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MORE NEW FEATURES ON CLOVENSTONE'S WEBSITE

Last month I told you about the glossary and art gallery pages I had added to Clovenstone's website. Have you taken a look at them? Right now the picture of Talorg is the favorite.

This month I added a page entitled "Guest Services." On this page are fast links to various utility websites that folks on the net use a lot. Your local weather is on there, and a source of maps for when you travel. With just a click you can get to car and plane reservations, descriptions of prescription drugs, a place to ask health questions, download the latest web browser, or search the web.

That's right, I said "Search the Web." There is a powerful world wide web search engine on Clovenstone now. The search engine window is on the Links and Guest Services pages, and may be added to other pages.

So there's lots to do on the Clovenstone website. You can read the sample chapters, read back issues of Kildonan Times, play with the runes, explore the list of links, bop around the webrings, and do your errands and search the web on the Guest Services page.

Come on over to http://www.clovenstone.com

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Medieval foods:

The original recipe from Forme of Cury:

BENES YFRYED

Take benes and seeth hem almost til they bersten. Take and wryng out the water clene. Do therto oynouns ysode and ymynced, and garlec therwith; frye hem in oile other in grece, & do thereto powdour douce, & serue it forth.

Translation:
Take beans and boil them almost until they burst. Take and wring out the water clean. Do there-to onions boiled and minced, and garlic there-with; fry them in oil or in grease, & do there-to powder douce, & serve it forth.

Ingredients:

Beans - Medieval beans were primarily legumes, not our modern green bean. The Fava bean is probably the closest we have to a period legume.
Onions
Garlic
Olive oil
Powder douce (a mixture of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, etc.)

Directions:
Boil beans until tender; remove from water and drain well. Boil whole peeled onions until tender; remove from water and drain well.
Mince the onion and garlic and combine with beans. Fry in hot oil; remove from oil and drain. Place in serving dish and sprinkle on powder douce to season. Serve it forth!

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GLOSSARY

I have had requests for definitions of some of the words I use in the text. The identification behind each word in parentheses indicates either the word is derived from a similar word in an older language, or that the word is used today in that language. Also, there are some words in the book that I just plain made up out of my head- (identified as "mine.") If you want to know about a certain word, please email me at clovenstone@aol.com, or look it up in your dictionary.

gremlin: small gnomes, trouble maker

grot: (mine) meat/carrion-eating creatures, pets of gnomes, often used as spies, look like muskrats with protruding teeth, long claws, and red eyes.

gruel: (Old French) a thin porridge from grain boiled in water or milk to make a thick broth or a pudding

grushie: (Scottish) adj. healthy, thriving

gruthim: raw cheese curds in whey

hackle: to comb out flax or hemp

haft: (Scottish) fixed or settled abode or pasture

hamlet: (Old French) a cluster of houses in the countryside

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Literary Notes:

THE MAGIC MULBERRY TREE

When I was a small girl, my grandparents had in their yard a huge mulberry tree. Every year we waited, my sister and I, for the wonderful purple fruit. We had to get our fill of mulberries when the tree fruited, because the berries were not canned or jammed by Grandma. So we would play and eat under the mulberry tree and get ourselves all purple with the juice. It was such fun. Do you remember the childhood rhyme "Here we go round the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush…?" To us the mulberry was a special tree.

Then I grew up. My grandparents died. The house was sold. I have only fond memories of the mulberry tree.

When I wanted a magic tree in Clovenstone, mulberry and my childhood fascination with the mulberry tree came to mind immediately.

Mulberry fits well with the concept of a tree with special powers in ways I never knew as a child. For instance, the milky sap and unripe fruit of a mulberry are hallucinogenic. I'm sure primitive people who ate them thought the tree had magical powers. Mulberry leaves, bark, and ripe berries have been used for centuries as healing herbs (see more in the Herbs section.) A mulberry is more than a pretty berry.

Mulberry has been cultivated for over 5,000 years. It is mentioned in literature of many ages and cultures. It has been a special tree through the years. In Kildonan, it's a magic tree.

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HERBS

In my discussions of herbs in all the issues of Kildonan Times, I present only general information. It is not intended to be a guide for the use of the herbs. If you wish to use any of the herbs described in Kildonan Times, consult an herbalist or a definitive guide book to using herbs.

mulberry tree: As mentioned above, the unripe berries and the milky sap in the axies of the leaves are hallucinogenic. They can also upset your stomach. But the ripe berry, rather a seedy one, is delicious, and makes good jams and pies.

Mulberry has been used over the years for many medicinal purposes. The bark of the root is a traditional European treatment for tapeworms. American Indians used the milky sap to cure ringworm. Tea from the mulberry bark is a diuretic, a laxative, and can lower blood pressure. In modern times, an extract of mulberry has proven to decrease blood sugar and inhibit tumors.

