GLOSSARY

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A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P R S T U W Y

Avering

- A medieval con-trick performed by beggars to obtain money. Some beggars would strip themselves, hide their clothes and pretend to have been robbed. Others would fake illnesses by sticking on fake boils made of wax, or tumours made from raw offal, to get alms from townspeople or the church.

Barbette

- A cloth band that went round the face of the wearer under the chin, which together with a band, known as a fillet, around the forehead, was the structure to which the veil, wimple or headdress was pinned.
The barbette was worn by women throughout the thirteen century, but by 1348 it was disappearing, to be replaced with a band that went round the back of the head instead of under the chin. The barbette was still retained by various orders of nuns well into the twentieth century.

Bastles and Peles

- Unique features of the border counties, especially Northumberland, where the constant raids and wars between the Scots and the English meant that people on both sides of the shifting border lived in fear of attack. Peles were oblong towers, built to withstand a siege, with stone walls of about three to four feet thick, in which people could take refuge. Livestock and food were kept in the basement and people occupied the two or three storeys above. Bastles were fortified farmhouses where people would live all year round. They can still be seen today.

Bid

- The old name for a 'familiar', that is an animal or bird with magical powers kept to do the bidding of its owner. Women who owned a cat or even a chicken were often accused of having a bid, a sign of witchcraft, an association which has given rise to the derogatory term for elderly women - biddie.

Blaunche porre

- This pottage was originally made with small wild song birds such as blackbirds. Birds would have been added on flesh-days, the rest of the year it would have been a vegetarian dish. Today we substitute chicken instead of song-birds but equally it can be made without any meat at all.

• 1 teaspoon of saffron
• 4 to six leeks finely sliced
• 3 onions - chopped
• 1 pint chicken or vegetable stock
• Teaspoon honey
• Pinch each of saffron, pepper, cinnamon and cloves
• Pinch of ground ginger or few slices of fresh ginger
• Left over cooked chicken (optional)

Soak saffron in a little boiling water until water is yellow.
Add all of the ingredients to the chicken or vegetable stock. Simmer gently in a large pan for 6 - 8 minutes.
To serve as a side dish or main dish, drain off most of the stock; otherwise double the stock and serve as a pottage or soup.

Boggart

- A mischievous imp or poltergeist inhabiting country areas. It caused destruction in cottages and farms, making things go bump in the night, causing weeds to spring up in fields and the cows' milk to dry up. It also played malicious tricks on travellers. It usually became attached to a particular place or family and would not leave.

Boy Bishop

- The custom of electing a boy bishop dates back over a thousand years. The boy bishop held office from St. Nicholas Day, patron saint of children, on 6th December, to Holy Innocents Day, 28th December. The boy wore bishops' vestments, carried a crosier and, accompanied by a train of boys in minor orders, took part in services. On the last day he preached a sermon.
The fortunate lad lived in great luxury, just like the adult medieval bishops, during his time in office and presumably was spared the regular birchings which were the bane of the medieval schoolboy's life, for which he must have been very thankful. If he died in office, he was buried as if he was a bishop.
You can see a supposed effigy of such a boy in full bishop's vestments in Salisbury Cathedral.

Bough Cake

- A long stick was threaded with a mixture of dried fruits such as apricots, apples and plums. The fruit was coated in batter and spit-roasted over an open fire. More batter was spooned over the fruits as they cooked until they were covered in a thick layer. Once cooked, the bough cake was rolled in honey and spices before being served.

Brambles

- We may not think of blackberry brambles as a medicinal herb, but they did in medieval times. One of the stranger beliefs was that being drawn backwards through an arch of brambles would cure blackheads, acne and whooping cough.
But more practically the medieval herbals said that the root of bramble boiled in wine would cure sore throats and mouth ulcers. Eating the fresh leaf tips was considered very good for you as it fixed loose teeth - there is probably some truth in that, in that it may well have prevented scurvy. Piles could be relieved by both eating the fruit and applying them externally to piles. And if you are thinking of weaving your own clothes, brambles are a very valuable source of dyes. The fruit dyes sheep's wool grey and dyes silk slate blue; the green shoots produce a black dye.

