The Chronicle
February 1354
2 February 1354
Candlemas came in under snow, and the candles were blessed and carried in procession round the church; the churchwardens paid 1s 2d for the year's wax. Isabel of Kingsley went to the steward about what the Warreners need, and the old terms stand for another year. The Coopers have also paid Stephen Brewer back what they owed him.
3 February 1354
Alan Shepherd is in bed with a fever. With the snow still coming down on St Blaise's day, a gray friar, Peter of Kingsley, came in off the road; he's a Franciscan who preaches from village to village and begs his bread, and Sir John gave him a bed for the night.
4 February 1354
Manor court day, on sodden ground. The steward fined the village's ale-sellers for breaking the assize of ale, the rules on its price and measure: Elena Brewer, John of Thornbury and Beatrice Shepherd 4d each and Edith atte Well 2d, then a second round of 4d apiece for Elena, Edith and Beatrice. Beatrice Shepherd lent the priest's household some salt till market day, and that night the priest gave a bed to Thomas of Kingsley, a Dominican preacher on his way to the priory in town.
5 February 1354
Agnes Fletcher went to see the steward about getting a hand to help her at the plough. He's going to put it to the lord, so for now she waits on his answer, with the February ploughing coming on fast.
6 February 1354
A gray, cloudy 6 February, and the atte Wells found their kindness coming back to them twice over. Peter Miller ground a sack of their corn and didn't take his usual toll for it, and Alice Warrener brought them a peck of meal.
9 February 1354
A fox got into the Coopers' hens overnight and made off with two of them, on a drizzly 9 February. With Lent close and eggs already scarce this time of year, two fewer layers is a real loss for a small house.
10 February 1354
Elena Brewer is in bed with a bad cough she caught from Margaret Smith. There's better news at the west end of the village, where Alan Shepherd is up and about again after his fever, on a clear February day.
13 February 1354
A wet drizzle all day on 13 February. Little Hugh Smith, 3, is in bed with a fever, in a house that already has Elena down with a cough. Stephen Brewer carried a load of firewood to the priest's house to repay their kindness, and Alice Warrener brought the Brewers a peck of meal for theirs. Beatrice Shepherd lent the priest's household 6d till market day.
15 February 1354
A thick fog sat on Ambermead on 15 February, but two visitors found their way in anyway. Walter of Ashby, a pedlar with a pack of needles, pins, ribbons, laces and little knives, came in off the road and took a bed at the inn. And Maud of Thornbury, Alice Warrener's sister, came over for the day and stayed the night by the Warreners' hearth.
18 February 1354
Two guests on a cloudy 18 February. Richard of Brookfield, a traveling cooper who mends tubs and buckets and sells new staves, took a bed at the inn, and Alan of Elmstead, a black friar (a Dominican preacher) on his way to the priory in the town, spent the night at the priest's house.
20 February 1354
Elena Brewer is up and about again after a bad cough. Stephen Brewer took the Coopers a load of firewood to thank them for their kindness, and lent them 4d till market day as well. Edith atte Well brought the priest's household a peck of meal, and Roger Warrener made the atte Wells a pair of hurdles, the woven fence panels used to pen sheep, both in return for kindnesses done. On a cloudy evening Henry of Stanton, a chapman selling cloth, girdles and purses round the villages, took a bed at the inn.
22 February 1354
The cough that's been going round the Brewers' house has caught Stephen Brewer now. He got it from Margaret Smith and is laid up in bed with it on a clear, cold 22 February, the day after he was out helping the Fletchers with their sowing.
23 February 1354
A fox got into the Coopers' hens again in the night and made off with two, the second time this month. Henry and Cecily will be looking hard at that coop on a gray morning.
25 February 1354
Shrove Tuesday, and the men went up the north road for the football against Northshire. Northshire won again, but Henry Cooper played the game of his life. The manor court sat in the hall the same day: Elena Brewer and Beatrice Shepherd were fined 4d each and Edith atte Well 2d for selling ale against the assize, the rules on ale price and strength. Thomas atte Well was up for being taken in the lord's warren by night, his second time this year, and the steward has put it to the lord. At the Brewers' house, Hugh Smith, 3, is up again after his fever.
27 February 1354
The lord has ruled on Thomas atte Well's second night in the warren: a 6d fine, and he loses his snares. Peter Miller and Stephen Brewer stood pledge for him, meaning they answer for his good behavior from here on. Thomas spent part of the overcast day making the Millers a pair of hurdles, the woven fence panels used for penning sheep, in return for their kindness.