewer's. Elena Smith and John of Thornbury both called on the Warreners, and Elena lent the Coopers 3d till market day. That night John of Hatherley, an archer home from the French war with his bow on his back and his pay long spent, slept in the church porch.
7 December 1353
Fog all day on 7 December, and dark by four. Juliana Miller called on the Warreners, and the Shepherds gave alms to the Warreners at the church door.
8 December 1353
Elena Smith and Robert Fowler gave the Fletchers a hand with their firewood on 8 December, a useful thing in a house of two with the evenings dark by four.
9 December 1353
Rain all day on 9 December, and dark by four. Adam Brewer called on the Warreners, and Elena Smith carried a pot of pottage over to Alice there. Beatrice of Kingsley, a chapman going round the villages with cloth, girdles and purses, came in out of the wet and took a bed at the inn.
10 December 1353
Rain all day and dark by four, but the Warreners still had company. Thomas atte Well called in, and Henry Cooper brought a pot of pottage over for Alice, who is still laid up.
11 December 1353
Snow today. Peter Miller stopped in at the Warreners, and at the mill he ground a sack of the Brewers' corn without taking his usual toll, a thank-you for their kindness to his house. The toll is the share of grain a miller keeps for grinding.
12 December 1353
Snow on the ground and dark by four. Elena Smith and Sir John both called in at the Warreners today, and the atte Wells and the priest's household each brewed ale to sell to the neighbors. The priest's household also paid Beatrice Shepherd what they owed her. Hugh of Hatherley, a pedlar with a tray of combs, thread, spoons and cheap brooches, came in off the road and is staying the night at the inn, and a carter brought word that Joan Brewer's sister Alice has married at Hatherley.
13 December 1353
Snow on 13 December, and dark by four. Stephen Brewer called on the Warreners, and Thomas atte Well brought pottage over for Alice. Agnes Fletcher lent the Coopers a ladder. At the inn that night: Margaret of Kingsley, a minstrel with a fiddle, and Roger of Kingsley on the pipe, the two of them working the inns between the fairs.
14 December 1353
Stephen Brewer has asked Elena Smith to marry him, so the talk around the village turned out to be right. On a gray, soggy day that was dark by four, the Coopers sold a peck or two of rye at market to pay Elena what they owed, and she then lent them 5d to tide them over till market day. Roger Warrener put a hurdle roof over the furze in his lean-to to keep it dry for the winter, and Agnes of Milford, a pedlar with combs, thread and brooches on a tray, stayed the night at the inn.
15 December 1353
A fox got into the Millers' hens in the night and made off with one. Robert of Kingsley, a tinker who mends pots, kettles and pans over his little brazier, came in off the road and is staying at the inn. Elena Smith called on the Warreners, and Agnes Fletcher lent the Smiths a bundle of rushes for their floor.
16 December 1353
The Brewers and the Millers both gave alms to the Warreners at the church door today, and Adam Brewer called at the Warreners' house as well. Stephen Brewer stopped in at the Millers'. With dark coming by four, the inn has something to fill the evening: Hugh of Thornbury, a storyteller who knows Guy of Warwick and Robin Hood by heart, came in off the road and is staying the night.
17 December 1353
Two more travelers at the inn tonight: Ralph of Fairford, a pedlar with a pack of needles, pins, ribbons, laces and little knives, and John of Stanton, a storyteller who knows Guy of Warwick and Robin Hood by heart. That makes two tale-tellers in two nights. Closer to home, Thomas atte Well called on the Millers and Henry Cooper on the Warreners, under a cloudy sky that had everyone indoors by four.
18 December 1353
Snow on the ground and dark by four, a week before Christmas. John of Thornbury carried a pot of pottage up to Alice at the Warreners, Thomas atte Well called on the Millers again, and Alan Shepherd made the atte Wells a pair of hurdles to repay their kindness.
19 December 1353
Snow on the ground and dark by four, and Thomas atte Well carried a pot of pottage over to Alice at the Warreners. A carter coming through brought word that Agnes Fletcher's sister Emma has married at Long Marston.