Brawn and Sharp Sauce

- Fried Brawn, known as Braun Feyez, was made from trimmings of the pig's head, trotters, tail and tongue boiled for hours with onions, spices and herbs. Once the liquid was reduced, the thick mass was left in a cold dish until the meats were set in jelly. The block of brawn was turned out, sliced and fried in lard or butter. It was served with a sour vinegar sauce, Gruant Tartez, to offset the rich greasy meat.

Bub

- An old Lincolnshire and East Anglian dialect word for an unfledged bird or an inexperienced person.

Bull oak

- An ancient hollow oak tree. There were several names for different shapes of hollow oaks. A bull oak was one with a hollow reaching to the ground which was large enough for sheep or pigs or even bulls to take shelter in it.

Camelot

- A medieval pedlar or hawker who also sold or carried news. Camelots had a reputation for trading in goods that were not always genuine or might have fallen off the back of a cart. The name is still used today in France for a street peddler or newspaper seller.

Cattern Cakes

- On St Catherine's day, cattern cakes - made from sweet dough - were eaten for luck, to keep the family safe over winter. In some parts of the country they ate Cattern pies instead - pastries shaped like a Catherine wheel and filled with minced mutton, honey and breadcrumbs.
Wheels of burning straw, once the symbol of the ancient sun god, were rolled across fields for fertility in celebration of St Catherine. A favourite pastime on this day was to jump over a two-foot high lighted candle. If the candle was not extinguished as you jumped (and you didn't catch fire), good luck would follow for the year. The rhyme Jack be nimble, Jack be quick / Jack jump over the candle stick may have originated with this custom.

Christmas Rose

- Helleborus niger or black hellebore, so named because though its face blazes with innocence, its root is black. The ground-up root was often mixed with food to kill household vermin.
A Medieval mystery play tells of a poor girl who wept when visiting the baby Jesus because she had no gift. An angel took pity on her, touched the earth and a rose instantly blossomed for her to offer to the baby.
The Christmas Rose was a powerful charm against evil. A piece of root was put inside the ear of an animal which had been 'witched' to cure it, and all new animals were blessed with it to ward off the evil eye. Houses too were purified with it to drive away the hungry ghosts and Christmas roses were planted near doors to prevent evil spirits entering cottages and stables.

Commissarius

- Within the Church, he was a man who was personally commissioned by a Bishop to exercise spiritual authority within the Bishop's diocese or See. The Commissarius could preside as a judge in court on behalf of the Bishop.

Cordwainer

- A shoemaker who worked in cordwain or cordovan leather, which was a fine red leather imported from Spain and used to make the best quality shoes and boots. Eventually, cordwainer became the name for all shoemakers.

Corpse Road

- Only parish churches were licensed to bury corpses, so villagers in outlying areas would often be obliged to carry their dead many miles across moors, hills or forests to bury them. These ways were marked by a series of stone or wooden crosses to guide the mourners. The last known use of a corpse road was in 1736 in Cumbria, between the village of Mardale Green and Shap parish church, a distance of around 6 miles (10 km) over steep hills.

Corrodian

- a person who paid a single lump sum of money (corrody) to a convent or religious house. In return the convent would promise to provide lodgings, food and fuel for that person until their death.
Sometimes the convent guaranteed to give the person a regular annual fixed income to buy these things, at other times the convent would actually provide the lodgings, food and fuel.
It was a medieval pension scheme and employers sometimes bought corrodies for valued employees. The religious houses used it as a means of getting ready cash especially in times of financial hardship - and they obviously gambled that the old person wouldn't live too long, so they would make a profit. On the other hand if the corrodian lived longer than expected, he or she would gain financially and the convent would end up loosing money.

