The Betrayal (29 page)

For decoration:

  Currants

  String

Directions:

1.  In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar until smooth.

2.  Stir in the treacle and egg yolk.

3.  Combine all the other ingredients and blend into the black treacle mixture until smooth.

4.  Cover and chill the dough for at least one hour.

5.  Preheat the oven to 175 °C (350 °F / gas mark 4).

6.  On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 5 mm thick.

7.  Cut the dough into mouse shapes, add currants for eyes and string for tails.

8.  Bake 8-10 minutes on greased baking sheets in the preheated oven, until firm.

9.  Remove the mice from the baking sheets to cool on wire racks.

These sweetly scented nosegays were popular accessories in the sixteenth century, when ladies would carry them to sniff if confronted with any foul smells. Some even believed that breathing through the mixture of flowers and herbs would keep the owner from breathing in germs or disease and act as a plague preventative. Later, tussy-mussies were given amongst friends for the meanings bestowed on individual plants (for instance, using scarlet geraniums denoted ‘comfort’).

A suitable tussy-mussy for a maiden would be a central bloom of a large pink rose (pure and lovely) encircled with contrasting flowers and leaves of mint (virtue), sage (domestic virtue), forget-me-nots (true love), golden marjoram (blushes), lime blossom (conjugal love)
and rosemary (remembrance).

Bind the stems with florist’s tape as you go to keep the posy tight and finish the edges with a large-leafed herb (like lady’s mantle) to emphasise the round shape.

coffer
– a box or chest for keeping valuables

coxcomb
– a foppish fellow; a conceited dandy

equerry
– an officer in the royal household

farthingale
– a hoop or framework worn under skirts to shape and spread them

frowsy
– unkempt; of shabby appearance

galliard
– an athletic dance characterised by leaps, hops and jumps. A favourite dance of Elizabeth I

gee-gaw
– decorative trinket; a bauble

groat
– English silver coin worth four old pence, used from the fourteenth century to the seventeenth 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

kennel
– a rough drainage channel for street waste-water and rubbish

kirtle
– the skirt part of a woman’s outfit. During this time everything (skirt, bodice, sleeves and 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

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

malmsey
– a sweet wine

marchpane
– the old word for marzipan

masque
– festive courtly entertainment which might include singing, dancing or acting

pattens
– overshoes held on to feet by leather bands to elevate the feet and aid walking in the mud

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

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

Rhenish
– a dry white wine

ribband
– a ribbon

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

simples
– medicines made from herbs

sucket
– a type of sweet, typically orange or lemon slices, sugared and crystallised

tilt
– a type of joust played by armoured combatants mounted on horseback

tiring room
– the dressing room of a theatre, probably deriving from ‘attiring room’

vittles
– food; also spelled
victuals

Bremness, Lesley,
DK Pocket Encyclopedia of Herbs
Dorling Kindersley, 1990

Dickson, Andrew,
The Rough Guide to Shakespeare
Rough Guides, 2005

Fell Smith, Charlotte,
John Dee 1527–1608
Constable and Company, 1909

Hibbert, Christopher and Weinreb, Ben,
The London Encyclopedia
Book Club Associates, 1983

Jenkins, Elizabeth,
Elizabeth the Great
Phoenix Press, 1958

Picard, Liza,
Elizabeth’s London
Phoenix, 2003

Weir, Alison,
Elizabeth the Queen
Pimlico, 1999

Williams, Neville,
The Life and Times of Elizabeth I
Book Club Associates, 1972

Woolley, Hannah,
The Gentlewoman’s Companion (1675)
Prospect Books, 2001

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also by Mary Hooper

Read on for a tantalising extract …

Hannah is excited as she embarks on her first ever trip to the capital to help sister Sarah in her sweetmeats shop. But she does not get the warm welcome she expected. Sarah is horrified that Hannah did not get her message to stay away – the Plague is taking hold of London.

‘June 7th. The hottest day that ever I felt
in my life …’

To tell the truth, I was rather glad to get away from Farmer Price and his rickety old cart. He made me uneasy with his hog’s breath and his red, sweaty face and the way he’d suddenly bellow out laughing at nothing at all. I was uneasy, too, about something he’d said when I’d told him I was going to London to join my sister Sarah in her shop.