[Norman Conquest 02] Winter of Discontent (29 page)

Alan nodded his understanding and asked
,
“And how did Odin perform?”

“I wish I had his vigour! He can rut for hour after hour! He covered thirty of our best mares. Based on the foals born this season that he sired last season, your desire for big strong beasts with strength, stamina and speed will be more than met. But since the rutting season is over, may I suggest you take him away? He’s a real handful to control. William may be used to that type of horse, but he’s too smart and willful for me!”

Shortly afterwards William of Amiens finished his work with the horse he had been training and walked over to greet the young master he had not yet seen. Reasonably elderly at about thirty-five, he answered Alan’s questions in a respectful but not subservient manner. He described his past experience and his training philosophies, and admitted that he had made the journey to Essex in response to the large stipend offered, twice what his previous employer had paid.

After twenty minutes or so of discussion Alan nodded and waved William towards
the
chestnut yearling colt that was being held on a halter by a stable lad. The lad had been standing waiting patiently, not so the horse which had been tossing its head restlessly for several minutes.

*
*
*
 
*

Alan had been invited by Edward to hunt in the thick woods near the thegn’s manor at Alresford, and had taken with him his page Leof and huscarle B
rand, who was enjoying his new
status as landowner. Alan had invited Brand and Leof as part of their education process. Edward had also invited Alfward of Tendring and Aelfric of Old Hall, making a hunting party of
twenty-two
, divided into two groups,
with
the beaters supplied by Edward. The beaters had been sent deep into the forest before dawn and could now be heard shouting and ringing bells as they advanced through the forest, driving the game towards the waiting hunters. Edward had cheated slightly by erecting some short sections of permanent deer-fencing in what was one of his favourite hunting patches, but not cheated to the extent of erecting Hides. The
deer-
fencing would restrict and channel the areas through which the game could run.

Alan
had
handed Leof
a
boar-spear,
a
stout spear with a broad metal head, while he and Brand carried strung hunting-bows with a hunting arrow already notched. The spears were for protection against any boar, bear or wolf that may be flushed, although the latter would almost certainly be canny enough to easily avoid the beaters. Archery wasn’t one of Alan’s strong-points and he had little confidence that he would be able to even hit a fast-moving deer, let alone kill it, and he shared the distaste of all hunters of having a wounded animal escape. On such hunts he usually was one of the spear-carriers, but today it made sense for the two youths to carry the spears while the men performed what was expected to be the main activity of deer-hunting.

In the absence of a Hide Alan and his men had selected a patch of bushes for concealment, with an area ahead that was some
30
paces deep and contained only trees and not bushes, allowing a reasonably clear field of fire. Alfward and his men were about
50
paces to their left. The other hunting party with their host Edward was about
200
paces to their right
. P
art of what the newcomers were being taught today was to maintain situational awareness to minimise the risk of ‘friendly-fire’ injuries. Hunting taught young men a range of martial skills and was not just a social day out. Apart from bonding with their fellows and learning how to keep track of what men were where, they also learned patience, how to move stealthily in a forest, readiness to respond in an instant and to act instantly in mutual support in the event that a dangerous quarry was flushed.

Suddenly, as the shouting beaters drew nearer, a small group of half a dozen deer, led by a stag with magnificent antlers, burst out of the bushes. Alan and Brand each loosed two arrows, all missing, and then the swift-moving animals were out of range. Moments later
were shouts of success as Alfward’s party had managed to kill one animal, one archer wounding it and slowing it enough that another could shoot to kill.

Alan turned to Brand and commented, “I can use a sword and you can wield an axe. Neither of us can use a bow!” Brand gave a chuckle in reply.

No further animals appeared and shortly afterwards the beaters could be seen approaching, their brightly-coloured clothing and ringing bells making it clear to the hunters that they were to put down their bows.

The beaters were fed
, given a tankard of ale
and a brief rest and instructions before they returned to the forest. Edward had provided a sumptuous picnic for the hunters, with smoked spiced meats, cold portions of roasted duck and capon, gammon, cheese and fresh bread, all washed down with wine or ale.

After the meal the hunters moved to another section of forest, to which the beaters had been instructed to move and drive the game. Brand and Leof joined Alfward’s group, while two cheorls, each with an attendant, joined Alan’s group.
A short time later the
hunters
were half a mile away in a different and more dense
ly-
vegetated
section of forest. Again the beaters could be heard as they approached, although at first it appeared that
all
the game in the forest had gone to ground and were in hiding. Once again the beaters were following the basic requirement of approaching from
down
wind of the hunters, so that the prey couldn’t scent the hunters as they waited.

Suddenly, from the bushes some ten paces away appeared a sow with five piglets running close behind, and then a moment later a large boar who had positioned himself between the apparent threat and his mate. The sow and piglets ran past without being molested by the hunters who were following the
hunting
precept that a female with young was never attacked- based on the requirement to have something to hunt
in
following year
s
. The boar, however, was another matter and was fair game. The two Englishmen loosed their arrows at him. Alan had more sense and dropped his bow, drawing the sword that he
wore at most times he was outside his own Hall
, like most men of station
. A hunting arrow wasn’t going to stop an enraged boar that was ten paces away.
T
he one arrow that did strike the boar in the shoulder did get his attention, making him turn to directly charge the hunters, which his poor eyesight had previously prevented him from seeing.

