[Norman Conquest 02] Winter of Discontent (18 page)

At that Edith’s head jerked around and she looked Alan in the eyes. She nodded at the truth of what he said as she had her own sources of information as well
. W
ith a reluctant sigh
she said,
“You’re right. Perhaps a few more months, in addition to
the past
22
years
,
should be easy enough compared to what I’ve endured in the past. Now, enough of these matters! Let’s listen to the music and talk of inconsequential things!” she commanded.

Alan had arranged for his s
eneschal Robert to come to London from Herefordshire to report progress at Staunton and Alan’s other manors on the Welsh border
. T
hey met at the house at
Holebourn
Bridge, where Robert would be staying together with the four men who had ridden with him. He arrived in the l
ate evening two days after the c
oronation, tired and dirty from the road.

After bathing and changing his clothes Robert met Alan and Anne in the
Hall
. The day was warm and the central fire wasn’t lit. Light streamed in through the rare and expensive glass windows. Sitting at the table Robert drained a quart of ale to settle the dust in his throat before switching to wine, a red
of reasonable quality
from the Loire. Alan had arranged for food to be placed on the table and Robert helped himself to first an apple and then fresh bread, butter and aged cheese. The evening meal would not be for another hour or so, but Robert was fatigued and hungry after his travel from Oxford that day, a distance of
60
miles, and the previous day
of
travel from Staunton to Oxford.

“So, how progress matters?” asked Alan.

“Reasonably
well
,” replied Robert. “The winter hasn’t been too severe
on the border
, not like I hear you had in Essex. That was fortunate, given the there was hardly any food and most of the houses were damaged. We’ve got the
new
Hall
and stables completed. The men are sleeping in the
Hall
until the barracks is built. The trench for the fortifications has been started. Obviously the villagers have had to spend most of the last month plough
ing and sowing.

“
Because of the food situation Father Siward gave a dispensation from Lenten eating restrictions. People needed every morsel of food they could get from anywhere to avoid starving. The people have been taking fish from the river, as you allowed, and also the garrison has been hunting wild cattle, boar and deer in the forests for their own use and to
provid
e to the villagers
-
so they didn’t have to poach. It’s no use forbidding what is going to happen anyway, as a
man will
do anything rather than see his family go hungry, but if we kill the game at least the villagers don’t get into the habit. That and the wagons of grain and flour that you provided from Gloucester kept the wolf of starvation from the door. The Welsh have been behaving themselves, at least in our area. I understand they’re still active up in the north. That’s given us the respite to survive and rebuild.”

“The bad news, I’m afraid,” announced Alan
,
“is that William fitzOsbern advised me
that we’re required to do our k
night’s service at Chester and support his expedition against the North Welsh in Rhufoniog and Rhos, in Gwynedd. I tried to get him to agree that our raid into Brycheiniog counted as our military service this year, but he wouldn’t have it. We’re required in Chester on 1
st
June.”

“That’s not fair!” exclaimed Anne.

Robert chuckled
.
“Nobody’s every a
ccused fitzOsbern of being fair!
He’s a mean and arrogant son-of-a-bitch, although extremely capable
.
”
He then looked
at Alan and ask
ed,
“Are you taking everybody? And what is the objective?”

“Objective? Who knows? Certainly not Earl William, I think
!
Just march around and make a nuisance of ourselves as repayment to Bleddyn for the invasion last year, I expect. The idea this year seems to be to
stay on
the flat land
s
near
to the north coast a
nd steer clear of the mountains- f
itzOsbern has
at least
learned
that
lesson. I’m required to provide six men. I’ll take ten, but send some of the re
mainder at
Staunton where they’ll be close by if I decide I want them and where they can be some use if Bleddyn decides to take the opportunity to try to attack fitzOsbern’s southern flank while the earl
i
s busy in the north. If the earl did have a specific objective in mind I’d probably take more men.
Make sure you get that defensive
ditch, rampart and palisade up in the next few weeks. The local
gebur
s there should be able to get that done quickly now they have ploughed and sown
the fields
.
”

“I’m really not happy about you going off on campaign. You
must
be careful,” said Anne with concern.

Alan gave her a kiss and quipped
,
“I’ll be careful. Hey, this is what I do and I’m good at it
!
‘Yeah though I walk through the Welsh Valleys I shall fear no Evil, for I am the meanest and most suspicious bastard in the Valley’.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph will protect me, I’m sure.

“Robert, you’ve still got those Welsh mountain ponies? Good
!
Make sure they’re shod and ready to move if we need them. The men from Essex will be at Staunton in about ten days. I’ll go direct to Chester after I pick up
my
men at Thorrington
.
You’ll need to increase the number of supply wagons from Gloucester to feed the
extra men. There’s
still
no food in w
estern Herefordshire,” he added.

