Dead Man's Ransom Read online

  Mangonel

  Armament used for hurling missiles

  Marl

  Soil of clay and lime, used as a fertiliser

  Messuage

  A house (rented) with land and out-buildings

  Midden

  Dung-heap

  Missal

  The prayer book detailing Mass services throughout the calendar

  Moneyer

  Coin minter

  Mountebank

  Trickster or entertainer

  Mummer

  An actor or player in a mime or masque

  Murage

  A tax levied to pay for civic repairs

  Murrain

  An infectious disease of livestock

  Myrmidon

  A faithful servant

  Nacre

  Mother-of-pearl

  Oblatus

  A monk placed in the monastery at a young age

  Orts

  Food scraps

  Ostler

  Horse handler

  Palfrey

  A horse saddled for a woman

  Pallet

  A narrow wooden bed or thin straw mattress

  Palliative

  A pain-killer

  Pannikin

  A metal cup or saucepan

  Parfytours

  Hounds used in hunting

  Parole

  The bond of a prisoner upon release from captivity

  Patten

  A wooden sandal

  Pavage

  A tax levied for street paving

  Penteulu

  A Welsh rank: captain of the royal guard

  Pommel

  The upward point on the front of a saddle

  Poniard

  A dagger

  Prelate

  A high-ranking member of the church (i.e. abbot or bishop)

  Prie-Dieu

  A kneeling desk used in prayer

  Pyx

  A small box or casket used to hold consecrated bread for Mass

  Quintain

  A target mounted on a post used for tilting practice

  Rebec

  A three string instrument, played using a bow

  Rheum

  Watery discharge of nose or eyes

  Saeson

  An Englishman

  Scabbard

  A sword or dagger sheath

  Sconce

  A bracket for candle or torch set on a wall

  Sheepfold

  A sheep pen

  Shriven

  Having received confession

  Shut

  An alley between streets

  Skiff

  A rowing boat for use in shallow waters

  Sow

  The structure protecting the men wielding a battering ram

  Springe

  A noose set as snare for small animals

  Stoup

  Drinking vessel

  Sumpter

  Pack-horse

  Synod

  A council or assembly of church officials presided over by the bishopry

  Tallow

  Fat used in candle or soap manufacture

  Timbrel

  A tambourine-like instrument

  Tithe

  A tax levied against labour and land and used to support the clergy

  Torsin

  Alarm bell

  Toper

  Drunkard

  Touchstone

  A heavy black stone used to test the quality of gold or silver

  Trencher

  A wooden platter

  Troche

  Medicinal lozenge

  Uchelwr

  A Welsh nobleman

  Vassal

  Tenant of a plot of land leased by and under the protection of a lord

  Villein

  Serf or tenant bound to a lord

  Virelai

  A French song form that usually has three stanzas and a refrain. It is one of the three formes fixes (the others being the ballade and the rondeau)

  Vittles

  Food and provisions

  Votary

  A person who vows to obey a certain code, usually religious

  Wattle

  Building material consisting of interwoven sticks, twigs and branches

  Wicket

  Small door or gate within or adjacent to a larger door

  Wimple

  Linen or silk cloth a woman would fold round her head and wrap under her chin

  Yeoman

  A freeman, usually a farmer, below the status of gentleman

  A Guide to Welsh Pronunciation

  ae

  As in chwaer (sister), like the y in sky, never the ae in Caesar.

  c

  As in cael (have), like the c in cat, never the c in city.

  ch

  As in chwech (six), like the ch in Scottish loch.

  dd

  As in Caerdydd (Cardiff), like the th in then, never the th in throw.

  f

  As in fioled (violet), like the v in violin.

  ff

  As in coffi (coffee), like the f in friend.

  g

  As in glaw (rain), like the g in crag, never the g in gene.

  ll

  As in llaeth (milk), like saying an h and l simultaneously. Made by putting your tongue in the position of l and then blowing out air gently.

  r

  As in carreg (stone), should be trilled and always pronounced, never dropped.

  rh

  As in rhain (these), should be trilled with aspiration. Like saying an h and r simultaneously.

  s

  As in sant (saint), like the s in sound, never the s in laser.

  th

  As in fyth (never), like the th in think, never the th in those.

  w

  As in gwin (wine), like the oo in book.

  y

  As in wy (egg), like uh in above

  About The Author

  ELLIS PETERS (the pen name of Edith Pargeter, (1913–1995) is a writer beloved of millions of readers worldwide and has been widely adapted for radio and television.

  She was born in the village of Horsehay (Shropshire, England), where her father was a clerk at a local ironworks. She was educated at Dawley Church of England School and the old Coalbrookdale High School for Girls. She had Welsh ancestry, and many of her short stories and books (both fictional and non-fictional) are set in Wales and its borderlands, and/or have Welsh protagonists.

  During World War II, Pargeter worked in an administrative role in the Women’s Royal Naval Service (the “Wrens”)—and reached the rank of petty officer. On 1 January 1944 she was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM).

  In 1947 Pargeter visited Czechoslovakia and became fascinated by the Czech language and culture. She became fluent in Czech and published award-winning translations of Czech poetry and prose into English.

  She devoted the rest of her life to writing, both nonfiction and well-researched fiction. She never attended college but became a self-taught scholar in areas that interested her, especially Shropshire and Wales. She was, however, awarded an honorary masters degree by Birmingham University.

  Pargeter wrote under a number of pseudonyms; it was under the name Ellis Peters that she wrote crime stories. The Brother Cadfael Chronicles drew international attention to Shrewsbury and its history, and greatly increased tourism to the town.

  Since the publication of the first of The Cadfael Chronicles (A Morbid Taste for Bones) in 1977, Brother Cadfael has become one of the most well-known and well-loved sleuths of crime fiction.

  In 1994, she was awarded an OBE for her services to literature. Pargeter died at her home in Madeley, Shropshire in 1995 at the age of 82. In Shrewsbury Abbey, a stained glass window depicting St Benedict is dedicated to her memory.

  First published in Great Britain in 1983 by Macmillan London Ltd

  This eBook edition first published in the UK in 2014

  Copyright © Ellis Peters, 1983
/>   Author photo by Talbot Whiteman

  The moral right of Ellis Peters to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  ISBN (E) 9781784080594