in 1922.
Gastmere is a fictional village based on those villages in the medieval marshlands between Norwich and Yarmouth. Gast in old English means spirit and in Middle English ghost. Mere of course meant marshland.
The beautiful medieval city of Norwich is, of course, real, and you can still visit the streets in Mancroft where Elena walked, as well as have a drink in the Adam and Eve pub, which is one of the oldest inns in England, with a fascinating history of smuggling in centuries past, though now it is entirely law- abiding and respectable.
The town of Great Yarmouth on the Norfolk coast was founded on a sandbank in the mouth of an estuary. In medieval times it was an island, originally inhabited by fishermen who came from the Cinque Ports to fish for the shoals of herring, a staple food of the Middle Ages. The fish were found in great numbers off the coast in autumn. By the 1200s Great Yarmouth was an important international trading post, holding a Free Herring Fair which lasted for forty days from Michaelmas to Martinmas, and the herrings from Yarmouth were sold all over Europe as far as the Middle East.
But unlike many other medieval towns, because it emerged from the 'beach' or coastline, it was owned by the king himself and not by a local lord. Therefore none of the citizens were freemen and were obliged to pay heavy taxes to marry and inherit land. Trade was being crippled by the huge tolls Yarmouth merchants had to pay to do business in neighbouring towns. So knowing that King John was desperate for money to fight against France, in 1209 the men of Yarmouth persuaded John to grant them a charter making them a free port, for which they would pay him 5 5 pounds a year, a good deal more than he was getting from them in taxes. This charter allowed the citizens of Yarmouth to trade without tax anywhere in England, except London, whilst at the same time they could collect tolls from any outside or foreign merchants who wanted to trade in Yarmouth.
For anyone interested in finding out more about the fascinating and unique history of Yarmouth, the town now has some wonderful museums which have been installed in the old fish smokehouses.
Glossary
Bub — An old Lincolnshire and East Anglian dialect word for an unfledged bird or an inexperienced person.
Cog-ships - were the cargo ships of Europe in the Middle Ages, sailing across the Baltic and the North Sea up as far as Norway. These ships would have been familiar sights in the English Channel and round the coast of Northern Europe and in all the ports. The term cog comes from the construction of the vessel, which has square beams of wood protruding from the sides of the hull to enhance its strength. A cog-ship had a single mast with a square sail of about 200sq m or 2050sq ft. There was a raised platform in the stern, which resembled the turret of a castle, from which arrows could be fired to defend the ship, should the need arise. Poisonous gases which built up in the stagnant bilge water in the hold meant it was frequently too dangerous for the crew to sleep below deck when off duty, so they often slept on deck beneath the castle, which provided some protection from wind and rain. From sunken vessels found preserved in the mud, the typical length of a cog-ship was about 24m or 75 ft in length with a mast around 25m or 80ft high.
Daul — Dialect word meaning to weary, to wear out or to exhaust. 'Dauled' means worn out, tired and limp.
Dung drag - A three-pronged rake with the metal prongs or tines set at right angles to the long wooden handle. Compass, a mixture of animal dung and soiled straw, was taken out to fields in a cart. A man known as Sir Wag walked behind the cart using the dung drag to pull down the compass on to the field. The long handle ensured he did not get covered in the smelly manure as he raked it down.
Eena, deena, etc. — Many country people, right up to last century, counted in multiples of four or eight when counting livestock or produce. Some say it is because we have four fingers, other have suggested it is easy to pick out four sheep at a glance without counting them individually. Pebbles, beans or notches on a stick would