At the House of the Magician

by Mary Hooper

2. With the ribbon, carefully tie the stems together just below the heads, leaving one end of ribbon much longer than the other, although the shorter end must still be longer than the length of the flower heads.

  3. Gently bend back each stem surrounding the flower heads until they are completely enclosed, as if in a cage, keeping the longer end of the ribbon on the outside, and allowing the shorter end to hang down in the ‘cage’. Then spread the stalks so that they are evenly spaced around the flowers.

  4. Taking the longer end of the ribbon, weave it under and over each stem in turn, using firm and even movements and pulling the stems fairly tight, until you run out of flowers to cover.

  5. Tie a firm knot at the base of the ‘cage’ with both ends of the ribbon, and finish with a bow.

  Hung in your wardrobe, this wand will make your clothes smell sweet and deter moths.

  Glossary

  bruisewort – a plant supposed to heal bruises, such as ox-eyed daisy or comfrey

  caudle – hot spiced wine drink made with gruel, egg yolk, oatmeal, etc. sometimes used a medicine

  ceruse – a white lead pigment used as makeup

  chafing dish – portable brazier to hold burning coals; dishes of food could be reheated on it

  coffer – a box or chest for keeping valuables

  coster – someone who sells fruit or vegetables from a barrow or stall

  coxcomb – a foppish fellow; a conceited dandy

  equerry – an officer in the royal household

  ewer – a pitcher with a wide spout and handle for pouring

  flummeries – cold puddings, sweet and bland, made with oatmeal or flour

  frowsy – unkept; of shabby appearance

  gee-gaw – decorative trinket; a bauble

  goldcups – old name for buttercup or crowfoot plant

  Groat – English silver coin worth four old pence, used from the 14th century to the 17th century

  harridan – a woman with a reputation for being a scold or a nag

  horn book – Early primer showing alphabet, etc. consisting of a wooden board protected by a thin sheet of cattle horn

  jumbales – small flat ring-shaped cakes or cookies

  kirtle – the skirt part of a woman’s outfit. During this time everything (skirt, bodice, sleeves, ruff) came separately and were pinned together during dressing

  litter – a man-powered form of transport, consisting of a chair or couch enclosed by curtains and carried on a frame or poles

  lye – a cleansing solution traditionally made from wood ash and ‘bedchamber urine’

  lying-in – the period just before and after a woman’s confinement during childbirth

  medlars – fruit of deciduous tree similar to an apple, now little grown

  neocromancer – sorcerer, black magician. One who tries to conjure up the dead

  pipkin – small metal or earthenware vessel

  porringer – a shallow dish or cup, usually with a handle, and used for eating soup, stews or porridge

  posset – a drink of hot milk curdled with ale or beer, flavoured with spices; a common recipe for treating colds

  pribbling – an insulting term

  prinked up – to dress oneself finely; to deck out and preen oneself

  puttock – an insulting term

  Rhenish – a dry white wine

  ribband – a ribbon

  samite – a heavy silken fabric, often woven with gold or silver threads

  sarcenet – fine soft silk fabric used for clothing and ribbons

  scabious – field flower with round heads of pale blue flowers, thought effectual for treating coughs

  scry – to see or divine, especially by crystal-gazing

  simples – medicines made from herbs

  tansy – yellow-flowered plant related to dandelion; used for cleaning the skin of discolouration

  tinctures – medicinal extract in a solution of alcohol

  trencher – wooden or pewter plate for serving or cutting food

  trug – long shallow basket for carrying flowers or fruit

  vittles – food; also spelled victuals

  wool-carder – someone who combs the wool in order to align the fibres before weaving

  Bibliography

  Elizabeth the Queen, Alison Weir

  Pimlico, 1999

  The Life and Times of Elizabeth, Neville Williams

  Book Club Associates, 1972

  Elizabeth the Great, Elizabeth Jenkins

  Phoenix Press, 1958

  John Dee 1527–1608, Charlotte Fell Smith

  Constable and Company, 1909

  Barnes and Mortlake Past, Maisie Brown

  Historical Publications Limited, 1997

  The Gentlewoman’s Companion, Hannah Woolley (1675)

  Prospect Books, 2001

  Elizabeth’s London, Liza Picard

  Phoenix, 2003

  Our first glimpse of the frost fair came just as dusk was

  falling and the air was soft and misty all around. Viewed

  under these conditions any place can take on a kind of

  enchantment, but to come around the bend in the river, to

  hear music playing and see the fair from a distance, lit at

  each side of the river by huge baskets of burning coals, was

  truly a glimpse of a kind of faeryland …

  Find out what the future holds for Lucy in the

  follow-up to

  At the House of the Magician …

  BY ROYAL COMMAND

  Turn the page to find out more …

  BY ROYAL COMMAND

  The Queen, the Spy and the Fool

  in a Tale of Romance and Royal Conspiracy

  Lucy has been waiting to be given an assignment which

  will assist the queen – and she’s anxious, too, to see

  Tomas again. When she takes Beth and Merryl to the

  frost fair on the Thames, she speaks to Tomas and gets

  the news she’s been waiting for: she has been requested

  to go to Court and watch closely one Mistress

  Madeleine Pryor, who is suspected of being in league

  with Elizabeth’s great rival: Mary, Queen of Scots.

  This also means, of course, that Lucy must attend

  various glittering occasions, mingle with the maids

  of honour and, above all, try to keep her real

  identity a secret …

  www.maryhooper.co.uk

  Books by Mary Hooper

  At the Sign of the Sugared Plum

  Petals in the Ashes

  The Remarkable Life and Times of Eliza Rose

  At the House of the Magician

  By Royal Command

  The Betrayal

  Text copyright © 2007 by Mary Hooper

  Illustrations by Carol Lawson

  All rights reserved. You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages

  First published in Great Britain in 2007 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

  Published in the United States of America in October 2010

  by Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers

  Electronic edition published in October 2011

  www.bloomsburyteens.com

  For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to

  Permissions, Bloomsbury BFYR, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  available upon request

  eISBN: 978 1 59990 860 1 (ebook)