Rhenish: as the name implies a wine from the Rhine region, very popular in England.
Scarlet cloth: this was the common name of the finest woven woollen cloth used for gowns, kirtles and doublets and does not refer to the colour thus you can have blue scarlet or green scarlet as is described in period documents.
Justice: the local judge or royal official charged with keeping the peace
The Common Watch: acted as a police force and occasional fire brigade, and regarded by the Tudor citizens as next to useless and dumber than a pile of pig droppings.
Parish Ward Muster: citizen militia of reasonable quality and equipment, usually recruited from the better classes of Londoners.
Bedlam: the Hospital of St Mary of Bethlehem a hospice for those found to be decayed in their wits, mad crazed or deluded, hence the phrase as ‘its bedlam’ or as ‘mad as Bedlam’. In the Tudor period the common term of insanity was Bedlamite.
The Liberties: areas of the city of London and Southwark under the jurisdiction of the church and exempt from interference by city or county officials, usually swarming with punks, cony catchers, thieves, murders and forgers.
Wherry: a small boat with one to four rowers used for transport on the Thames, the taxi of its day.
The Lowlands or Loulands: the region across the channel that is now Holland and Belgium, often also called the Low Countries. Due to its important position in the Channel trading route London was home to thousands of Lowlanders, in some period documents they are also referred to as Germans or Douche (Dutch).
Lord of Misrule: During the twelve days of Christmas apart from the usual religious ceremonies other festivities tended to dominate the holidays. The most common and popular was the reign of the Lord of Misrule where the laws and customs of normal society were turned upside down. Servants paraded as lords and many parishes had a boy bishop. It was the one time of the year when the commons could get away with ridicule and satire of their betters.
If you enjoyed this tale of the misadventures of Red Ned Bedwell apprentice lawyer and aspiring rogue in the Tudor London of Henry VIII then you can find more at these sites:
Red Ned, the Reluctant Tudor Detective blog at
http://rednedtudormysteries.blogspot.com/
Stories in the Red Ned Tudor Mysteries Series
Amazon UK
The Liberties of London
The Queen’s Oranges
The Cardinal’s Angels
The Fetter Lane Fleece
Amazon US/Australia
The Liberties of London
The Queen’s Oranges
The Cardinal’s Angels
The Fetter Lane Fleece
A Comfit Of Rogues Page 14
