Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess

A worker known as a Gong-Farmer arrives from the village to clean the castle’s waste. Because the lack of rain has made the moat’s flow sluggish, he must clear the piles of filth that have accumulated at the bottom of the garderobe chutes. He also cleans out other waste pits around the castle. Toby watches with disgust as the Gong-Farmer is forced to reach up into a slimy, blocked chute to unclog it. The man’s presence is announced by his overwhelming smell, the sound of his cart, and a constant cloud of black flies.

After a long dry spell, a thunderstorm brings heavy rain that has not stopped for two nights. The castle is now inundated with water, a stark contrast to the recent drought that had caused the moat to become stagnant and foul.

Toby observes his aunt and uncle whispering secretively. Isbel reveals to him that a grand Earl and his household will be visiting Strandborough for at least two nights. Toby deduces that their aunt and uncle are already planning a great banquet for the visit even though it is still several weeks away.

Isbel tells Toby the reason behind his uncle’s elaborate preparations: This Earl is influential with the King, and the Baron hopes to gain royal favor by providing an impressive welcome. Toby also learns that this Earl is immensely wealthy, with an estate far grander than the uncle’s own castle.

Isbel gives Toby a lesson in table manners in case he has to dine with the Earl’s household. She tells him that it’s polite to spit on the floor rather than over the table and that he should clean his hand on his clothes after wiping his nose before touching food.

Toward the end of lessons, Toby and Abigail hear music coming from outside the castle. They learn from Simon that a band of traveling actors, or players, has passed by on their way to the village. Simon reveals that the players have been summoned by the Baron to perform at the upcoming banquet. He promises to take Toby and Abigail to see them the next day.

Toby, Simon, and Abagail attend the players’ performance. The tumblers and minstrels entertain a crowd outside the village church. Toby attempts to walk on his hands like one of the tumblers. The minstrels’ songs provide entertainment and also serve as a source of news, informing the villagers of the King’s victory in the west and other major events in foreign lands. The crowd is familiar with most of the joyful songs and sings along. In return for the performance, the villagers pay the players with small coins, bread, cheese, and ale.

Two large ox-carts arrive with provisions for the upcoming feast. It takes servants half a day to unload the supplies, which include massive barrels of wine and ale, as well as various meats and fish. One of the creatures is particularly strange, described as having a fish’s tail, an animal’s fur, and a man’s whiskered face. Cook identifies it as a “sea beast.” Toby notes that the Earl will arrive on Wednesday and the banquet will be held on Thursday.

Writing from a bed in the Great Chamber, Toby explains he’s been suffering from a fever for five days. The illness began immediately after a feast held in honor of the Earl of Branstone. While recovering, Toby decides to recount the events of the feast in their journal. He describes an array of elaborate dishes, including roasted peacocks. A specific dish called a “cockatrice” is mentioned: Humphrey reveals the Cook’s prepare it by sewing the front half of a large fowl to the back half of a piglet. Toby also observes that the Earl would not eat anything until his butler had tasted it first. The entry concludes as Toby tires from his illness. A series of illustrations depict a group of jugglers, tumblers, musicians, and other performers entertaining the diners.

Toby continues his description of the feast. He and the other pages were served twopenny ale, which is stronger than their usual drink. As the guests became more inebriated, Humphrey and Oliver began to mock Toby. Oliver chanted a rude rhyme but was interrupted by a fanfare announcing the arrival of subtleties, elaborate sculptures made of sugar and almond paste. Immediately after this, Toby’s memory of the feast ends because he suddenly became sick and collapsed on the floor. An illustration shows two men carrying a subtlety in the shape of a ship.

Toby remains weak, and his slow recovery his prompted their uncle to send Simon to the nearby town of Middlethorpe to fetch a physician. Although he’s concerned enough to seek medical help, the uncle does not believe Toby is dying. He has therefore told Simon that there is no need to rush and that he can wait until the following day to return with the doctor.

A physician named Leach arrives to treat Toby, and the boy takes an immediate dislike to him. Leach begins his diagnosis by examining his urine and consulting astrological charts. After asking for the precise time and place of Toby’s birth and the onset of the sickness, Leach announces, “The boy is melancholic, and Earth fights Fire for control of his body” (66). 



This surprises Toby, who believes he’s simply sick from overeating at the banquet. Leach says Toby must be bled but decides to postpone the treatment for a few days, as the current time is not astrologically favorable.

Toby is still confined to bed, too ill and dizzy to stand. His aunt is visited by a friend, Lady Cecily, and her younger sister, Jane. The women pass the day together with needlepoint, games, and gossip. Jane and Isbel attempt to teach Toby backgammon, but his illness makes it difficult for him to focus. Later, while the others are in the Hall for a meal, Mark sneaks in to check on Toby, which lifts his spirits.

