The Chronicle
May 1354
1 May 1354
May Day came in cloudy, the ground still sodden. The young ones were up before dawn to bring the may in from the woods, and Maud Miller was Queen of the May. There was dancing on the green all afternoon: John Carter and Agnes Fletcher kept together for most of it, and so did Roger Warrener and Maud.
4 May 1354
Roger Warrener finally has the hurdle roof up over his stack of furze, and what's underneath is drying out. Furze burns hot, so it's good fuel to have dry. Under a cloudy sky, it will take a while.
6 May 1354
Thomas atte Well is back on his feet after a fever. He's up again today, and the sky is clear after three gray days.
7 May 1354
A pedlar named Hugh of Westcott came in from the road today and is staying the night at the inn. He carries a tray of combs, thread, spoons and cheap brooches. It's a clear day, a good one for showing off his wares, and thread and spoons are always in demand.
8 May 1354
Sir John said a Mass today for Alan and Beatrice Shepherd, in thanks for their kindness. It was a clear morning in Ambermead.
9 May 1354
A friar came through Ambermead today. Adam of Westcott, a black friar of the Dominican order and a learned preacher, is on his way to the priory in the town. He had a bed at the priest's house for the night. Robert Fisher, 14, is in bed with the flux. It's a clear day, and the Fishers' house has four others in it.
10 May 1354
Juliana of Long Marston, a pedlar, came in from the road and stayed the night at the inn. She sells combs, thread, spoons and cheap brooches from a tray. The day was clear, the fourth in a row, so the road was dry for her.
11 May 1354
Isabel is 49 and keeps Sir John's house; Roger has been on his own with Amice and Margery since the end of March. A drizzle kept most people close to their doors, which can't have hurt the gossip.
14 May 1354
Hugh of Kingsley, a juggler and tumbler who plays the pipe and tabor, came in from the road today and is staying the night at the inn. It was drizzle this time, after three straight days of rain.
15 May 1354
Juliana Miller, 34, is in bed with a bad cough. The sky finally cleared today after days of wet, and Adam Fisher mended a mattock at the forge for the Fletchers, in return for their kindness.
16 May 1354
Robert Fisher, 14, is up and about again after the flux. Neighbors had been bringing him pottage and a remedy of herbs over the last week. It's a clear day after three of mostly rain, a good one to be out of bed.
17 May 1354
A pilgrim named Robert of Elmstead came in off the road today. He is on his way to Walsingham, to Our Lady's shrine, and he carries a staff and a scrip, the pilgrim's small bag. He slept in the church porch. The sky stayed cloudy after two clear days.
18 May 1354
John of Thornbury and Thomas atte Well settled their quarrel today. They made a loveday, an agreed peace between neighbors, with Joan Brewer standing between them, and drank on it. Thomas paid 3d in damages and 2d for the lord's licence to agree, and John withdrew his plea. Alan has finished the last line of his sheep riddle, the one about the shadow of a hurdle. He plans to try it on Stephen at the bench tonight.
19 May 1354
Rogation Day in Ambermead. Sir John led the procession round the village bounds and through the fields, blessing the crops as they went. The sky stayed cloudy. Margaret of Hatherley, a pilgrim on her way to Our Lady's shrine at Walsingham, came in from the road with her staff and scrip and slept in the church porch.
20 May 1354
Court day in Ambermead, under a cloudy sky. Henry Cooper was let off for snaring in the lord's warren, with a last warning. Elena Brewer and Beatrice Shepherd were each fined 4d for brewing and selling ale against the assize, the rules on how and what ale may be sold. John Carter brought the Millers a handful of rushes for the floor.
21 May 1354
Juliana Miller, 34, is up and about again after her bad cough. Fog came down today after three cloudy days, and it was hard to see across the fields.
22 May 1354
Trouble at the warren: before light this morning Roger Warrener, the lord's warrener, came on Adam Fisher and John Carter with two coneys, the lord's rabbits. They'll have to answer for it at the manor court. Thomas of Hatherley, a juggler and tumbler who plays the pipe and tabor, came in from the road and took a bed at the inn. Joan Fisher took the Coopers a peck of meal, in return for their kindness. The fog stayed for a second day.
28 May 1354
A gray friar stopped in Ambermead on this cloudy 28 May. Hugh of Elmstead is a Franciscan who walks from village to village, preaching and begging his bread, and the priest gave him a bed for the night.
29 May 1354
A chapman named Geoffrey of Stanton came in from the road today with cloth, girdles and purses to sell, and took a bed at the inn. A steady drizzle hung over the village all day, so the stalls of the green stayed empty and the bargaining was done indoors.
30 May 1354
Robert of Westcott came in from the road tonight, limping, with a sack on his back. He served in the king's army in France and is walking home, and he slept in the church porch. Showers fell through the day and a thunderstorm rolled in toward evening, so the porch was a welcome roof.
31 May 1354
A thunderstorm broke over Ambermead this afternoon after a drizzly morning. Two travelers came in from the road: Gilbert of Westcott, a black friar and learned preacher bound for the priory in the town, had a bed of the priest, and Nicholas of Norton, a wool buyer's man looking over the clip before the merchants come, lodged at the inn. A traveler also brought word that Beatrice Shepherd's sister Agnes of Long Marston has a new baby.