All Comments on 'Winchester Geese'

Interesting. The washing of archaeological bone is somewhat contentious as bone is porous and the water contaminates the chemical composition making tests for diet and location suspect, damages dna, and worse, can introduce the washers dna deeper into the bone. Letting the mud dry then brushing it off with a paint brush is preferred by many.

Dr beulahthebrit; As a history graduate of UCL, (B.A., M.A. from Birkbeck and PGCE from the Institute of Education, later a Phd from Birkbeck) I loved this. Only recently I told my students about the Bishop of Winchester and his `geese' and I wasn't believed until I produced several books that confirmed my story. ( It is a Catholic High school, after all) I did like the idea of the`ghost's' being solid and loving. Sad to read your bio and find that you are ill, all the best and keep writing. 5 stars.

I really liked the story it focused on the individuals and gave us a potential insight into what life was like

Stretch from academic archeology to 1400s whore culture.

Thank you good Sir.

5 stars

That they didn't know about forks shows the level of research you did for this work. Great job.

****Good read very entertaining. But Canny Mackenzie is still my favorite!!!! Thanks for sharing.

This was a fun story, and even educational! It seems I have much to learn about ghosts, and ancient London. I like that you consider 46 to be old, or at least the geese do, using the standards of the 15th century. I hadn't realized that Middle English was spoken as late as the 15th century. I remember learning parts of the Canterbury Tales in school, and Chaucer is a much better poet if one pronounces his poetry using the rules of Middle English (eg, the word knife was three syllables!). Five stars from me, and Happy Halloween, you old Winchester gander! ~~ JB

What an inventive and imaginative story. I expected them to disappear after October 31st so having them stay because they owed him value was brilliant. This was probably one of the most straightforward educational stories I have ever had the pleasure to enjoy and I applaud your creative writing ability. Thanks for the fun read and the facts I learned.

Author's Note: The Use of Middle English is defined by Wikipedia (and the Oxford University) as lasting until 1500 so in 1410 the Winchester Geese in Southwark would have been speaking Middle English. It began to decline with the advent of printing (later in the 15th Century) and the standardisation (sort-of!) of spelling and punctuation.

Great dory. I guess I expected more sex since it is Literotica but the whole story was still great. Keep it up.