20 December 1353
Snow again, and dark by four. Stephen Brewer carried a pot of pottage up to Alice at the Warreners, and Sir John looked in on them too. That night the inn had a livelier guest than usual: Gilbert of Long Marston, a juggler and tumbler who plays the pipe and tabor, came in off the road and took a bed there.
21 December 1353
Stephen Brewer and Elena Smith are betrothed. The banns, the church's public notice of a marriage, will be read at Mass the next three Sundays, and since no one marries in Advent or over Christmas, the wedding waits till 14 January. On St Thomas's Day, the shortest of the year, Thomas atte Well helped the Warreners with their firewood and Henry Cooper took pottage up to Alice. The Coopers sold a little oats at market to pay Elena what they owed, and the inn took in a traveling cooper, Richard of Hatherley, and a pedlar, William of Elmstead.
22 December 1353
Clear and cold, with dark by four. The banns of marriage between Stephen Brewer and Elena Smith were read at Mass for the first time, the first of three Sundays before anyone who knows a reason they can't marry has to speak up. John of Thornbury called on the Warreners.
23 December 1353
Two minstrels came in off the road on a clear 23 December and took beds at the inn: Hugh of Thornbury with his fiddle and Richard of Thornbury on the pipe, working the inns between the fairs, just in time for Christmas. Elena Smith carried pottage over to Alice at the Warreners, and Thomas atte Well called there too.
24 December 1353
Christmas Eve came in wet, rain from morning to dark, and the manor court sat in the hall all the same. Thomas atte Well was fined 1s for poaching in the lord's wood, the buck the woodward caught him with last month, and Joan Brewer and Beatrice Shepherd paid 4d each for selling ale against the assize, the price and quality rules for ale. The Warreners asked the lord's mercy, and the steward has put it all to the lord. Out of court, Roger Warrener spent the day cutting firewood for the Coopers in return for their kindness, the atte Wells brewed ale to sell to the neighbors ahead of the feast, and Sir John called on the Warreners.
25 December 1353
Christmas Day, gray and short. After Mass the tenants ate their Christmas dinner in the manor hall at the lord's table, each house bringing its hen, as they did last year. Sir John has started a guild of St Margaret's light, a little fellowship that pays to keep a candle burning before her in the church; the Shepherds, the Brewers and the Millers are its first members, at a penny a quarter. Peter Miller ground a sack of the Brewers' corn without taking his toll, the miller's share of the grain, in thanks for their kindness. Edith atte Well and Roger Warrener each saw the steward, Edith about the egg and honey money and Roger about the loan of his oxen for the spring ploughing, and both kept the old terms for another year. Stephen Brewer called on the Warreners, Agnes Fletcher brought Alice pottage, and the priest's household brewed ale to sell.
28 December 1353
Drizzle on 28 December, Childermas, the feast of the Holy Innocents, and dark by four. John of Kingsley, a chapman (a traveling seller of small goods) going round the villages with cloth, girdles and purses, came in from the road and took a bed at the inn for the night.
29 December 1353
Rain all day on 29 December, the fifth day of Christmas, and dark by four. At Mass the banns between Stephen Brewer and Elena Smith were read for the second time; one more Sunday to go. William of Kingsley, a chapman with cloth, girdles and purses, came in out of the wet and took a bed at the inn.
30 December 1353
Simon of Thornbury, a pedlar, came in off the road on a cloudy 30 December and took a bed at the inn. His pack holds needles, pins, ribbons, laces and little knives, the small things a house runs out of over the winter.
31 December 1353
The last day of 1353 was clear and busy. Henry Cooper got the new rafters into the Coopers' roof, cut from the lord's wood, and Peter Miller lent the Brewers a hand with their firewood. Adam Brewer and Roger both put hurdle roofs over their cut furze, Adam's in the inn's lean-to, to keep it dry through the winter; Roger told Thomas of Elmstead about his in plain words. Thomas is a traveling cooper who mends tubs and buckets and sells new staves, and he lodged at the inn tonight, while Stephen of Westcott, a Dominican (a black friar, one of the learned preaching orders), had a bed at the priest's on his way to the priory in town.