Spring and Saint Patrick's Day!

 

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Click here to visit Eileen O'Finlan's website

Winters in New England are cold, snowy, and long. So when spring shows signs of arriving some of us New Englanders get positively giddy. I am one such New Englander. While the Vernal Equinox isn't until March 20th, meteorologica spring started on March 1st and that's good enough for me. On March 1st anything in my house that has the feel of winter has been put away and the spring decor appears.

Because New England likes to start winter early and hang on to it as long as it can, I was rather confused as a child about certain holidays. My family went to my maternal grandparents' home in Bennington, Vermont for Thanksgiving. It was cold and there was usually snow on the ground. According to the calendar it was still autumn, but it sure looked and felt like winter. We went to my paternal grandparents' home in Vergennes, Vermont every Easter. It was spring, but it was cold and there was snow on the ground. Yup, to this little kid, both of those holidays occured in the winter.

However, in between came something even more confusing - Saint Patrick's Day. We didn't go anywhere, but my half-Irish mother, who decorated the house for every holiday (and I mean EVERY holiday), was sure to have plenty of images of the green fields of Ireland, lads and lasses in traditional dress dancing jigs, and shamrocks all over the house. It may not have looked like spring outside, but it certainly looked like it inside.

To this day, I think of Saint Patrick's Day as being in the spring. According to the calendar it's at the very end of the winter, but I'm going with meteoroligical spring. All that green can't be winter!

If you're in the mood for something Irish check out my books: Kelegeen is set in Ireland in the 1840s during the Great Hunger (aka Irish Potato Famine). The sequel, Erin's Children, set in the 1850s follows the lives of Irish immigrants who settled in Worcester, Massachusetts.

         Erin Go Bragh and happy Saint Patrick's Day! 

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BWL Publishing Inc. Newest Releases - March 2021

Download the free copy of our March book of the month, Murder and Mint Tea, Book 1 in Janet Lane Walters' delightful mystery series, Mrs. Miller Mysteries.  Free for our readers as a PDF download.  Just visit the site and click the book cover to download.  https://bookswelove.net  

Our Newest Releases March 2021

Visit our website at https://bookswelove.net for details 

 

 

Food and Drink in 14th Century England by Rosemary Morris

 

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My novel, Grace, Lady of Cassio, begins in 1331 during the reign of Edward III. It will be published in August 2022.

At heart I am a historian. My novels are rich in historical detail that requires intensive research, some of which I am sharing in this blog.

Food and Drink in 14^th Century England

In the Great Hall.  A lord, his lady and guests sat at a table on a dais at one end of the great hall. A white linen tablecloth covered the table. The best food was placed before him on a long, narrow coloured strip of fabric. Everyone else sat on benches at trestle tables at right angles to the dais. They ate food appropriate for their rank the lowest ate pottage.

Restrictions. The Church forbade consumption of meat on Wednesdays, Fridays Saturdays, and during Advent. In Lent eggs were not allowed. Fish replaced the prohibited food.

Breakfast. Noble households. The lord and his lady, if he was married, their most important guests and senior officials broke their fast with bread, cheese, ale or buttermilk. In accordance with the belief that servants became lazy if they ate too much so they were not served breakfast.

Dinner. This opulent main meal was served between approximately between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. After the priest said prayers, fresh fruit stimulated the appetite. Two people shared food on a stale bread trencher that soaked up juice and sauce. First, the lord helped himself first to food. After he sampled the dishes, they were passed to his guests.

     The first course numbered a variety of meat dishes; to name a few, meat pottage flavoured with herbs, spices, and wine, or one containing, for example, savoury chicken, pheasant or swan with boiled meat, and venison seethed in almond milk and other ingredients. Some dishes were a combination of sweet and savoury. Four courses followed. The second with a variety of roasted, expertly carved, exotic meats, among others stork, peacock, heron, and larks. The next with small birds and cooked fruit, maybe baked, stewed in wine, or cooked in sugar syrup etc. A last course of fruit, nuts, cheese, and sweet and savoury wafers accompanied by spiced red wine ended the meal.

     On days when eating meat was prohibited, they ate four fish courses of fish cooked in different ways, for example, fresh fish, smoked fish, shellfish pickled in brine, salt fish and stewed fish.

     Vegetables were incorporated in pottages and other recipes.

      Large and small sweet and savoury pies, some called coffins because of their shape.

    Supper. Served at sunset, at the castle or manor for those seated on the dais supper was a light meal, Usually with one main dish, maybe white bread, side dishes and cheese. After supper sometimes they danced, or professional entertainers such as acrobats, jongleurs, minstrels and storytellers performed. If not a knight or the lord’s lady might recite a story. Sometimes a squire played an instrument and sang.

 

www.rosemarymorris.co.uk

 

http://bookswelove.net/authors/morris-rosemary

The Notorious Story of Early London

 

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London Bridge in its hay-day

Precarious location
but folks could fish from the lower level

This is a notorious story of early London, humorous if not a little sad. I used a portion of this in my novel Highwayman which produced a snicker or two from my readers.

IN the 12th century, John Overs rented ferries that traversed the River Thames. He was as stingy as they came, except he allowed his daughter a fine education which must have drawn heavy coins from his purse. 

 John rivaled the richest Alderman of London/Southwark when it came to his income, yet what he wore and where he lived were deemed quite miserable. He refused to provide a dowry for his daughter when she came of age, even as a handsome fellow wooed her and was successful in gaining her adoration. All this took place behind John Overs’ back. 

 

Southwark Side of London Bridge

 He constructed a unique way to save money, even as his daughter balked at the plan. But being a good daughter, she went along with it.

