The Beautiful Thread (27 page)

“Let me deal with that. William, where in heaven have you been? Where did you get this cow? There's fresh bread in the kitchen. Why have you got a black eye, for heaven's sake? Whatever have you been doing? What can possibly have kept you so long? Oh, heaven, I've been so worried! Did she follow you all the way home, on the halter like that? Has she had a drink? Here, let me, poor thing; look! Her udder's that tight!”

He resisted her attempts to take the cow from him, putting the hand that held the rope behind his back. He reached out his other hand, caught his wife to him and kissed her. Then, “I am so sorry,” he said. “You must have been out of your mind with worry. Your brother gave us this cow to thank us – both of us – for putting ourselves out like this to help him. The black eye – it's a long story; almost as long as the way home has been. I set out bright and early but Honey has stopped at every clump of fresh green grass and likely looking patch of sprouting worts. She's tired, I'm tired, I'm almighty glad to see you, and I'll be glad of the bread and grateful to you for seeing to milking her. I've never milked a cow. John tells me it's not the same as a goat – you'll have to show me.”

When she came in half an hour later, with a brimming pail of cow's milk in one hand and a smaller can of goat's milk in the other, excited at the possibilities for cheese and butter, Madeleine found her husband sitting at the table, breadcrumbs, cheese rinds and an empty ale mug telling a tale of supper completed. He held a rosary in his hands.

“Heaven bless us, this is new!” she said. “You
have
come home devout!”

“It's John's.”

She could tell from the quality of his quietness that a great deal had happened. She knew she'd hear all about it as they lay curled up in bed together under the sturdy rafters of their home.

“He asked me if I had a rosary,” said her husband, “and I said no. Well – there's yours, but I no longer have one of my own. So he took his off and gave it to me, asking me to pray for him; that Our Lady's faithfulness to the call of God on her life would pass into his heart forever. That the steadfast perseverance of the Lord Jesus would keep his feet in the path of salvation. That the practical soul of St Benedict would keep watch over him. That his fingers would find the thread of life and loving kindness, and never let go. So that's what I was doing.”

 

 

 

 

 

The story of the monks of
St Alcuin's continues in

A Day and a Life

(coming June 2016)

Glossary and Explanatory Notes

T
he recipe for goose roast alive is an actual recipe, from the sixteenth-century
Magia Naturalis
. So the recipe itself is later than the setting of this book, but gives a sense of the scope of grisly invention in medieval cookery. My source can be found online here: www.godecookery.com/incrd/incrd.htm#009

Hebdomedarian – The reader for the day/week

“
Taille haut
”
–
Thirteenth-century precursor of the eighteenth-century hunting cry “Tally-ho!” Meaning, in effect, “swords at the ready”, as a quarry comes into view.

“
Un ange passe
” – Literally, “an angel is passing”; a French expression accounting for the sudden silences that sometimes occur in a social setting.

Wes hal – Old English traditional greeting (the word “wassail” comes from this, and “hello” or “hallo”); literally means “be thou whole”.

 

The French jokes in Chapter Two

These are all well-worn puns. In religious life, a priest is “Father” (Fr.: Père); an abbess is “Mother” (Fr.: Mère); a nun is “Sister” (Fr.: Soeur). The abbot is l'Abbé.

The puns are all aural plays, making common French words sound like the names of monastics, as follows:

l'Abbé Bé – “la bébé” = the baby. “Puéril” = “childish”

Père Plexe – “pèreplexe” = perplexed. “Religieux, mais dubitative” = “Religious, but doubtful.”

Père Missif – Brainard says, “Eh bien, peut-être ça c'est le Père Missif” – means, “Well, then, perhaps it's Père Missif”. A pun on “pèrmissif” = permissive.

“Un peu trop laxiste,” replies the bishop – which means, “A little too lax.”

Mère Itante – “Ou bien, la Mère Itante,” says Hubert. “Ou bien” means “or”. Mère Itante is a pun on “mèritante”, meaning “deserving”. Percival replies: “Qui a bien gagnée sa place au ciel!” This means, “Who has certainly won her place in heaven!”

L'Abbé Casse – A pun on “la bécasse” = “woodcock”. “Un drôle d'oiseau!” = “A comical sort of bird”.

Soeur Titude – A pun on “certitude” – the English word being the same. Certainty. “Enfin” means “then” in this context, or “after all”. The reply is, “Mais on n'a jamais été sûr d'elle” – meaning, “but you can never rely on her”.

L'Abbé Névole – A “bénévole” is a volunteer. The reply, “Oui – car celui-çi ne demande jamais rien”, means, “Yes, because he never asks for anything.”

L'Abbé Nédiction – A pun on “benediction” = a blessing or grace.

Monastic Day

There may be slight variation from place to place and at different times from the Dark Ages through the Middle Ages and onward – e.g., Vespers may be after supper rather than before. This gives a rough outline. Slight liberties are taken in my novels to allow human interactions to play out.

 

Winter Schedule (from Michaelmas)

2:30 a.m. Preparation for the nocturns of matins – psalms, etc.

3:00 a.m. Matins, with prayers for the royal family and for the dead.

5:00 a.m. Reading in preparation for Lauds.

6:00 a.m. Lauds at daybreak and Prime; wash and break fast (just bread and water, standing).

8:30 a.m. Terce, Morrow Mass, Chapter.

12:00 noon Sext, Sung Mass, midday meal.

2:00 p.m. None.

4:15 p.m. Vespers, Supper, Collatio.

6:15 p.m. Compline.

The Grand Silence begins.

 

Summer Schedule

1:30 a.m. Preparation for the nocturns of matins – psalms etc.

2:00 a.m. Matins.

3:30 a.m. Lauds at daybreak, wash and break fast.

6:00 a.m. Prime, Morrow Mass, Chapter.

8:00 a.m. Terce, Sung Mass.

11:30 a.m. Sext, midday meal.

2:30 p.m. None.

5:30 p.m. Vespers, Supper, Collatio.

8:00 p.m. Compline.

The Grand Silence begins.

Liturgical Calendar

I have included the main feasts and fasts in the cycle of the church's year, plus one or two other dates that are mentioned (e.g., Michaelmas and Lady Day when rents were traditionally collected) in these stories.

 

Advent – begins four Sundays before Christmas.

Christmas – December 25th.

Holy Innocents – December 28th.

Epiphany – January 6th.

Baptism of our Lord concludes Christmastide, Sunday after January 6th.

Candlemas – February 2nd (Purification of Blessed Virgin Mary, Presentation of Christ in the temple).

Lent – Ash Wednesday to Holy Thursday – start date varies with phases of the moon.

Holy Week – last week of Lent and the Easter Triduum.

Easter Triduum (three days) of Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Sunday.

Lady Day – March 25th – this was New Year's Day between 1155 and 1752.

Ascension – forty days after Easter.

Whitsun (Pentecost) – fifty days after Easter.

Trinity Sunday – Sunday after Pentecost.

Corpus Christi – Thursday after Trinity Sunday.

Sacred Heart of Jesus – Friday of the following week.

Feast of John the Baptist – June 24th.

Lammas (literally “loaf-mass”; grain harvest) – August 1st.

Michaelmas – feast of St Michael and All Angels, September 29th.

All Saints – November 1st.

All Souls – November 2nd.

Martinmas – November 11th.

 

 

1
If you are as bewildered as Abbot John, head across to the glossary.

2
You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church – Matthew 16:18

3
Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up – John 2:19

4
In the beginning was the Word… (from John 1:1)

5
“But be ye kind to one another” – a quotation from Ephesians 4:32