Glossary

All Saints' Day

The feast of All Saints Day celebrates the glory of all the saints and martyrs known and unknown. The idea was to ensure that none of the saints would miss out on having a special day to celebrate their lives. The date changed from time to time in the earliest days, but finally Pope Gregory IV settled on November 1 .

The reason for his choice is uncertain. There a pagan feast about that time, and it was the practice of the Church to transfer devotions from pagan to Christian purposes. However large numbers of Christian pilgrims would have flooded into Rome for All Saints Day, so it may simply have been considered a good idea to hold it in the autumn because of the availability of the harvest bounty.

November 2, known as All Souls Day, was declared a day to remember all those who have died and may be languishing in purgatory.

These two feasts were held one after the other because it was felt that this would heighten the concept of the communion of saints--one of the basic tenets of the faith. (Back)

balk

A strip of unploughed land between sections of ploughed land to separate the peasants' allotments from each others' and the lord's. It could also refer to an unploughed ridge between furrows. (Back)

blood pudding

This is a sausage made from pig's blood, mixed with pork, bread crumbs and spices. Blood was normally saved at the time of slaughter to be used in a variety of recipes. Food was not plentiful, so when an animal was killed, nothing was wasted. Medieval cooks made use of blood, ears, feet, stomachs, wings, necks, organs and genitalia. (Back)

byre

A cowshed. Peasant cottages in the Middle Ages would normally consist of one or two rooms for eating and sleeping, and a byre for the few animals that were brought in for the winter. Two advantages of this system were protection of the livestock from inclement weather during the winter, and provision of heat for all within the cottage from their bodies and dung. The dung and straw were regularly removed and stacked in the yard about the house to be saved for spreading on the fields. (Back)

card

Wool had to be carded before it was fit to spin. There were two "carders", one to be held in each hand. They were rectangular wooden paddles with a handle on one end. The paddles had wire teeth on one side, which were used to comb the wool. Some wool was placed on one carder and then combed alternately with one and then the other of the carders. When the wool was sufficiently straightened and in order, it was removed and attached to the distaff for spinning. (Back)

carol

A carol was a round dance, with the participants joining hand and dancing in a circle around the village green, a bonfire, or churchyard. Because of its association with the singing as well as dancing at Christmas, the term eventually became applied only to the singing (as in Christmas carols). (Back)

chaff

The husks removed from the grain by threshing and winnowing. It could also refer to the chopped up straw and hay that were mixed with the husks and used to feed the animals. (Back)

distaff and spindle

The distaff is the long stick which Alice holds under her left arm. Wool or flax is tied onto the distaff and pulled out using the left hand. It is then fed onto the spindle which is kept spinning by the right hand. The spindle has two parts, a stick with a hook at the top end and a point at the other, and a wooden disk, or whorl, which is tied to the stick a little higher than the point, to make the spindle spin around. (Back)

garbage

Garbage did not mean something to be thrown away in medieval times. It referred to the internal organs and entrails of the slaughtered animal. Not considered suitable for the noble table, it was usually given to local pie makers to make the pies so popular with the common people. (Back)

Glastonbury Abbey

A Benedictine Abbey in the county of Somerset in the south-west midlands of England. It was one of the richest of the English abbeys, having at least ten manors with houses and parks. Each manor would have its own village and church nestling in the midst of the three manor fields. Each field would be divided into narrow strips to be worked by the individual tenants, some for their own produce and some for the lord. The abbey received its income from the labour of its peasantry. Taxes were payed in livestock, eggs dairy products and produce of the fields. (Back)

harrowing

A wooden frame with teeth which was dragged by a horse over ploughed land to break up clods, and over the planted land, to cover over the seeds. Poor farmers would have had to make do with a crude subtitute made with thorn branches. (Back)

mummers play

A good humoured, wild and racy performance by itinerant players, probably featuring both Christian and pagan elements. During the course of the play any characters killed off would come back to life like a miracle. Such a tradition may have been related to an ancient celebration of the end of one year and the coming to life of the new. (Back)

offal

The less desirable parts of animals killed for food. This would include the organs, stomach, brain and entrails. They could not be preserved satisfactorily by smoking or salting and were usually eaten fairly soon after the slaughter. They were used for such delicacies as haggis (in Scotland) and sausages. (Back)

penance

A punishment or hardship undertaken to make up for one's sins, or sins of the community or even the world. The fasts of Lent and Advent were times of general penance by the community who took on the hardship of abstinance from certain foods, in order to make up for their collective sins. (Back)

purgatory

Place where departed souls remained until they were purified of their sins. Once they were cleansed, they could move on to heaven. It was believed that the time in purgatory could be shortened by prayers or acts or penance performed during the person's lifetime, or by the prayers of those left behind on earth. Very few souls would be able to enter heaven immediately on death, e.g. saints, or those who died on a crusade to the holy land. (Back)

rebec

An ancestor of the violin. It was played by drawing a bow across three, or sometimes 4 strings. (Back)

reeve

A man appointed as an overseer of the manor, usually at Michaelmas for a term of one year. The lord had the right to select whomever he wished, but in some places, he was more democratically chosen by his fellow peasants. The position carried much responsibility and was not a popular one. If the manor should not meet expectations of production, the reeve had to make up the difference from his own allotment. For this reason it was thought to be a good idea to allow the peasants to choose the reeve. They were thought to be more willing to help him out with any shorfalls rather than let the full responsibility fall on one of their own friends. (Back)

Scotale

These drinking fests were and Anglo-Saxon tradition which became a basic part of Christian feasts in the Middle Ages in England. Each person attending had to bring his 'scot' or payment in order to drink. 3d got his 3 gallons of ale. As can be imagined, people became drunk, and there are numerous court accounts of injuries and even murders as a result. The men were also frequently given less than the amount of ale payed for.

Scot-ales were so popular that even thought the Church disapproved, they began to incorporated them into the religious feasts of the village. After all, as well as allowing a certain amount of control over the degree of drunkenness, these church-ales, as they became known, also brought in some revenue.

At Glastonbury in the 13th century, the abbott had the right to hold three church-ales year, and the tenants were required to attend. The rules varied from manor to manor but it appears that they might last two or three days. The quantity allowed to be consumed depended on the status of the tenant. If he were an upper tenant, he could drink all he wanted, with others drinking less as he was lower in scale.

In the case of a three day scot or church-ale, it was common for married men and teen-aged boys to go after dinner (which was normally four in the afternoon) on the Saturday, consuming three servings of ale. Then on Sunday, it was just the husbands and wives, who were allowed to return again on Monday. If young unmarried men wanted to attend on Sunday, they had to pay, but could get in 'scot-free' on Mondays. (Back)

threshing and winnowing

Threshing was done by separating the grain from the seed head of the wheat or barley, for instance, by beating them with a flail. This consisted of two pieces of wood joined together by a strip of leather. The farmer would stand in a corner and take a mighty swing round to strike the grain heads. This was followed by winnowing to separate the chaff and straw from the good grain. A good breeze was necessary to blow the light husks of chaff away from the grain. Sometimes a winnowing fan was used, but if they did not have one, the winnowing would be done near the barn door using the natural breeze coming in. The stalks would be thrown into the air, with the heavier grain falling to the ground and the straw and chaff being blown off to the side, where they would be swept up to be used in animal fodder. (Back)

Yule

The early name for Christmas. The word was introduced by the Danes at the time of their invasion of England in the 9th century. (Back)