John Overs’ unique plan devised his own death. He reckoned his servants would fast for 24 hours and pray over him during this time, thus saving food and ale in his larder. 

Unexpectedly, his servants raided his stores and struck up the lute. They partied, gobbled up his food, all the while sang and danced. Only a servant girl—here’s where the story gets muddled. Some say a maid, others a young man—stood near the body, watching for a specter to rise, which she would tend to with an iron wrought skillet. 

More of London Bridge in its prime

John Overs listened to this until he was rigid with anger. “Stirring and struggling in his sheet, like a ghost with a candle in each hand, he rose up to berate them for their boldness, but when the maid saw this, she thought the devil rose in her master’s likeness.” She took the skillet in hand—here’s another anomaly. The below source states a young man grabbed hole of an oar, but why would John Overs have an oar in his bedroom?—and bashed poor John Overs over the head, “actually struck out his brains.”

John Overs fell back onto the bed, dead as a knob, his face showing surprise at the outcome of his own parsimonious.

“The estate then became that of his daughter, and her lover, on hearing of this, hastened up from the country, but on hurrying to lay his hands on the fortune, rode too speedily; his horse stumbled, and he broke his neck on the highway.”

Downtrodden by two successive deaths Mary Overs handed over a goodly sum of money to have her father interred in a nearby church, but being excommunicated from the church for his extortion and usury, the Abbot did not allow this. His body was dug up and flung onto an ass, which “proceeded with a gentle and solemn pace through Kent street and along the highway to the small pond once called Thomas-a-Waterings, at that time the common place of execution, and shook the Ferryman’s body off, directly under the gibbet, where it was put into the ground without any kind of ceremony.”

Mary Overs could not overcome these troubles and went into a nunnery, donating a majority of her father’s wealth to build a church, St. Mary Overy’s. Shortly after this, she died and was buried in the church her father’s penury produced.

 

The end.

 

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Many thanks to: The Gruesome History of Old London Bridge by Geoffrey Abbot. Eric Dobby Publishing Ltd, 2008, Kent, UK.

Going Off Script (Part 2) by Diane Bator

 

Introducing: 

All That Shines

Book 2 in Glitter Bay Mysteries

Sage Miller is knee deep in fashion designers—whether she wants them in her new vintage boutique or not.

One winds up dead.

Another isn’t what he seems.

A third is treasure hunting.

Sage is stuck in the middle trying to solve a murder before the grand opening of Vintage Sage, which involves a fashion show she’d rather not be part of.

Join in the fun! Buy links are on my BWL Publishing page: http://bookswelove.net/bator-diane/

More of Going Off Script...

This year has been a busy one for me! Not only do I have a beautiful new novel to add to my list, but I've been taking a playwriting course. The great thing with taking a sidestep from novel writing to playwriting, is that I enjoy writing dialogue to help propel the story along.

My first playwriting class was more of a basic overview of scripts. One thing I learned was that actors and directors don't like to be told what to do, so keep stage direction to a minimum. As part of a play I'm currently working on, I'm reading The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams. The stage directions make up nearly half the script! I was surprised.

After the first class, we had to write a 1-2 page scene. I had fun with that and got great feedback. I'd share, but I plan to work on it and create a whole new play from it. Okay, maybe a teeny bit. So far it doesn't have a title:

 

Frank:            Did you hear those kids? For god sake, they’re more worried about some fancy wedding than the fact she isn’t even listening to a word he says.

Carrie:           What did you say, dear?

Frank:            Really? I’m two feet away from you and you didn’t hear a word I said.

Carrie:           That’s not true. I heard you ask if I heard those kids. That’s when I tuned you out.

Frank:            And why did you tune me out?

Carrie:           Because I saw cheesecake on the menu and started to daydream about eating it only I realized I should just end up rubbing it on my stomach and thighs since that’s where it would end up anyway.

Frank:            You’re right. That does sound much better than what I was saying. Please, go on.

I have to admit, it was a bit weird hearing and seeing other people read my words for the first time. It was a fun experience and I was absolutely giddy hearing their feedback. What a great boost for the heart and soul!

While I love writing books, mysteries in particular, writing for stage is a whole different beast. With books, writers can add the details they envision. Each movement or look, the color and placement of the furniture, the things they want the audience to see. Plays are staged at the discretion of the director and performers and can be open to interpretation.

Week two, we were asked to submit 4-5 pages that were the beginning of a play. I took a deep breath and submitted the one I’ve been toying with since January 2020 called Secrets That Haunt Them. A murder mystery complete with a ghost.

Week 3, they read my few pages of my play. I heard lots of great feedback. The only concern was there were a lot of characters. Anything more than 5 or 6 characters becomes an expensive production. Mine has 7. It was fun to hear it brought to life though! At the end of class, we were invited to submit a monologue. I didn't send one. Instead, I started on a whole new play...

After Week 4, my confidence was up there a little. While I haven't received critique from my instructor, I did get feeback from the Artistic Director of the theatre where I work. I have some work to do - after all, it is my first play ever! - but overall he loved it. The concept of having too many characters came up again so the next step is to clean it up and submit it back to him so we can set up a workshop. 

Workshopping a play is lining up some great actors to read the lines while the playwright sits back and makes edits like crazy if they hear lines are too tough to follow or say, take out things that aren't funny, or even add in ideas from the director or actors as the playwright thinks will benefit the performance. We sort of did that in Week 2 & 3 with the lines I wrote above. I have to admit it was both cool and nerve-wracking to hear people read my writing aloud. 

Hopefully, we'll be able to perform it on stage one day. For now, I'm enjoying the launch of All That Shines and will get to my edits for the play soon.

This may be the start of a whole new path along my writing journey!

Have a fabulous day!

Diane Bator