Cote-hardie

- An open-sleeved supertunic. For men, this was worn over a gipon and shirt. Tight fitting across the chest, it flared into a skirt below the waist, open in front and reaching to the knees. The old and poorer men wore looser and longer cote-hardie reaching to the calves. As the century progressed, fashionable men wore the cote-hardie shorter and shorter until it barely covered the hips.

Daul

- Dialect word meaning to weary, to wear out or to exhaust. 'Dauled' means worn out, tired and limp.

Demon Star

- Also known as Lilith's star or Algol, is in the constellation Perseus. It was considered the most dangerous star in the heavens, bringing evil and death, for it seems to wink like a great eye. A girl born under its astrological influence was said to bring a curse upon her family and any man she married.
The star appears to wane in brightness over four and a half hours, remaining dim for twenty minutes, then increases to its original intensity for sixty-nine hours. We now know this is caused by a dimmer star eclipsing a brighter one.

Deodand

- from deo dandum 'given to God'. Any object or animal which caused the death of a person was declared deodand and it or its value was forfeit to the Crown. This might include a horse that trampled someone, a tree that the deceased had fallen from, a chimney that had collapsed on them, or hoe that had accidently hit them.

Drindle

- East Anglian dialect word for a trickle of water or tiny stream.

Dung Drag

- A three-pronged rake with the metal prongs or tines set at right angles to the long wooden handle. Compass, a mixture of animal dung and soiled straw, was taken out to fields in a cart. A man known as Sir Wag walked behind the cart using the dung drag to pull down the compass on to the field. The long handle ensured he did not get covered in the smelly manure as he raked it down.

Eena, deena, dina, das

- The shepherd's counting. Many country people, right up to last century, counted in multiples of four or eight for livestock or produce. Some say it is because we have four fingers, other have suggested it is easy to pick out four sheep at a glance without counting them individually. Pebbles, beans or notches on a stick would be used to keep track of how many fours had been counted. There has been much speculation as to the origins of the names of the numbers, which vary widely from district to district, but they may be vestiges of older tribal languages which survived long after the language itself ceased to be used.

Faith cakes

- St Faith was a third century virgin and martyr, and the patron saint of pilgrims and prisoners. She was martyred by being roasted alive on a brazen bed. When that failed to kill her, she was beheaded.
On her feast day, 6th October, people ate cakes griddled on hot irons, ensuring safe and successful pilgrimages.

Fret

- An open-weave ornamental net which covered the hair. Wealthy women might have frets fashioned from silver or gold thread, or even studded with semi-precious stones.

Gipon

- An under-tunic worn over a shirt and under the cote-hardie. Close-fitting and slightly waisted, the men's gipon reached to the knees, with tightly fitting sleeves. The bodice was often padded for warmth and protection.

Golem

- From the Hebrew, meaning unformed. In kabbalistic magic, soil or clay was made into the statue of a man and brought to life by placing under its tongue a slip of paper on which was written the tetragrammation (the four-letter name of God). The resulting zombie-like being would only obey the master who had made him, and was immensely strong and destructive, but very stupid. Christians came to believe that any book or paper with Hebrew lettering could be used to animate a golem.

Green Mist Baby

- a baby born in springtime when the fields appear to be covered with a bright green mist as the seeds begin to germinate. These babies were likely to be of low birth-weight because of the lack of fresh meat, eggs and vegetables in the mother's diet during the winter months when she was pregnant. But those babies who survived the birth, had the good warm days of spring and summer when mother's milk was richer to build up strength before winter. In contrast autumn babies were often bigger when born, but frequently sickened and died during that first winter.

Harrow

- In some place-names, 'harrow' derives from Hearg which is Old English for a pagan site of worship.

Herb Robert (Stinking Bob, Red Robin)

- a wild member of the geranium family. It has an awful smell, but was very valuable in the Middle Ages to staunch the flow of blood both internally and externally. They also used it to treat ulcers and piles. This was useful in battle because this herb grows wild - a very handy instant medieval First Aid kit to find in the field if you were injured.

