PF
To the Bearsgard Academy from Chipsa, Queen of the New Kingdom
The following item I translated from Brother Bede’s archive of his own writings in Latin. This piece is some reminiscences of the Other World. The references to life in the Other World are difficult for us to understand, but those with magical powers or special instruction can make some sense of them. Brother Bede is speaking in the first person.
I want to set down some record of the life of my cousin Rowena Fitzroy. Her contributions to the Land of Nye have been nothing short of miraculous, and I want to leave a record of her previous life in the Other World. Some magicians of the higher order may be able to comprehend these remarks. At the time we arrived in Nye from England, I was 24 years old and Rowena was 25.
I have noted previously that of all the humans that came to Nye, I was the only one that had any recollection of the politics and religion of the Other World (the Earth). The one exception to this general amnesia is my Uncle William Fitzroy. With him, the amnesia is not 100%. Occasionally when we are talking he will gaze off into the distance and say, “Poor King Richard, I wonder what he is doing now.” When William came from the Other World he brought with him a special herb that he obtained from a Syrian merchant friend in London. The herb goes by the name of “tea” and it makes a delightful beverage. William also remembered the game of chess, so we would sit and drink tea and play chess. This did not make me wish that I was back in the Other World – whenever I became seriously homesick the memory of poverty, brutality, and intolerance would make me snap out of it.
My Uncle William was married about the same time that my parents were. His wife was a fellow scholar who shared William’s linguistic and literary interests. She died, however, when their only child, a daughter Rowena, was born. Rowena, of course, needed a wet nurse and was sent immediately to live with William’s cousin Katharine in Bristol. Katharine was the wife of the Harbormaster of Bristol, an important Norman official. She had a daughter Phebe just two years older than Rowena, and a household of servants and retainers.
When Rowena was six years old, she returned to live with her father. William had not re-married and his household, consisting of himself and three unmarried scribes, was a bachelor establishment. Rowena loved being the only female. In the afternoon each day, there was a woman who came for several hours as cook and maid-of-all-work. The cook had children and grandchildren of her own and was able to answer Rowena’s little-girl questions.
The scribes amused themselves by teaching Rowena how to read and write in several languages. Rowena learned quickly and spent countless hours practicing her lessons. She was soon conversing in the languages as well, and the cook was amazed that such a small child could learn so many languages without getting them mixed up. Rowena had a remarkable talent for copying drawings and sketches, and William and the scribes soon had her working on paid projects as well as her own little lessons.
When Rowena was nine years old, she saw a copy of Materia Medica by Dioscorides for the first time. She insisted on making a copy for herself, and it is fortunate that she did because her copy is the best one we have here in the Land of Nye. About this time she got to know two other girls in the village – Rachel Arnold and Roswitha Marsh. She showed them the drawings in Materia Medica and the three girls would roam the countryside hunting for medicinal herbs. Uncle William encouraged this interest and gave them tips on where the different plants would grow. He also told them which ones do not grow in England, and how to look for identifying traits. He showed them some dried imported herbs that came from the land of the Crusades.
It was also about this time that the cook told Rowena the story of how her mother had died. Rowena insisted on hearing the whole story three times over, and at the conclusion announced that she would become a midwife. When Rowena told Rachel and Roswitha, they said that they wanted to be midwives, too.
Uncle William said that he would pay for all three girls to be apprenticed to a midwife, and he pointed out which herbs would help a woman in pain. He also gave them some tips on scurvy and anemia, as far as his limited knowledge would go.
William, the other scribes, and the three girls would spend an hour or two on the Sabbath reading the Gospels side-by-side in Greek, Latin, and English. They would discuss the meaning and significance of the passages. At other times, they would continue ongoing discussions of herb-lore or improvise parodies of works on astrology or alchemy and guffaw with laughter. Other topics ranged from quarrying and lime-burning to recipes for cheese. When Rachel’s father was able to come over after work, those days were a special treat – he was a secret Talmudist. They were all big fans of Maimonides [Moses ben Maimon], Averroes [Ibn Rushd], and Avicenna [Ibn Sinā] and would have lively discussions about the Torah, the Talmud, the Koran, Plato, Aristotle, astronomy, and medicine. Their favorite subject on these occasions was the source of good and evil in the world. These discussions were all held in Greek for fear of spies and informers – all the Jews in England had been expelled by King Edward the First.
When the girls began their apprenticeship several years later, they soon learned not to discuss herbs with the midwife who was their teacher. She “didn’t want no sorcery” so they kept their herb-lore to themselves and continued to learn from Rowena’s father.
That is the story of how the Land of Nye acquired three remarkable midwives and began its tradition of herbal medicine.
Uncle William’s amnesia did not include the languages he knew, so when we all arrived in the Land of Nye he played a key role in teaching Latin and botany to the Sisters of the Green Leaf. I have seen Rowena, Rachel, and Roswitha in action now for twenty years since our arrival here in Nye, and the progress has been remarkable.
I set down these words for posterity in the hope that this tale will not be lost.
Brother Bede, the first Brown Wizard