“Ah-, the great Feast of Fools. A clergy’s justification to become lascivious for the day!” Ackerley De Godefroy
Setting off, just after the cock crowed, allowed the travelling party plenty of time to reach their destination by nightfall. The route had no unnecessary long stretches, around rivers and impending winter crusted marshes, and the roads were pretty stable; free from craters and waterlogged sections. With the weather set fair they made excellent progress. From Saxmundham, past the outskirts of Snape, through Little Glenham and onwards towards Campsea Ashe where they rested for some water and a light snack of smoked fish which Mary had packed before they left.
They reached the village of Ufford in the early afternoon and found it holding a festival. Across the country there always seemed something to celebrate. A Saints day crept up most months and a good harvest would give excellent reason to open a vat of wine and dance up and down the streets. Considering the terrible scenes they had witnessed earlier in the day, Ufford festivities appeared out of place to the three travellers. Children skip and laugh as the Mummers, in their brightly painted masks, sing of the previous King Stephen, and how his troubles were taken out on the villagers. Today, life is good under Henry and they cheer and emphasise his name as they sing. To be honest, this was probably a long way from the truth but no one dare sing ill of a current King although making fun of his cousin seemed like fair and safe game.
The silver which was passed for food and services still bares Stephen’s face, although Henry is in the process of replacing them. Men of wealth throw quarter and half cuts of the coinage up in into air, watch them land and begin grinding them with the sole of their boots into the dirt as if to squash the very face of the man they dislike. Ackerley found all this very amusing and grinned his way through the sways of people as they led their horses on foot through the crowd. To his right three portly Cannons sit on large throne like chairs as they sing loudly swigging and spilling the contents of their tankards in equal measure. A few of their congregation stand close by and laugh, partly in embarrassment and partly in the hope that the next liturgy would be as colourful. Each man of the cloth is rosy cheeked and worse for the days drinking, with a scantily clad woman on their lap; who they kept propped up by clinging tightly onto an ample breast.
‘Feast of Fools, I guess,’ says Mary looking distastefully at their antics.
‘Ah-, the great Feast of Fools. A clergy’s justification to become lascivious for the day.’ Ackerley replies.
Mary was pleased Nash did not hear his comments as she had observed him delve into that feast once or twice himself over the past few years.
‘Do you think they will pay those ladies for their…work today?’
‘Most definitely,’ replies Ackerley in a mockingly stern voice, ‘for there is nothing free in life but for the grace of god,’ he concludes in his best impersonation of Nash.
At the edge of the village, a tent had been constructed where a string of laughter can be heard escaping from within. It was not a very big tent but was large enough for a dozen people to be milling around and, what looked like, preparing for some form of entertainment. At the front of the tent is a musician who sings loud enough to be heard above the mirth. The song is of the crusades and how the great Christian warriors had defeated the evil Muslim hordes. All three stopped to listen.
They may fight back another day,
but all in vein as our great Pope will reign.
Along come the noble Knights a Templar in their heart,
brothers side by side fighting from the start.
YOU ARE READING
Echoes of a Legend
Historical Fiction“A Templar Knight is truly a fearless knight, and secure on every side, for his soul is protected by the armour of faith, just as his body is protected by the armour of steel. He is thus doubly armed, and need fear neither demons nor men." Bernard d...