Holly

- From the Old English holen or holegn; always a symbol of good luck. A holly tree growing near the house was thought to protect it from lightning, and a sprig of Christmas Holly should be kept in the house for the rest of the year to protect against lightning.
In the Middle Ages holly was hung in homes to welcome in the good fairies and spirits. Holly must be hung before mistletoe or ill-fortune will be drawn into the house through the chimney on Christmas Eve.
To discover your future spouse, you had to gather nine holly leaves from the female tree at midnight on Friday, tie them with nine knots in a three-cornered cloth and place them under your pillow, then you would dream of your future partner, but only if you kept silence from gathering the leaves to dawn.

Hue and Cry

- The first person to discover a robbery or a body was legally obliged to raise the hue and cry, in other words sound the alarm and rouse his neighbours. On hearing this, all able-bodied men had to start hunting down the perpetrator. Failure to comply with this law meant heavy fines for the individual and often the whole community.

Jack-in-the-green / Devil's Prick

- Botanical name Arum maculatum, (also known as 'Lords and Ladies', because of its resemblance to male and female genitalia).
This poisonous herb had many medicinal uses in the Middle Ages including inducing menstruation. It was also used by young men as a love charm. It was said to have grown at the foot of the cross where drops of Christ's blood fell on it, marking it from that time onwards.

King Bee

- During the Middle Ages, it was believed that a hive or skep of bees was ruled by a male or king bee, not by a female queen. The order and hierarchy of the hive was thought to reflect the structure of both Church and State. Clergy instructed their congregations to look to the bees as exemplary models of how kingdoms and manors should be run. It was not until 1586 that it was discovered that the king bee was actually female.

Kirtle

- A gown worn by women. By the first half of the fourteenth century, the kirtle was cut to reveal the body shape, and moulded to the figure as far as the hips where it widen into folds which swept to the ground.

Kittywitches

- Local Norfolk name for the small crabs found on the mud flats of Breydon Water near Yarmouth.
It was also the name given to the prostitutes that worked on the streets or Rows of Yarmouth.

Lange wortys de chare

- A form of pottage. Pottage was the main meal eaten in the Middle Ages by wealthy and poor alike. There were lots of variations depending on whether it was a flesh (meat-day) or Lenten and fish day.

• 1lb shin beef
• 2 leeks
• 2 onions
• 2 stick celery
• Quarter of firm cabbage
• Salt & pepper
• Beef or vegetable stock
• 4 oz stale white breadcrumbs
• Few strands of saffron

Cut meat into small pieces. Add the meat to 2 pints of stock, bring to the boil, cover and stew until tender.
Meanwhile chop vegetables into large pieces and boil in separate pan for ten minutes. When beef is ready add the vegetables together with a little of the water they were cooked in. Continue simmer until vegetables are soft.
Add breadcrumbs, saffron and seasonings, bring back to the boil and cook for 2 - 3 minutes before serving.

Livery

- The aim of most minstrels was obtain a livery, that is, gain a permanent position in a wealthy household. They would then wear the colours or emblems of the lord who employed them. This not only ensured a comfortable and secure employment, but meant they could charge their expenses to the lord's account if they had to travel. The penalties for wearing a lord's livery when you not employed by him were severe.

Mandrake

- Mandragora, Devil's apples. The root of this plant often resembles a wizened human. It was said to scream when wrenched from the earth, and the scream would kill any who heard it. It is a powerful narcotic and was used by Hippocrates in wine to relieve depression and anxiety, but in higher does could cause delirium, coma and death. It was the favourite poison of Lucrezia and Cesare Borgia. When Joan of Arc was tried as a witch, she was accused of being in possession of a mandrake.
But the mandrake was believed to be more than a plant, for many considered it semi-human, with the power to bring about dark and powerful magic. It was said that it never occurred naturally, but only grew at the foot of the gallows. There are two forms of mandrake - white is male and black is female or womandrake.

