The Tinner's Corpse
Read The Tinner's Corpse Online
Authors: Bernard Knight
Tags: #_rt_yes, #Angevin period; 1154-1216, #Coroner, #Devon, #England, #Fiction, #Historical, #Mystery & Detective, #onlib, #Police Procedural, #_NB_Fixed
Table of Contents
The Crowner John Series
CROWNER’S CRUSADE
THE SANCTUARY SEEKER
THE POISONED CHALICE
CROWNER’S QUEST
THE AWFUL SECRET
THE TINNER’S CORPSE
THE GRIM REAPER
FEAR IN THE FOREST
THE WITCH HUNTER
FIGURE OF HATE
THE ELIXIR OF DEATH
THE NOBLE OUTLAW
THE MANOR OF DEATH
CROWNER ROYAL
A PLAGUE OF HERETICS
The Richard Pryor Forensic Mysteries
WHERE DEATH DELIGHTS
ACCORDING TO THE EVIDENCE
GROUNDS FOR APPEAL
The Tom Howden Mysteries
DEAD IN THE DOG
A Crowner John Mystery
Bernard Knight
First published in Great Britain by Pocket Books, 2001
An imprint of Simon & Schuster UK Ltd
A Viacom Company
Simon & Schuster UK Ltd
Africa House
64-78 Kingsway
London WC2B 6AH
This eBook first published in 2014 by Severn House Digital
an imprint of Severn House Publishers Ltd.
Copyright © 2001 Bernard Knight
The right of Bernard Knight to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4483-0127-0 (ePub)
Except where actual historical events and characters are being described for the storyline of this novel, all situations in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to living persons is purely coincidental.
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This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which is was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicably copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
The author is indebted to Dr Tom Greeves of Tavistock for advice on the history of tinning in Devon, as well as to Phil Newman for his field guide ‘The Dartmoor Tin Industry’. As with the other novels in this series, invaluable help was provided by the staff of Devon County Library in Exeter – and as always, my publisher Gillian Holmes and copy editor Hazel Orme offered unfailing support and encouragement.
After wool, tin was England’s most valuable export in the early Middle Ages. Although it had probably been produced in Devon and Cornwall since prehistoric times, in the twelfth century – the time of our story – Devon’s Dartmoor yielded more than Cornwall and the tinners became a powerful force in the land. They were given their own Stannary parliament, laws and privileges, because of the value of their product to the Crown. With so much at stake, passions ran high in this ‘state within a state’ and, like Yukon gold-rushes of more recent times, a tough breed of men became embroiled in many bitter disputes over the mineral rights.
Until around the time of Crowner John, virtually all tin was extracted from alluvial ore in the streams and rivers, in a process rather similar to panning for gold. Only later, when these sources were exhausted, did mining of the veins of ore begin.
As with previous Crowner John mysteries, it should be pointed out that any attempt to give dialogue an ‘olde worlde’ flavour would be as inaccurate as it would be futile. In the time and place of this story, most people would have spoken Early Middle English, unintelligible to us today. Others spoke Western Welsh, later called Cornish, and the ruling classes used Norman-French amongst themselves. The language of the Church, and almost everything written, was Latin.
ALE
A brewed drink, before the advent of hops – derived from an ‘ale’, a village celebration where much drinking took place.
Unlike the modern legal meaning, an appeal was an accusation by an aggrieved person, often a relative of a victim, against another for a felonious crime. Historically it preceded (and competed with) the Crown’s right to prosecute and demanded either financial compensation or trial by combat or the Ordeal.
An arbitrary fine imposed on a person or community by a law officer, for some breach of the complex regulations of the law. Where imposed by a coroner, he would record the amercement, but the collection of the money would normally be ordered by the royal justices when they visited at the Eyre of Assize.
A new piece of arable land, cut from the forest to enlarge the usable area of a manor.
An order made by a law officer, including a coroner, to ensure that a person, whether suspect or witness, appeared at a court hearing. It resembled a bail bond or surety, distraining upon a person’s money or goods, which would be forfeit if he failed to appear.
Originally the defended areas, sometimes concentric, around a castle keep (‘motte and bailey’) but later also applied to the yard of a dwelling.
Overseer of a manor or estate, directing the farming and other work. He would have manor reeves under him and be responsible either directly to his lord or to the steward or seneschal.
A farming settlement.
A hut containing a small furnace for the first smelting of tin. Many were dotted around Dartmoor, consisting of a stone kiln in which layers of charcoal and ore were burnt, using a bellows, often driven by a crude water-wheel.
A box for collecting ore washed from the troughs in stream-working.
A freeman of substance in a town or borough, usually a merchant. A group of burgesses ran the town administration and in Exeter elected two Portreeves (later a Mayor) as their leaders.
A priestly member of the chapter of a cathedral, also called a prebendary (qv). Exeter had twenty-four canons, most of whom lived near the cathedral. Many employed junior priests (vicars) to carry out their duties for them.
A roving pedlar, carrying his wares on his back, also later called a ‘packman’. His usual trade was in sewing materials and small household needs, ribbons and trinkets.
The administrative body of a cathedral, composed of the canons (prebendaries). They met daily to conduct business in the Chapter House, so-called because a chapter of the Gospels was read before each session.
Wall construction using a mixture of mud, dung and vegetation such as bracken or straw.
A close-fitting cap or helmet, usually of linen, covering the ears and tied under the chin; worn by men and women.
Has several meanings, but here refers to a senior commander, usually the custodian of a castle, which in Exeter belonged to the King.
A senior law officer in each county, second only to the sheriff. First formally established in September 1194, though there are a few mentions of coroners in Saxon times. Three knights and one clerk were recruited in each county, to carry out a wide range of legal and financial duties. The name comes from
custos
placitorum coronas
, meaning ‘Keeper of the Pleas of the Crown’, as he recorded all serious crimes, deaths and legal events for the King’s judges.
More correctly
couvre-chef
, a linen headcover, worn by women, held in place by a band around the head, and flowing down the back and front of the chest.
The Royal Council, from whom the judges were drawn.
Literally ‘a gift from God’, it was the forfeiture of anything that had caused a death, such as a sword, a cart or even a mill-wheel. It was confiscated by the coroner for the king, but was sometimes given as compensation to the victim’s family.
A large war-horse able to carry the weight of an armoured knight. When firearms made armour redundant, destriers became shirehorses, replacing oxen as draught animals.
A sitting of the King’s justices, introduced by Henry II in 1166, which moved around the country in circuits. There were two types, the ‘Justices in Eyre’ or ‘Eyre of Assize’ which was the forerunner of the later Assize Courts, which was supposed to visit each county town regularly to try serious cases; and the General Eyre, which came at long intervals to scrutinise the administration of each county.
A person expelled from England on abjuring the realm after seeking sanctuary.
In the medieval sense, the total tax required by the King from a county. Collected by the sheriff and delivered to Winchester or London twice a year, it was a sum fixed by the Crown and if the sheriff could collect more, he could keep the difference for himself.
A chain-mail tunic with long sleeves to protect the wearer from neck to calf; usually slit for riding a horse.
An administrative division of a county, originally named for a hundred hides of land or a hundred families.
A tinner’s representative at the Stannary parliament, sometimes called a ‘jurator’ or ‘stannator’.
An artificial channel for water, leading it into an ore-washing system.
A measure of money, though not an actual coin, as only pennies existed. A mark was two-thirds of a pound i.e. thirteen shillings and fourpence (sixty-six decimal pence)
A large drinking dish originally made from maple wood.