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n In 1327, the inhabitants of BurynSt Edmunds, angered by the abuses long committed against them by thenBenedictine Abbey there, rose up in a ‘Great Riot’, attacked the buildings andnassaulted the monks, tore up legal documents and carried away
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n“… gold and silvernchalices, books, vestments and ornaments of the church, vessels, gold andnsilver spoons, cups and other household utensils and goods £500 in money and 3,000 florins, worth £500”n(Calendar of Patent Rolls, Edward III, Vol 1, November 2ndn1327).n
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nThe Abbot was away in London, so the Prior, Peter de Clopton, and twelvenmonks were kidnapped and made to sign and seal a document indebting the Abbeynto the sum of £10,000 and “a letter of release and quit-claim of all actionsnand suits of debts and trespasses” [ibid.] in favour of six citizens.nAmongst these six was one named Ralph le Smeremongere.
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| Two Candlesticks |
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nSmere, or smear, is annold English word for fat, grease, tallow or lard, and a smeremongere, ornsmearmonger, is another word for a candle-maker, or chandler, (mongerncomes from Old Norse mangari, derived from Latin mango, a dealernor trader).
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| and two candles |
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nCandles are an ancient method of lighting, and with this great agenthere has, inevitably, grown up a great deal of folklore about candles. If anmaiden questions her lover’s intentions, she should push a needle through ancandle and then light it. If the needle remains in the wick, his intentions arentrue, but if it falls out, he will be false. The same match should not be usednto light three candles, as this will bring bad luck.
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| Two more candlesticks |
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nIn Lancashire there is antradition of ‘leeting’ or ‘layting’ witches. If a person carries boughs ofnrowan and bay and a lighted candle up Pendle Hill on Halloween night, and cannkeep the candle alight for the hour between eleven and midnight, then witches willnbe unable to harm them for the next year.
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| …and that makes four candles |
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nOne particularly grisly ‘candle’ is then‘Hand of Glory’, a hand taken from a hanged man and wrapped tightly in anwinding sheet until drained of blood. The hand is then put in a pot withnsaltpetre, salt and long peppers for fifteen days, after which it is driednthoroughly. A candle is made from the fat of a hanged man, virgin wax andnLapland sesame, and this is gripped by the dead man’s hand.
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| The Hand of Glory |
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nWhen the candle isnlit, there are no locks that cannot be opened, sleepers will not awake, and bynsome accounts, the holder is invisible. The candle can only be put out withnmilk. (In some versions, it is the fingers of the hand itself that are lit).nThis legend grew out of a false folk-etymology on the French words for the Handnof Glory – la Main de Glorie, which is a misinterpretation of mandragoranor mandrake. In an Anglo-Saxon manuscript of the Herbarium Apuleii Platonicinfrom about 1050 CE, it is said that the mandrake “… shineth at nightnaltogether like a lamp,” [See T O Cockayne Leechdoms, Wortcunning andnStarcraft 1864 Vol 1, p. 245]
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| Mandrake – T O Cockayne Leechdoms, Wortcunning andnStarcraft 1864 |
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nThe mandrake has a long history of its own.nIn The Jewish Wars by Josephus (c.75 CE), he writes about a flamencoloured plant, the root of which cannot easily be taken, and the touch ofnwhich is certain death. He adds that when someone wants the root,
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n“… they dig antrench quite round about it, till the hidden part of the root be very small,nthey then tie a dog to it, and when the dog tries hard to follow him that tiednhim, this root is easily plucked up, but the dog dies immediately, as if itnwere instead of the man that would take the plant away.” (Josephus The JewishnWars Book VII Ch. VI)n
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| Mandrake – Robert Dodoens A Nievve Herbal or Historie of Plants 1578 |
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nIn the Middle Ages this method of harvesting deadly rootsnhad been applied to the mandrake, which was said to scream so horribly whennuprooted that anyone hearing it would die.
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n“What with loathsome smells,n
nAnd shrieks like mandrakesntorn out of the earth”n
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nShakespeare Romeonand Juliet, Act IV Scene III
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| Mandrake – Peter Schoeffer Herbarius Latinus 1484 |
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nIt was also said that the root ofnthe mandrake resembled the shape of the human body, and if it was dressed innred and white and fed with a mixture of blood and milk it would do its owner’snbidding, tell the future, grant wishes and bring wealth. Obviously, such annitem was very desirable, and a trade in mandrakes grew up, although as JohnnGerarde notes in The Herball [1597]
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n“There have been many ridiculousntales brought up of this plant, whether of olde wives, or some runnagatensurgeons or physickmongers, I know not, (a title bad inough for them)”n
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n andngoes on to say how some
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n “… idle drones that have little or nothing to do butneate and drinke, have bestowed some of their time in carving the roots ofnbrionie, forming them to the shape of men & women, which falsifyingnpractice hath confirmed the errour amongst the simple and unlearned people.”n
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| Mandrake – John Greville The Herball 1597 |
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nSo now you know. Don’t you dare go buying your mandrake roots from any old runnagatensurgeons or physickmongers. But do make sure in future to purchase all your candlesnfrom your local smeremonger.
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