Marzapane

- The sweet which came to be called marchpane and then marzipan in England.
Although some cities in Europe claim to have invented it when there was a drought and almonds were the only crop to survive, most researchers believe it was actually invented in the Middle East around the Eighth Century and was brought to Venice by returning crusaders. Since sugar was a key ingredient it was expensive. It only became widely used in England in the 15th Century.

Midden

- The place in the garden or courtyard used to dump kitchen waste, the contents of chamber pots, soiled rushes and manure from cleaning byres and yards.

Mince Pies, sometimes known as minch pies

- These meat pies were not at first associated with Christmas, until the returning Crusaders brought with them exotic and costly spices such as cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg to add to the basic meat filling. Then these pies became a special treat for the Christmas festivities.
These spices were mixed with minced meat, seasoned with salt, pepper and vinegar and baked in an oblong pastry case to represent the manager with a baby Jesus on top. The figure of Jesus was not eaten. It was considered lucky to consume twelve pies over the twelve days of Christmas, each baked by a different cook.
If any pie was missed out or refused, the corresponding month of the following year would be a bad one, which is a good excuse, if you need one, for never refusing a mince pie!

Mould

- When the high spring and autumn tides wash over a beach they leave behind salt water which is dried by sun and wind, forming a salty crust in the top layer of sand or silt. This layer is known as mould. In the Middle Ages the mould was scraped off by the salt-makers. It was then washed and filtered to extract the salt in the form of brine. This was the first step in the salt making process (see also Weller).

Mutton Olives

- A mixture of suet, onion, herbs and spices was spread on thin, beaten slices of mutton. The stuffed mutton slices were rolled up, skewered and baked in butter. The mutton olives were served sprinkled with crumbled egg yolks and yet more spices.

Nixie

- A beautiful, but evil, female water sprite. Their skins are said to be white or translucent like water.

Ordeal by Water

- Under King Athelstan (925-939) and later, Edward the Confessor (1042-1066), trial by water (iudicium aquae) was enshrined in law as one of the tests of guilt or innocence for all crimes.
The suspect was bound hand and foot, then thrown into water. If they sank, they were innocent. If they floated, they were guilty. This was based on the belief that water was used for baptism, therefore water would not receive anyone who was guilty and refused to confess it.
Ordeal by water was officially abolished in 1219, under Henry III, but its use continued unofficially for many centuries, increasing being reserved for those suspected of witchcraft.

Pike in Galentyne

- Pike and lampreys were boiled in ale or vinegar, and spices including pepper, ginger and cloves. The ale or vinegar helped to break down the fine bones. The flesh was removed from the coarser bones, then pressed back into a fish shape.
The pike was either served cold covered with a hot sauce, or hot with a cold sauce such as sauce vert. A hot galentyne sauce was thick and strongly flavoured, more like a relish or condiment than a modern sauce. A typical galentyne consisted of rye breadcrumbs, sweetened white wine, vinegar, oil, onion, cinnamon, pepper and - rather strangely - sandalwood.

Pinfold

- A stone or wooden enclosure, usually circular, used to corral animals at night. Often to be found on drovers roads, so that herdsmen and drovers could safely contain the flocks while they slept. The term was also used for a pound where stray or confiscated animals could be held until the owner paid his fine.

Pokerounce

- A favourite medieval sweet dish and very easy to make today.

• 4 thick slices of white bread
• 8 oz (225 g) honey
• Pinch each of: ground ginger, cinnamon and ground black pepper
• Half oz (15g) pine nut kernels

Toast the bread on both sides and cut slices into small squares. Place toast on heated serving dish.
Melt the honey is a saucepan with the spices and pepper for no more than two minutes. Do not let it boil or darken.
Pour honey over the toast then arrange pine-nut kernels in the honey, but standing upright like little chess men or soldiers.
Serve hot. Safest eaten with a fork to prevent burnt or sticky fingers.