Doctor Leach visits Toby and declares he must be bled to release the body’s “ill humors.” Citing an excess of black bile and the opportune timing of a nearly full moon, the doctor cuts open a vein in Toby’s arm. After bandaging the wound, Doctor Leach performs a numerological calculation using the letters of Toby’s name and announces that the boy will live. Toby’s aunt is overcome with joy at this news and pays the doctor well. However, the procedure leaves the boy feeling sicker than before, and his wounded arm pains him greatly.

Toby reports that his health has greatly improved, though his arm is still in pain. He expresses skepticism about the bleeding treatment’s effectiveness, concluding that he recovered in spite of the doctor’s methods, not because of them.

After recovering from illness, Toby feigns being sick to skip his studies. He leaves the castle and walks along the river, where he observes a man catch a fish with his bare hands. The man, a poacher, notices the boy watching him. He grabs Toby and threatens him, demanding silence. The poacher then proposes a deal: He will not reveal that the boy was shirking his duties if he keeps the poaching a secret. Toby agrees and runs back to the castle.

With the castle’s wheat harvest beginning this week, Toby asks his aunt for permission to help in the fields like he does at home. The aunt is initially against the idea, stating that such work is not appropriate for a boy of “good birth.” However, upon seeing how much he wants to participate, she grants him permission to work for one day and instructs him to inform the Reeve that he will be joining the harvest.

Toby asks Oliver about fishing and learns that all fish in the river belong to the castle, not only those in the designated stewponds. Oliver reveals that poachers often steal the fish, moving to different locations to avoid being caught by the Water-Keeper. He adds that the poachers cook their stolen fish on a single leek leaf. Initially disbelieving, Toby later asks Mark, who confirms that this story about the poachers’ cooking method is true.

As the villagers rush to harvest their own wheat, the Reeve waits for the right moment to summon them for the castle’s harvest. This mandatory, unpaid labor is an ancient duty called a “boon,” which the villagers cannot refuse. By custom, the castle is required to provide food and drink for the workers, a fact that displeases the Cook and Brewess. Mark tells Toby that there will be “sport” after the work is done, but he will not elaborate on what it is.

The boon-work harvest for the castle begins, with the Reeve directing the villagers to cut nearly 20 acres of wheat. Toby attends and encounters the poacher he met previously. The man, whose name is revealed to be David, apologizes for frightening the boy during their first meeting. To the Reeve’s surprise, David claims Toby will be his helper, and they work together binding wheat sheaves. The villagers work quickly until noon, when they stop for a large meal and plentiful ale provided by the castle. By dusk, about 40 men have finished harvesting the entire field. For their labor, each reaper is paid one sheaf of wheat for every half-acre cut. As he collects his payment, David explains to Toby that boon-work is a mandatory duty that villagers resent. It forces them to harvest the castle’s crops at the same time their own fields need tending, all for what he considers “miser’s pay.”

The boon-work concludes, and a celebratory game is held in the fields at sunset. The Reeve tosses a sickle high, and a ring is marked out with wheat sheaves as wide as the throw was long. Then an ewe is placed in the center. David explains the rules to Toby: If the sheep remains in the ring until a rooster crows, the villagers win it. If the sheep runs out, it goes to the castle table. The Reeve tries to frighten the ewe by coughing, but it remains still. Almost immediately, a rooster crows, and a group of boys from the village hurry to claim the ewe as their prize.

In a brief entry, Toby notes that the wheatfields were full of harvest-mites, which have left him covered in itchy bites.

Toby is drawn outside by a commotion and sees the Reeve leading a bound David toward the castle. The Water-Keeper walks behind them both, carrying a small fish and holding the rope tied to David’s wrists. An angry crowd of villagers follows. David has been caught for poaching a single small fish from the moat. Mark reveals to Toby that everyone in the village poaches fish and game to survive. He explains that the villagers are furious because they believe the Water-Keeper deliberately lay in wait all night just to make an example of David and warn everyone else.

David is imprisoned in a small, dark, and damp cell beneath the castle’s gatehouse tower. He would perish if not for his daughter, who brings him food and firewood. Toby is able to watch David by looking down into his cell through a grate. Despite the harsh conditions of his confinement, David does not complain.

David remains confined to his cell. Toby learns that he will be held there until the castle court meets the following month. The boy explains that while his uncle judges and punishes minor crimes, David’s offense is considered too serious for local justice. Consequently, his case must be heard by the King’s judge, who only visits the castle twice per year.

