The Chronicle
April 1353
1 April 1353
A clear day in Ambermead, the first fine morning after Easter week.
8 April 1353
Hock Monday in Ambermead: the women caught the men and bound them until they paid up. This year's forfeits came to 1s 4d, and it all goes to the church. (Hock Monday is an old custom of the week after Easter, when the women get to take the men captive for a ransom.) Stephen Brewer also called on the Millers during the day. Cloudy skies, but the work didn't seem to suffer for it.
9 April 1353
Hock Tuesday is the men's turn. Yesterday the women caught the men and bound them until they paid up, and today the men caught the women. It brought in 10d more for the church, so the two days together come to 2s 2d. Edith atte Well also called on the Millers. The day was clear.
10 April 1353
A pilgrim stopped in Ambermead tonight. Ralph of Kingsley is walking home from Canterbury and wears a little lead flask of St Thomas's water round his neck. Pilgrims bring it back from the saint's shrine, and people keep it as a cure and a blessing. The priest gave him a bed for the night. It was a clear day for the road.
13 April 1353
Thomas and Edith atte Well paid a visit to the Millers today. It's the third day this week the Millers have had a call from the atte Wells' house, after Edith stopped by on Tuesday's Hock game and Stephen Brewer the Monday before. A cloudy day, and a good one for sitting indoors with neighbors.
14 April 1353
A traveling storyteller named Geoffrey of Brookfield came in from the road today and is staying the night at the inn. He knows the tales of Guy of Warwick and Robin Hood by heart, so the inn may be a lively place this evening. Henry Cooper is home in bed with a cold in the head, under a cloudy sky.
15 April 1353
Cloudy today in Ambermead. Henry Cooper, who has been in bed with a cold in the head, called on the Millers. Robert of Hatherley, a chapman (a traveling seller) with cloth, girdles and purses, came in from the road and is lodging the night at the inn.
16 April 1353
Clear skies today, and the manor court sat in the hall. One case came up: Elena Smith against Stephen Brewer over a furrow along the mere, the boundary strip between their land. The steward has passed the matter to the lord to decide. Pottage went to the Coopers' door again, carried by Adam Brewer and Edith atte Well.
17 April 1353
Pottage went to the Coopers' door again today, carried by Adam Brewer and Edith atte Well. Henry Cooper has had a cold in the head since the 14th, and the neighbors are keeping the household fed. It's a clear, bright day.
18 April 1353
The pottage runs to the Coopers' door again today. Stephen Brewer carried it over this time, and Adam Brewer stopped in to see them too. Henry Cooper has been in bed with a cold in the head since the 14th, and the neighbors have taken turns bringing food since. It's a clear day, a good one for the fields.
19 April 1353
Pottage kept going to the Coopers' door on a clear day. Adam Brewer carried a pot over again, as he has most days this week, and Joan of Thornbury took one too.
21 April 1353
Rain today, and a stranger came in out of it. Robert of Bradwell, an archer home from the French war, arrived on the road with his bow on his back and his pay long spent. He slept in the church porch. The dispute between Stephen Brewer and Elena Smith over a furrow by the mere has moved on. A jury walked the boundary between their land, and the lord ruled that Stephen pay 2d.
22 April 1353
Adam Brewer stopped in at the Millers' house today. It was an overcast day, the kind that keeps the fields quiet and the doors open.
26 April 1353
Thomas atte Well stopped by the Millers' house today. It rained all day, so it was a day for staying near a roof, and he found his way there anyway.
28 April 1353
William of Oakham, a Dominican friar, stopped in Ambermead for the night. Dominicans are called black friars for the dark cloaks they wear over their white habits. He is a learned preacher on his way to the priory in the town, and the priest gave him a bed. It was a cloudy day.
29 April 1353
Rogation days are here, and Sir John led the procession around the village bounds and through the fields today, blessing the crops. The walk also keeps everyone's memory of where the boundaries run fresh. A pedlar named William of Milford came in from the road under the cloudy sky and took a bed at the inn. His pack holds needles, pins, ribbons, laces and little knives.
30 April 1353
Joan of Thornbury has split her feverfew bed and has cuttings rooting on her windowsill. She plans to start handing them out to neighbors tomorrow. Feverfew is the herb people here use against fevers and headaches, so it's a handy plant to have by the door. It's a clear day, good for the roots to settle.