Holland. From Alresford had come Algar, Edward and Edwold, and from Tendring came Frewin, Ednoth and Alfred, together with their wives and children, most of the latter being young adults. A number of uninvited villagers from Alresford, St Osyth and Tendring had attended and were partaking of the feast provided but, given their small numbers and his good humour from a successful harvest and the birth of his daughter, Alan made no issue of this.
Anne, still worn from the ordeal of the birth, circulated only briefly before returning to the Hall with the more noble guests. Alan spent several hours moving amongst the cheorls, sokemen and cottars and their families, receiving their good wishes. He also noticed a number of slaves present with their families, all of whom kept well out of his way knowing that they should not be there, and also chose to ignore them.
The food disappeared as quickly as it could be brought, as did the drink. Later, in the early evening sunlight, as the consumption of provender slowed, the villagers began to dance and carouse to the music provided by a few of the local villagers with suitable talent. Periodically Alan appeared from the Hall and circulated amongst the villagers.
Inside the Hall the windows were open to allow the cooling breeze from the nearby sea to circulate and the fire was unlit. The seven thegns and their six wives, Alfred of Tendring recently becoming a widower, together with a dozen sons and their wives sat at table. Otha had made a point to produce a meal of greater sophistication for the nobles. As well as roast beef, swine and mutton brought from the roasting pits, the table also held stuffed basted pheasant, marinated chicken, sauteed lobster with shallots and mushrooms, poached fish in garlic sauce, herbed venison stew and six separate dishes of vegetables- parsnip, carrot, beans, peas and beet- steamed, sauteed, roasted or baked with different herb sauces or white wine. The guests helped themselves to the buffet several times and Alan prepared the food for Anne, with whom he was sharing a bread trencher, so that she didn’t despoil her gown, cutting and slicing the food so that Anne could spear it with her eating-knife without getting juices or sauce on her sleeves or dress.
Unusually, conversation was limited to local affairs, with no discussion of matters affecting the country generally. They enjoyed the local gossip and discussion of rustic pursuits, before the guests were shown to their beds.
Nine days later, at Sunday Mass the day after the Feast of the Birth of the Virgin Mary, baby Juliana was christened in the village church by Brother Wacian in the presence of most of the villagers. Roger and Alice Bigod, the Norman sheriff of Suffolk and his wife who were close friends of Alan and Anne, had arrived the evening before in response to the rider sent north. Also present were Anne’s parents Orvin and Lora and her brother Garrett and his wife Ellette, who had travelled from Ipswich.
Leofstan, the Thegn of the nearby villages of Great and Little Holland, a wealthy and influential man in the local community and Alan’s deputy on the Hundred Court, and his wife Erlene stood together with the Bigods by the font and swore their oaths as Juliana’s godparents.
CHAPTER NINE
Thorrington and London Mid-September 1068
Alan shifted his grip on the sword hilt and stepped forward, bashing his shield into his opponent before launching a series of powerful overhand blows which sent the other man reeling. He then stepped back to observe his opponent reposition himself and shouted, “No you stupid bastard! Why are you pointing your sword at the ground? It’s not a fucking shovel! Keep your sword in the proper position! You can't be tired yet as we’ve only been going for five minutes! That footwork isn’t what I showed you. You can’t swing the sword properly if you’re unbalanced. Keep your feet a shoulder-width apart and step with one and then the other foot to keep your balance, instead of jumping around like a bloody hare! Now let's do it again!”
Moments later, after performing several beat-parries to deflect his opponent’s sword, he crashed the hilt of his sword into the face of the young man, making sure that the blow was delivered by his leather-gauntleted fist so as not to smash the youngster’s face. The young man stepped back to clear his head, a spray of blood from his nose as he shook his head. “That's enough of that for the moment. We’ll work on your technique more tomorrow.”
Alan was training six new members of the fyrd in basic sword technique and fighting, and this was the youths’ third half-day of training. He then addressed the whole group. “Fighting in the line is different to what we’ve done so far. You don’t have the room to move to put yourself in a better position or disadvantage your opponent. You are crammed in tight with a man at each side and men behind. Also the footing is usually treacherous, with bodies and equipment lying everywhere. In the line you fight as a unit, not individuals. The men in the line provide
“Udell, you stand there. Eadwold stand to his left. Averil you stand on his right and Wulfhere behind him. Putnam, you stand on my left and Dreogan to my right. Eadgard, you pick a spear from the rack and stand behind me. Wulfhere, you get a spear also. Stand half a pace apart so that you're not crammed in tight. Most of your opponents will be right-handed and have their shield on the left.
“Now we’ll just walk through this. You’re each responsible for the man to your front. If you can provide support to the man on each side, without getting yourself killed, you do that. You have to be aware of what every man within three paces of you is doing, as each one of them can kill you. You can’t fixate your attention on one man. Now Putnam, Dreogan and myself step up. Putnam and Dreogan you push your shields against those of Averil and Wulfhere, but watch what I’m doing. I can step forward to my opponent easily enough, but moving back is difficult because Eadgard is in the way. Udell’s shield is on my sword-side, and mine the same for him as we face each other.” Alan had made a slow wide overhead forehand sweep of his sword, clipping Dreogan, who was standing to his right, on the helmet. He then did the same with an overhead backhand blow, narrowly missing Putnam. “As you just saw, there’s no room for flashy swordplay and you’re more likely to kill your comrades than your opponents. Keep the sword low, hit them with your shield and try to stab them in the guts. You’re fighting a battle, not a duel. If your opponent is put out of the fight, even for a few moments, you can assist the man on your right.
“Udell, you are dead. Step back for moment. Now you can see Eadwold’s unprotected side is open to me. He’s concentrating on Dreogan and I would have a moment or two before the next man steps in front of me to do this.” Here Alan took a diagonal step with his right foot and performed a lung-thrust to Eadwold’s stomach. “Note how I've kept my shield protecting my left side, which my movement has made vulnerable. Also note I’m on Averil’s left and he can't hit me without turning, taking at least half a step and exposing himself to the man on my left. If he tries to hit me without moving, it would be a very weak blow on the backhand, with him being off-balance. The chances of me being injured in this case while killing Dreogan’s man are slight. Unless,” here Alan gestured to Wulfhere with a sharp inward motion of his right hand, “There is a spearman behind either of the three nearest opponents, in which case I'm in trouble. My shield should protect me from a man either standing where Wulfhere is at the moment, or behind Eadwold.” Here Alan waved Wulfhere to stand behind Averil and continued, “But where he's standing now, I’m a dead man.” Wulfhere pushed slowly forward with his spear, gently hitting Alan in the chest as he remained extended in his lunge towards Averil. “I say again, you must be aware of what everybody within three paces is doing and what weapons they have. I may have killed Averil, but that doesn’t console my widow. Keep yourself alive!”
Alan noticed that his steward Faran had come on to the training ground and obviously wanted to speak to him. “That’s enough for today. We’ll do some more mutual-support training tomorrow. Also, tomorrow I’ll show you some ways to deal with a man who is using the two-handed axe. Brand here will help demonstrate. Make sure you wear brown trousers.” Here Alan indicated the massively-built huscarle who was standing watching. “I’ll get Brand to take over now and I'll see what Faren wants. Spend another half an hour in one-to-one swordsmanship and then break for the meal. Brand please take over.
“What is it, Faran?” he asked his steward.
“There’s a young lad presented himself at the Hall. He’s absolutely filthy. He insists on seeing you but won't say what it's about. He says he’s your man.”