With the arrival of cold weather, which prevents meat from spoiling, the stockmen begin the seasonal slaughter of livestock. Most of the pigs and sheep are killed, with only enough animals spared to serve as breeding stock for the spring. Isbel justifies the cull by explaining that they do not possess enough feed to keep all the livestock alive through the winter.

Toby watches a butcher slaughter a hog. The butcher distracts and calms the animal with food and petting before striking it with a hammer and cutting its throat. When Toby questions why the man showed the hog both kindness and cruelty, the butcher explains his actions are purely practical. He reveals that calming a hog results in better-tasting meat and that the animal’s purpose is to be food. The meat is then processed, with most of it being salted for the winter. The perishable innards are cooked immediately, providing a rare feast where everyone, even the lowest servants, gets to eat until they are full.

As David’s trial approaches, Toby asks Simon about the man’s potential fate. Simon states that, since poaching is a felony, David will be “turned off” if found guilty. Not understanding the term, the boy later asks Mark during lessons, who explains it means to be executed by hanging. Toby is so shocked by this news that he drops and breaks his tablet, resulting in a beating from the Chaplain.

On Friday, stockmen give Humphrey pigs’ bladders. Toby and the other pages inflate the bladders and use them as toy boats, sailing them on the moat. For dinner, they eat sweet, boiled puddings that are also made from pigs’ bladders, which have been filled with a mixture of pig fat and fruit. An illustration shows the boys playing with the inflated bladders in the moat.

Mark explains to Toby that the King’s Judge is arriving on Friday to hold court at the castle. The proceedings will take place in the Great Hall. Mark explains the legal process: The Constable will present each accused person to a jury of 12 men from the village. The jury will listen to the case and decide if the prisoner is guilty. If found guilty, the Judge will determine the punishment; if found not guilty, the prisoner will be set free.

Toby watches David’s trial. He was caught with a poached fish and two rabbits, all of which are considered the Baron’s property. The evidence is presented, and although a villager speaks to David’s good character, the Judge declares David a rogue who should be hanged and pressures the jury for a guilty verdict. However, the jury foreman announces a unanimous verdict of not guilty. The Reeve erupts in fury, but the Constable releases David. Mark explains that the villagers will always protect one of their own from hanging, meaning David was never in real danger of more than a short time in the dungeon. An illustration shows Toby jumping for joy at the news that David will be freed.

Toby’s aunt tells him that his father is coming to visit and is expected to arrive the day after the feast of Saint Stephen. The purpose of his visit is to take Toby for a visit with his family. Toby is excited to see his mother and sisters but is also sad to leave his friends.

Toby gathers holly, ivy, and mistletoe to decorate the castle. A conflict arises when the Chaplain forbids bringing mistletoe into the Chapel, calling it a “pagan custom.” Toby’s aunt overrules the Chaplain, stating that this is the same disagreement they have every year. She acknowledges that mistletoe was held sacred by pre-Christian religions but sees no harm in continuing the tradition.

On Christmas Day, the castle community celebrates with dancing in the Chapel after Mass. People of all social ranks and visitors participate, and though the Chaplain disapproves of the revelry, he is unable to stop it. Later, the entire household gathers in the Hall, where Toby’s aunt gives a gift to every person, from the highest to the lowest rank. Toby receives an inkwell with a silver lid and a knife for cutting quills into pens.

On Saint Stephen’s Day, Toby attends a grand feast and learns about local customs. He observes that the castle horses are given special feed and a day of rest, a tradition whose origins are unknown. He and the other pages then attempt to participate in another custom, “hunt the wren” (88), but they fail to capture anything. The day concludes with a snow battle, which Toby and Mark win.

Toby’s father arrives, bringing a horse for the boy to ride home. They will depart early the next morning, so Toby spends the rest of the day saying his farewells to his cousins and the friends he has made at the castle. He and Mark search for David to say goodbye, but cannot find him. Mark promises to tell David that he has left.

Before dawn, Toby and his father leave his aunt and uncle’s home to begin the long journey back to Saltington. Shortly after their departure, Toby’s cousin Simon catches up to them on horseback. Simon gives Toby a long, cloth-wrapped parcel as a parting gift, telling him to remember his archery. Toby correctly guesses the gift is a bow. After Simon leaves, Toby looks back at Strandborough and reflects that although only a year has passed since he first arrived, he feels he has matured far more than that. An illustration depicts Strandborough as Toby would see it as he looked back during his departure. The castle’s towers are dusted with snow, and Toby and his father’s horses leave a trail of hoofprints away from the structure.