Posset

- Unlike the rich dish of eggs and cream which it was later to become, the medieval posset was a warming drink simply made from hot milk slightly curdled with ale or wine. It was sweeten with honey and flavoured with spices such as ginger, cloves and cinnamon. It was thought particularly effective at warding off chills.

Pottage

- The main staple dish eaten at least once a day by everyone, rich or poor. Varying between a thin broth and a very thick stew, its base would be an herb, vegetable or meat stock, to which cereals, peas, beans, vegetables, meat or fish would be added depending on the wealth of the person and the season of the year.

Purefinding

- Collecting dog dung to sell to leather tanners. Dog excrement was vital to purify skins and hides by breaking down the collagenous proteins prior to curing and tanning. Treating the skins with dog excrement was called puering. Dog dung was therefore a valuable commodity in the Middle Ages, with white dung being the most highly prized.

Rastons

- Stuffed bread loaves or rolls. In Medieval times, these were made with sweetened dough fortified with eggs, but the recipe works equally well if you use a small crusty loaf or crusty rolls. Slice off the top. Scoop out the crumbs and mix with fried onions and/or finely chopped fruit, such as apples and apricots. Stir in generous amounts of melted butter, return the mixture to the hollowed-out rolls, replace tops and heat in the oven for 5 - 10 minutes or wrapped in foil in the embers of a fire. Great for eating round an autumn bonfire.

"I swear there is nothing so warming to the stomach on a cold winter's night as sweet bread, hot from the oven, dripping with melted butter, truly a feast for St Barbara's day." (Camelot, in Company of Liars)

Rough Music

- Sometimes know as ran-tanning, it was a way of expressing social disapproval of such things as adultery or wife-beating.
Neighbours would gather outside a wrong-doer's house for three successive nights banging metal objects. If by the third night the victim hadn't taken the hint and left the neighbourhood, they would be dragged out of their home and beaten.
It was erroneously believed that if a 'ran-tanning' was in progress and the victim was badly injured or died as a result of the beating, the assailants could not be punished by law. This custom, often used on those thought to be engaged in sexual immorality, continued well into the nineteenth century all over Britain and in one sense still continues today, when local people surround houses of suspected paedophiles to try to force them out.

Saint John's Wort

- Nowadays we often use it in tablet form, but it is a pretty little flowering garden herb which looks lovely in tubs. In the Medieval times they believed the sap turned red as blood on St. John's day (June 24th) and indeed it does change colour in mid-summer.

It was a powerful herb of the Middle Ages, hung over doorways and windows to keep the evil spirits from the house. The herb itself was prescribed in medieval times as cure for hysteria and forms of madness. The seeds eaten for exactly forty days were thought to ease sciatic, epilepsy and palsy and the leaves when boiled in wine would cure snake bites. But the Medieval physicians also discovered that if the leaves were boiled up and applied to bedsores, inflamed wounds and ulcers, it would sooth and reduce inflammation, and people still use it for that today.

Scots and tithes

- As well each household having to give tithes, a percentage of livestock, grain, candles etc., to the Church on pain of minor excommunication, the Church also demanded scots, or sums of money to perform certain rites such as christenings and marriages, including a soul-scot, money paid to the priest to perform the burial rights, in addition to money which also had to be paid for a Mass to be said for the soul of deceased. This scot was enshrined in law by King Alfred, AD871 - 901, and was hated by the poor who saw it as a tax on death.

Sending

- People believed that warlocks and witches had the power to conjure a Sending, in the form of an animal or insect which could travel hundreds of miles to kill the victim. Often these were sent against wrong-doers who had fled, or those from the community who had broken a promise to return home. Victims would feel its approach for several hours or days before it reached them and begin to feel sleepy, ill and terrified.