With a squeal of fright the two cheorls turned to flee, but one was slightly too slow and the enraged and wounded boar was on him, gouging him from behind with sharp tusks. Alan took a step forward, sword held low. The boar saw the movement and turned ready for another charge. As the beast launched itself forward, Alan crouched ready to allow the animal to impale itself on his sword, intending to then roll clear. At the last moment there was a movement from Alan’s right and
Leof
interposed himself, spear
held
low and aimed at the boar’s chest
-
but with his eyes tightly closed. There was a scream
from the boar
and then
Leof
felt himself grasped by the collar and dragged to the side. Alan’s voice in his ear
shouted,
“Keep your eyes open, and when you’ve stuck him get the fuck out of the way! A dying boar with a spear in the chest can still kill you! Well done, boy!” Alan gave him a gentle buffet on the shoulder and then ruffled his hair. After a moment of thought while he considered the boy’s young age he said
,
“See Brand on Monday morning and start weapons training. You’ve got the guts to make a fine warrior!”

The injured cheorl gave up the ghost an hour or so later, despite the best efforts of those in the hunting party. Although Alan had tried to
assist
he wasn’t overly upset about the fate of his fellow-hunter. After all, he hadn’t known the man, who had died not by mischance but due to his own stupidity and cowardice.  Alan wasn’t disappointed with the outcome of the hunt. While he had a vague sense of regret about the death of the cheorl, he was satisfied that the day had proven to have had substantial benefit.

It was mid-August. The warm dry weather that everybody prayed for had not happened and for the last two weeks while it had been warm it had also been wet
. There had been
frequent heavy showers but no heavy soaking rain that would flatten the crops. Alan’s own crops of wheat, rye, barley and oats, sown and harvested first by the villagers as part of his lordly perquisites, were now in his granaries, threshed and winnowed. About half of the villagers’ grain had been harvested and the farmers had been waiting anxiously for the rain to stop and the crops to dry to permit the
remaining
grain to be threshed and to be stored without mildewing.

Alan had ridden through the light rain to Beaumont at the request of Siric the
s
teward and head-cheorl Alstan. They were standing
up to their knees
in
the crop in
a section of the village land where
had been sown
rye, that most important of grain which formed the basis of the villager’s diet. Alstan handed Alan several heads of rye, and held some stalks of wheat in his other hand. The plant heads had a white tissue on them and drops of honeydew. Alan looked closely at the crop close to him and could see a few other plants similarly affected.

In reply to Alan’s raised eyebrow Alstan s
poke
a single word. “Ergot
!
”

“
Holy Mary, Mother of God
!” said Alan. Alstan and Siric nodded solemn agreement. “How bad?”

“We’ll burn the wheat crop as soon as it dries enough,” said Alstan. Alan winced.
Wheat and salt formed the cash-
crops that the village sold to buy items it couldn’t produce
; r
ye fed the villagers
; o
ats and barley fed the animals in winter. “This is the worst patch of rye.
It’s not a
high infestation at the moment and probably half, maybe two-thirds, of the rye strips are clear at the moment. The oats and barley seem alright- they’re always less affected by disease. We’ll have to burn the stubble and inspect almost each grain of the crop. We can’t feed any of the hay or grain to the livestock of course.”

Alan nodded. “You know what the infected grains look like? Good. You’ll have to watch closely for your people
suffering
St Anthony’s Fire- a burning feeling in their arms or legs, seizures, vomiting or hallucinations. Also poor circulation in the arms and legs, particularly toes and fingers. We don’t want people getting gangrene. I’ll let the other villages know. When you get your harvest in, tell me what you have and whether you need more rye
grain
. And let’s all pray to God that it stops raining and we get a nice dry wind!”

*
 
*
*
*

By late August the prayers had been partially answered, with the heavy rain having improved firstly to scattered showers and then to two weeks of blessed dry and sunny weather. The fields of each village in the Hundred had
swarmed with
virtually the whole population. Men, women and the older children advanced in a line, field by field, backs bent and sickles moving in rhythmic motion, the cut crops being gathered into sheaves tied together with a stalk, which the younger children and the elderly then placed in stooks at the end of the field to be collected later by wagon or cart. Even the professional soldiers took time out from their training to take part in the most important rustic pursuit of the year. Only the very young, very old or very sick- or the very rich and important- were absent from the fields.

Alan had spent several part days in the fields early in the harvest, when his own fields were being reaped by the villagers in priority to their own as part of the duty that each villager owed his lord
- i
n this aspect English custom and that of the Normans were similar. While he felt that his time
could be
better spent otherwise, working up a sweat in the fields next to the villagers and then sitting with them in the shade while the
y consumed the
lunch he provided them of rye bread, cheese and ale was a beneficial bonding process.
W
hil
st
his back
ached from bending low for several hours at a time, he at least found that the calluses he had on his right hand from sword-practice prevented blisters being caused by the sickle.
His left h
a
nd was another matter…