*****
linden (basswood, lime) tree: The various names of this tree refer to the linen-like fibers (bast) under the bark of the tree. They were once woven into rope.

a quote from Clovenstone:

"While Talorg chewed on his breakfast, the rest decided to set out immediately through the linden trees of the Sacred Grove to whatever lay beyond. Morpeth and Cormac would seek sources of food, while Jerrmit and Fiona would find a quiet spot to try again to contact Aelred.
'Do you notice,' commented Jerrmit as they walked under the lindens, 'that the leaves are quite yellow on these trees, and the mulberry tree is still green?' He was talking more, now. The slash down the side of his face and neck had closed to an angry dark red line as it healed."

Flowers of the linden tree are traditionally used for an end-of-the-meal digestive tea. The tea is also used to treat insomnia and nervous tension. An infusion of the flowers is used for colds and the flu. If you beat the bark, a mucilagenous material can be squeezed out that is soothing on wounds, sores, and burns.

In the food arena, honey from linden flowers is highly valued, and used in liqueurs.

*****
Oak tree: The oak is the most powerful of the pagan sacred trees. The best-known worshippers of the oak were the Druids, but there were many more cultures and religions that revered the oak.

The oak bark is the most often used for medicinal purposes. Teas and infusions from the bark are gargled for sore throats and mouth irritations, or drunk for relief of diarrhea. Powdered oak bark and extracts of oak bark are used in wound compresses and in hemmorhoid ointments. Oak bark has also been used to treat tuberculosis.

The herb books say the acorns have been used for coffee. I don't know about that. But I have leached the tannin out of acorns, dried them, and chopped them as nuts in various dishes. They are great in pancakes. Acorns were extensively used by primitive cultures for food, and historically have been eaten to stave off starvation during wars. Called "mast," acorns are a basic pig food.

Tannin, used to tan leathers, is from the bark of oak trees.


My basic herb reference books for the herbs I use either for food or medicine in Clovenstone and Stones Seven are: The Herb Book by John Lust (Bantam Books), Brother Cadfael's Herb Garden by Robin Whitman (Bullfinch Press) and Herbs by Lesley Bremness (DK Publishing).

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A FEW THOUGHTS FROM THE EDITOR (me, Ruth)

And so it is that the old year has drawn to a close. Christmas, Yule, Hannukuh, and all other year-end festivals and celebrations are over. The winter solstice has passed, and summer solstice is months away. It's interesting how much more power and significance the winter solstice time has than the summer one. Winter solstice time has spawned festivals, ceremonies, rituals, and holidays from the time of very early civilization to now. I wonder why?

In the land of Kildonan in the novel Clovenstone, I picked up an historic holiday, Bealtainn, the first day of summer. After that, I borrowed and cobbled up the rest of the festivals and names of the "monthes." (I'll discuss them in more detail in the literary section of next month's newsletter.) There is a festival for the winter solstice in Kildonan.

I have accumulated a number of books on Celtic things romantic and historic. I rumble around in these for ideas to build on. There are often very obscure items in these books, such as the definition of the word "feilI" as "evening," that I can't substantiate in other sources. But it's a neat word, and I'm not writing a scholarly treatise. This is fun and fantasy. Just pretend I made "feill" up. I also throw in other words and descriptions entirely from my imagination. That's what it's all about. Creativity.

I did practice some restraint, though, as compared to the commercial greetings folk nowadays. You thought maybe Grandpa's Day was stretching it a bit? Check Blue Mountain Cards at http://www.bluemountain.com Did you send a card and a plant to someone for Poinsettia Day on December 12? And don't tell me you missed Baking Cookies Day on December 18. Did you send cards and bake cookies that day? Tch, tch. Now this month, January, is Oatmeal Month. Don't forget to eat a lot of oatmeal and send someone a card. Actually, I enjoy sending some of the off-beat holiday cards to friends. It's fun — and exactly what the card company hopes you'll do. I should have such business savvy.

Given all this celebration, practically one every day, I propose an Un-holiday. If the rabbit and the Mad Hatter can have an Un-birthday party, we can have an Un-holiday celebration. You can designate any day you want as an Un-holiday. On this day, you don't send anyone a card or give anyone a gift. On this day you do not dance, sing, or visit your relatives. You can turn the phone off, if you want. Eat as you wish. If you desire a peanut butter and mayo sandwich for all three meals, be my guest. Or go ahead and gorge yourself on Un-holiday popcorn. Whatever rings your bell. It's your day.

Happy Un-Holiday!

R

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WEBSITES TO EXPLORE

If it's medieval information you want, this website's got it!

http://www.medievalonline.com

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This website features 7 medieval recipes in modern language. Make them all and serve your friends a medieval feast!

http://www.co-opmarketplace.com/recipes/medieval.htm

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And, as always, tell your aunts, uncles, cousins and friends about Clovenstone. Give them an adventure!

Good Fate Be Yours —
Ruth

All art work and text © copyrighted by Ruth McIntyre-Williams.