Read A Gift of Sanctuary Online
Authors: Candace Robb
Tags: #Fiction, #Historical, #Mystery & Detective, #General, #Crime
A Gift of Sanctuary
About the Author
Candace Robb studied for a Ph.D. in Medieval and Anglo-Saxon literature and has continued to read and research medieval history and literature ever since. The Owen Archer series grew out of a fascination with the city of York and the tumultuous 14th century. The first in the series,
The Apothecary Rose
, was published in 1994, at which point she began to write full time. In addition to the UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and America, her novels are published in France, Germany, Spain and Holland.
The Apothecary Rose
, was published in 1994, at which point she began to write full time. In addition to the UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and America, her novels are published in France, Germany, Spain and Holland.
She is currently writing the seventh Owen Archer novel,
A Spy for the Redeemer
.
A Spy for the Redeemer
.
Also by Candace Robb
The Apothecary Rose
The Lady Chapel
The Nun’s Tale
The King’s Bishop
The Riddle of St Leonard’s
Candace Robb
A GIFT
OF SANCTUARY
AN OWEN ARCHER MYSTERY
This ebook is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form (including any digital form) other than this in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
Epub ISBN: 9781446440810
Version 1.10
Published in the United Kingdom in 1999
by Arrow Books
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
Copyright © Candace Robb 1998
The right of Candace Robb to be identified as the author of this
work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988
‘The Seagull (Yr wylan deg ar lanw dioer)’, by Dafydd ap Gwilym, translated by Joseph P. Clancy in
Medieval Welsh Lyrics
(Macmillan and St Martin’s Press, 1965), pp 23–4.
Medieval Welsh Lyrics
(Macmillan and St Martin’s Press, 1965), pp 23–4.
First published in the United Kingdom in 1998
by William Heinemann
Arrow Books Ltd
Random House UK Limited
20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 2SA
Random House Australia (Pty) Limited
20 Alfred Street, Milsons Point, Sydney, New South Wales
2061, Australia
Random House New Zealand Limited
18 Poland Road, Glenfield,
Auckland 10, New Zealand
Random House South Africa (Pty) Limited
Endulini, 5A Jubilee Road, Parktown 2193, South Africa
Random House UK Limited Reg. No. 954009
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the
British Library
ISBN 0 7493 2360 4
Contents
14. Dyfrig Sows Seeds of Doubt
21. A Fierce and Terrible Love
24. Myrddin and the One who Sleeps
27. ‘. . . a verray, parfit gentil knyght’
For Kate Ross
,
,
Who also enjoyed jousting with poets
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Taking Owen into Wales has been quite a journey for me, but I found some expert guides who were wonderfully generous with their time. I wish to thank in particular Jeff Davies, Fiona Kelleghan, Nona Rees, Compton Reeves, and the staff of the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth. I also wish to thank my colleagues on the Internet discussion lists Mediev-l, Chaucer, and H-Albion who were ever ready with advice and suggestions.
Heartfelt thanks to Joyce Gibb for sharing the results of her own research, and for taking time out for long conversations and careful readings; to Lynne Drew for making the long journey out to St David’s and for an inspired edit; to Evan Marshall for a thoughtful edit; to Christie Andersen for proofreading; and to Charlie Robb for maps, photos, travel arrangements and all the myriad assignments he cheerfully accepts throughout the year.
GLOSSARY
| a Goddes half | for God’s sake (middle English) |
| amobr | a payment, originally to guarantee virginity, payable to a woman’s lord at marriage |
| bourdon | a pilgrim’s staff |
| butt | a mark or mound for archery practice |
| certes | certainly, to be sure (middle English) |
| destrier | a knight’s war horse |
| escheat | the reversion of property to a lord on the owner’s dying without legal heirs – one convicted of treason or felony could not pass on his property, hence had no legal heirs |
| gentilesse | graciousness, with an air of nobility (middle English) |
| the Law of Hywel Dda | the native law of Wales is known as Hywel’s Law; it is said that in the tenth century Hywel Dda convened a representative assembly at Whitland, which revised and published the law |
| littera marachi | letter of the March, an official safe-conduct issued by a lord, acknowledging the man as his own and asking for his judicial immunity to be respected in other lordships |
| the Marches/ | the borders of the kingdom and the lords |
| Marcher lords | to whom the King granted jurisdiction over them |
| mazer | a large wooden cup or bowl, often highly decorated |
| murder hole | an opening in the floor above, from which something such as hot oil can be dropped on intruders |
| murrain | literally, a parasitic disease among cattle, but often generalised to any widespread disease among livestock |
| no fors | does not matter (middle English) |
| receiver | officer who receives money due; treasurer |
| redemptio vitae | money in exchange for one’s life in a criminal case; the amount varies according to the discretion of the lord and the gravity of the offence |
| scrip | a small bag, wallet, or satchel |
| solar | private room on upper level of house |
| spital | early English word for hospital, later ‘spitalhouse’ and ‘hospital’ |
| tourn | a Marcher lord’s great court |
| trencher | a thick slice of brown bread a few days old with a slight hollow in the centre, used as a platter |
| truck | trade |
| tun | wooden barrel; bows and arrow sheaves were stowed in wooden tuns for transport |
| vicar | as a modern vicar is the deputy of the rector, so a vicar choral was a cleric in holy orders acting as the deputy of a canon attached to the cathedral; for a modest annual salary the vicar choral performed his canon’s duties, attending the various services of the church and singing the liturgy |
| vintaine | a company of twenty soldiers |
WELSH PRONUNCIATION
Vowels:
a
,
e
,
i
,
o
,
u
,
y
, and sometimes
w
. As a vowel,
w
is pronounced like
oo
, either short (l
oo
k) or long (l
oo
n). As a consonant before a
y
, it retains some of its vocalic nature:
wee
or
ooee.
a
,
e
,
i
,
o
,
u
,
y
, and sometimes
w
. As a vowel,
w
is pronounced like
oo
, either short (l
oo
k) or long (l
oo
n). As a consonant before a
y
, it retains some of its vocalic nature:
wee
or
ooee.
Consonants: no
j
,
k
or
z
, nor is there a soft
c
(as in
c
ease)
j
,
k
or
z
, nor is there a soft
c
(as in
c
ease)
dd
as in tee
th
e, not tee
th
as in tee
th
e, not tee
th
f
sounds like a
v
, as in o
f
sounds like a
v
, as in o
f
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