Singing Loaves

- Normally only the priest consumed the consecrated Host every Sabbath. The populace only received it at festivals such as Easter. Instead, after the service, special loaves of bread called Singing Loaves were blessed and each person received a small piece to break his fast. Women vied for the weekly honour of baking the loaves and tried to outdo each other by producing the best when it was their turn.

Tatterfoal

- A malicious goblin, or - some said - the devil himself, who took the form of a rough-coated horse with glowing eyes and who shone with an eerie blue light. He frightened travellers with his unearthly groans and noises, which were said to sound like the creak of a coffin lid opening or the rattling of great chains. He led the unwary into bogs and caused horses to throw their riders.
To defend themselves against him, travellers were advised to carry an iron horse shoe, a daisy chain or a sprig of rowan tied with a scarlet thread.

Toadsman

- An East Anglian term for a horse whisperer. A man could gain extraordinary powers over horses, pigs and people, by killing a Natterjack toad and carrying the corpse against his chest until it rotted to bones. The bones were floated in a river at midnight. The bone which floated up stream was magic and the person who took hold of it would be pulled across the river by it, after which they would possess the power.

Trencher

- A stale loaf of bread, usually four days old, cut into thick, slightly hollow slices, which would act as a plate on which the meal would be served. After the meal the trenchers which had soaked up the juices and gravies of the meal would be given to the poor or the dogs or pigs to eat.

Undercroft

- A basement or cellar under a hall or house used mainly for storage. Often the undercroft was built on the ground floor, rather than below ground, though surviving examples are sometimes now below ground level because the surface levels of streets have risen. The undercroft could be completely enclosed with walls, but was frequently left open on one or more sides to allow carts and wagons to be drawn inside to load and unload. The Great Hall was often built as the upper storey over an undercroft, supported by pillars and arches.

Weller

- Along the East Coast a common method of producing salt in the Middle Ages was by sand and silt washing. The brine washed from the sand would be boiled in lead pans over peat fires. This was done by the wellers who had the most difficult job in the salt making process. Brine contains six different salts, each crystallising out at a different rate. Only the third, sodium chloride, was the one used for preservation and flavouring so that the weller had to be adept at collecting this particular salt at precisely the right time without it becoming contaminated by the others. The remaining salts, collectively known as the bittern, were usually discarded.

Widdershins

- To circle anticlockwise or against the sun, hence against nature, strengthening the forces of darkness. Going widdershins was often a feature of dark spells and conjuring the dead, therefore people were careful not to do it by accident for it would bring bad luck. But it could also be used to reverse the current state of affairs by turning a run of bad fortune into good.

Witch-jar

- These were glass or clay vessels containing thorns, pins, needles and other sharp objects, together with some item belonging to the intended victims, such hair combings or a rag cut from a garment they had worn. The jar containing these objects was filled with the urine of the person casting the spell and sealed. The vessel was then buried under the heath, near an oven or up a chimney.
According to superstition, every time was a fire was lit heating the jar, the victim would experience a burning agony in his entrails and stabbing pains in his limbs as if he was being repeatedly jabbed with red-hot needles. The victim would continue to suffer, until he discovered who had made the witch-jar and had persuaded them to destroy it.
People today renovating old houses or carrying out excavations sometimes unearth witch-jars which have been buried for centuries.

Yellow Skeggs

- A common English name for the Yellow Iris (Iris pseudacorus), otherwise known as fleur-de-lis. Skeggs is Anglo-Saxon in origin from segg meaning a small sword, in reference to the leaf shape. In the sixth century St Clovis I of France was able to escape the Goths when he noticed a patch of yellow iris growing in the middle of the River Rhine indicating shallow water. In gratitude he took the fleur-de-lis as his emblem. In the twelfth century Louis VII of France adopted it as his emblem during the Crusades. The English called the French soldiers 'flowers', a derogatory nickname which seems to be a reference to the French emblem, the Fleur-de-lis, hence Yellow Skeggs.

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