PE
To the Bearsgard Academy from Chipsa, Queen of the New Kingdom:
The following text is something I found in Brother Bede’s archives – I translated it from Latin. It is told in the first person by Brother Bede himself.
To posterity in the Land of Nye: Since I seem to be the only one who is a bit homesick for the Other World, I thought I would record some of my recollections. Most of my new compatriots in Nye do not know enough about the Other World to understand this narrative, but perhaps with magical powers some individuals can comprehend it.
This is the story of my parents and how they first met in a remote valley in Wales. My father, Adam Fitzroy, was full-blooded Norman but not wealthy because his elder brother William was due to inherit the family fortune. When he read Classics at Oxford, he chose to focus on Roman agriculture and read all of Cato [Cato the Elder], Varro [Marcus Terentius Varro], and Columella [Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella]. He was also fluent in Greek and French. His objective was to obtain work as a bailiff on the manor of one of his many cousins. During the summer, he visited estates throughout England that were attempting to improve crops and livestock. When he graduated from Oxford he received an offer of a position from a cousin in Wales who wanted to improve his herds of dairy cows. Since the offer included a salary, he accepted it and set off for Wales with his library of practical books.
Adam’s elder brother William was even more learned and shared Adam’s passion for practical subjects. About the time of Adam’s graduation, William sold the family estate and hired several scribes. He settled in the village of Cheddar [Cheddar, Somerset] and earned his living translating and copying books that he deemed to be worthwhile and productive. Adam and William were pious souls but had no use for the theology of their day – they felt that the four Gospels were sufficient instruction to last a lifetime. They were favorably impressed by the scholastic theologian and Bible translator Wyclif, but did not take sides in the controversies generated by his work. They were very much in favor of social reform, and dismayed and heartbroken that Wat Tyler, John Ball, and Litster could not come up with anything better than arson, plunder, and murder.
Adam’s cousin in Wales was pleased with the new ideas for dairy herd improvement and started to put them into action right away. Adam spent a fair amount of time traveling to livestock auctions looking for the bulls he wanted. Adam also turned out to be an authority on hay and grain, much to his cousin’s delight.
After several years had passed, the dairy yields were much improved. One spring day, Adam rode to a distant farm that owed token fealty to his cousin but managed its own affairs and kept its own profits. It was the first time that he had visited this remote valley. The farmer, Huw of Powys Fadog, was a freeholder who held title to his land going back to the times of the Romans. He had four sons and one daughter. Adam knew of Huw’s reputation for milk production and wanted to pick his brains.
The farmer was suspicious of my father and the two found that they had no language in common. Huw spoke only Welsh – one of the few languages that Adam did not know. Adam had learned several hundred words of Welsh, but not enough for an in-depth interview. The farmer called in his daughter Glenys to translate. The daughter could not read or write, but had spent six years in a convent school and had learned English and some Latin.
Glenys was rather plain until she smiled. She was known for her singing of Welsh folk tunes and her ability to compose and recite poetry. Adam liked her instantly and prolonged the interview with the farmer in order to enjoy her company. The Welsh girl was a little taken aback by the Norman grandee with such erudite learning. She could not puzzle out why a man who could be in the Church or at Court would take an interest in dairy cows or bother to visit their simple farm.
As the conversation progressed, Huw realized that he was speaking with an equal when it came to knowledge and love of dairy cows. Adam felt that his book-learning and this farmer’s generations of experience could be combined into a valuable body of knowledge. He decided on the spot to write a treatise on dairy farming. As he returned to his cousin’s estate, his mind kept drifting back to the magical farm in the verdant narrow valley.
In the following two years, he found many pretexts to return to the farm, and he finally persuaded Glenys to sing for him. That did it. The daughter was pleased that such a polite gentleman and accomplished agriculturist should take an interest in her. She came to look forward to his visits very much.
Huw was worried about the future of his farm. His four sons were hard workers, and the eldest was now married, but they loved to drink and had no head for figures.
The farmer invited Adam to the baptism of his first grandchild, and during the celebration Adam asked him for his daughter’s hand in marriage. The offer did not stop there. Adam was going to resign his salaried position, use his savings to buy some adjoining land to expand the farm, and become a partner and co-owner of the farm.
When Huw heard this offer, he was delighted. He had always dreamed of purchasing the meadows and fallow land to the east of his farm, and now it was handed to him on a platter. By this time, Adam spoke Welsh fluently.
Huw cautioned Adam that they would need approval from his elderly uncle, the leader of the clan, and he arranged for the uncle to come and meet Adam a few weeks later. The uncle was a crusty old character with battle scars and partial deafness. The uncle started off by describing the twelve years he spent as a prisoner in the dungeons of the Norman castle Beaumaris [Beaumaris Castle] in northwest Wales. He wanted to know where Adam’s loyalties lay.
“I am loyal to my adopted homeland of Wales,” said Adam, “and I will provide proof in two ways. Here is my signet ring of the Fitzroys, which you can give to your kinswoman Ellen ferch Thomas ap Llywelyn and her overlord Owain Lawgoch as my pledge of fealty. Also, I have written a letter to my cousin Henry De Vere at the Royal Court, pleading for just treatment for the people of Wales. The letter is written in French, but I will translate into Welsh as I read it aloud.” The uncle was satisfied and welcomed Adam into the clan.
When the engagement party was held, Adam’s brother William came with his fiancée and brought a bag of coins and some books on farming as gifts. Grandpa often told me about this when we sat by the fire in the evening, and when he reached this part of the story he would slap his knee and say “I thought I had died and gone to Heaven.” The simple wedding was held in due course and the farm settled into a new routine.
When I was born a couple of years later, my father was very nervous. He spent a whole bag of silver on three midwives and vowed to have only one child. My mother laughed and assented – by that time there were nephews and nieces in the household and more on the way.
So that is how I was born and how I came to join a Benedictine abbey in Wales. That is also how it happened that I visited Uncle William in Cheddar on my way to the library at Oxford.
Postscript by Chipsa: That is the end of Brother Bede’s document. I asked Polara about what happened to these people and she was able to explain. Brother Bede’s father Adam died fighting for Owain Glyndŵr (son of Ellen ferch Thomas ap Llywelyn and Gruffydd Fychan II, the latter being Prince of Powys Fadog) in the year 1408 when the Welsh were defeated by the forces of King Henry IV under the command of his son Prince Henry. The other Brother Bede, the one who remained in the Other World, was excommunicated in that same year for supporting the Welsh cause. He and some Welsh friends went into exile in the regions of Ireland beyond the reach of Anglo-Norman rule. About twice a year, Brother Bede would exchange secret letters with a friend in Rome who was an excommunicated Franciscan friar named Silenus. Friar Silenus was a follower of Juliana of Norwich [Julian of Norwich] and Hildegard of Bingen. In reading the works of his fellow Franciscans William of Ockham and Roger Bacon, he came across the Arab scientist Alhazen [Hasan Ibn al-Haytham] and started searching for manuscripts of his works. He was also a determined opponent of the Holy Office and a warm-hearted soul. They corresponded in a special mix of Greek and Latin that only they could understand.