*
*
  *
  *

Alan decided to take the opportunity of a quiet day to take the family to the races. Each Saturday on Smithfield, less than a quarter of a mile from the house at
Holebourn
, was held the horse fair where horses were offered for sale. Large draught animals, chargers, rounceys, hackamores, palfreys and ponies were standing tethered or being led by grooms. Unbroken horses shied skittishly, pulling at the
rein
s which held them and rolling their eyes. The horses were periodically being led to display their gait and moved with shining coat, rippling muscles and quivering ears.

Every half-hour or so an impromptu race was put on by the owners and handlers of the higher-quality horses for sale
. These were
led to the line with smaller grooms mounted on their backs
, and
they would race several times around a
clearly-
defined circuit, each seeking to prove to the buyers that they had the fleetest horse. This was what most of the people had come to see
, as they had neither the need nor wherewithal to buy a horse,
and bets were exchanged on the outcome
s
-
with the horses being encouraged with shouts and oaths by those onlookers with financial interests. The jockeys encouraged their horses to greater efforts with spurs, switch and voice. The horses clearly enjoyed the proceedings, stretching out to attempt to beat their rivals.

Alan was accompanied by Anne and Leof, with two discretely armed huscarles as a precaution against anything untoward occurring
,
as any crowd in the city was likely to contain cut-purses and other rogues. They wandered about looking at the animals and the antics of the crowd, enjoying the occasion.

The same area was used on other days of the week as the livestock market, being close to Newgate and providing easy access to the slaughter-yards at the Shambles. Despite farmers regularly bringing wagons to clear the manure from the ground for them to use as fertiliser, the party had worn stout shoes which were soon mired.

Alan saw a large bay charger that he liked the look of and watched its race. It proved not to be the swiftest of the animals, but had a smooth action and ample stamina. After its race it recovered its breath quickly and fidgeted only moderately as it received its post-race rub-down from its groom. Alan had the saddle replaced, adjusted the stirrup straps and inserted the bit before taking the horse through its paces. Its smooth action made the ride pleasant and on dismounting Alan struck a deal with the owner
. He
handed over his earnest-money
deposit
, arranging to have the animal delivered to his stable on Monday when the balance of the money would be paid.

*
*
*
*

The next morning Robert rode for the Welsh border. Several days later Alan and Anne, with their escort and the new
ly acquired
horse, traveled through the
Great
Forest to overnight at
Norton near
Chelmsford after a journey of
42
miles, and then
the further
36
miles to Thorrington the
following
day.

A
t Thorrington the
bucolic
pursuits of agriculture were in full swing. The crops had been sown months before, had germinated and were growing
. F
ields
had
turned bright green with the new growth. Now the men were ploughing the fallow land. Small groups of three or four men walked behind the heavy wooden mouldboard ploughs pulled by four straining and bellowing oxen, shouting encouragement or goading the beasts with whi
ps or sharp sticks as required.
The light soil in Tendring Hundred allowed the
use of half-teams of four oxen
,
compared to the heavier soils elsewhere
which required eight beasts
.

Cows had calved, sheep lambed and pigs farrowed, the young trotting at the heels of their mothers or gamboling nearby.

Ditches were being cleared and sheep shearing commenced, which would continue for several months. The woman were gathering fruit and making preserves for use during the winter- pickling, drying, making jams and chutneys. Most of this activity would continue through the warmer months as different fruits ripened, but the first apples were already ripening and suitable for placing in barrels for storage in cool place
s
. Later would come the other varieties of apple,
and
pears, quinces, plums, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, blackcurrants
and
redcurrants. Generally the villagers didn’t preserve food in honey, which was usually sold as one of the
ir
few ‘cash crops’, but with her access to imports that were relatively inexpensive to her Anne would also, in addition to the local traditional methods o
f
drying or making jams, arrange preservation of fruit with olive oil or candying with sugar.

Alan’s trusted lieutenants the Normans Hugh and Roger had been given the
m
anors of Great Oakley and Bradfield respectively to administer
-
not enfeoffed but appointed as
seneschal
s. At Staunton were the other Normans, Robert as
seneschal
and Warren training the local men as archers
and spearmen
, with the Englishman Leofwine leading the ten huscarles and Ledmer
commanding
the ten Wolves mounted men-at-arms permanently
stationed on the Welsh border.

At Thorrington i
n
Tendring
Hundred the Welshman Owain of Cardiff was responsible for training some of the fyrdmen
of Alan’s manors to use the longbow, and the Englishmen Brand commanded ten huscarles. Edric, Ainuf and Acwel each commanded a troop of ten Wolves, one troop of which was stationed at each of Thorrington, Great Oakley and Bradfield. Barclay, Aethelbald and Oswy commanded squads of part-time archers who had undergone a
period of training with Owain i
n the use of the longbow, but whose members were scattered amongst the manors under Alan’s control. There were five squads of English foot-soldiers spread amongst Alan’s eight manors, not as highly trained or well equipped as the huscarles
,
but each with helmet, sword
or
spear, shield and a waist-length byrnie vest of
chain-mail
, and who had each undergone a period of basic training and continued to train regularly at least twice a week.