The Winchester Goose

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Their competitive screeching gave them the name “geese”. But why “Winchester geese”? The reason was that the brothels and their female workers fell under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Winchester. He was the local landlord. Far from being displeased by the presence of these licentious houses, the good bishop taxed them with gusto – as recorded in the court rolls. Medieval attitudes to prostitution seem to be mixed. Sex was clearly for procreation but these fallen ladies seem to have been viewed as a way of preventing good Christian men falling into even worse practices – like sodomy or masturbation (seen as mortal crimes by the church). If those children are like their parents, you might observe that a wild goose never laid a tame egg: that traits are inherited and predetermined.

In my new Sebastian Foxley murder-mystery novel The Colour of Shadows, set in medieval London, some of the action takes place on the south side of London Bridge, in a seedy brothel known as ‘The Mermaid’. Mermaids were believed by medieval folk to seduce mariners, luring them to their deaths at sea. This nasty trait made ‘The Mermaid’ a most suitable name for a house of ill-repute in medieval Southwark but what was life really like for the unfortunate women, forced to earn their living in such places? was the go-to place to find a prostitute South of the Thames, because the Bishop would license them to be able to trade there. These prostitutes were known as Winchester geese. As a result, to be a b Constable, John (1999). The Southwark Mysteries. London: Oberon Books. pp.264–265, 304–305. ISBN 9781849438537. However, the more respectable etymology source Online Etymology Dictionary disagrees with this etymology: They plied their trade and unfortunately, on occasion, contracted and spread venereal disease. Syphilis, in particular, was a killer in those days. In fact, a Saxon graveyard has just been unearthed in Ipswich, Suffolk and among three hundred skeletons, many been found bearing clear signs of the disease.

Was originally" might be a bit optimistic. Just change one word in the first article cited for the claim and you arrive at a factually correct statement for any case of the etymology: "the term 'goose bumps' was once (for a time) slang for the red bumps caused by venereal diseases." lead to a crazy myth that lives on in the species name to this day. Incidentally, this strange belief led to these geese being classified as a fish for the purpose of Lovely young gentlewomen, they are brought to the Tudor court to join the maids serving Henry VIII’s new queen, Anna of Cleaves. Hoping their prospects for marriage will improve through exposure to the royal court and eligible bachelors and widowers, the young sisters could never have foreseen the way their lives were to be changed. The plaque was removed. Another appeared in its place and also removed. Some unknown soul climbed the fence and planted a small, wild garden. Friends of Cross Bones Graveyard bonded together to protect, recognize and honour those buried without comfort or care. Small notes and memorials appeared on the cemetery gates…names, dates, prayers, candles and occasionally, bottles of gin. can possibly thank Shakespeare, although he probably only popularised this one) begins without consideration of where it might end up.

Shakespeare Troilus and Cressida V x: Brethren and sisters of the hold-door trade, Some two months hence my will shall here be made; It should be now, but my fear is this, Some galled goose of Winchester would hiss.

were under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Winchester. (emphasis added; "Pox" was one of the names given to the disease now called Syphilis) I have heard ancient men of good credit report, that these single women were forbidden the rights of the Church, so long as they continued that sinful life, and were excluded from Christian burial, if they were not reconciled before their death. And therefore there was a plot of ground, called the single woman’s churchyard, appointed for them, far from the parish church.” the word “sauce” instead of “good”. I’ve no idea where the idea of cooking someone’s goose comes from, nor why anybody thinks that a goose step Although the Bishop of Winchester regulated and taxed the area’s prostitutes, Christian doctrine prevented them from being buried in consecrated ground. The first likely reference to Cross Bones as a cemetery for Southwark’s “geese” comes from Tudor historian John Stow, who wrote in his 1598 Survey of London: “I have heard of ancient men, of good credit, report, that these single women were forbidden the rites of the church, so long as they continued that sinful life, and were excluded from Christian burial, if they were not reconciled before their death. And therefore there was a plot of ground called the Single Woman’s churchyard, appointed for them far from the parish church.” Set in Tudor times, during the latter years of the reign of Henry VIII, 1540, the book uses first person and, to commence, four different voices to tell a tale of love, lust, hope, marriage, desperation, loss and tragedy. The main protagonist is Winchester Goose, Joanie Toogood (great name) who, due to the death of her parents when young, gained responsibility for her two younger siblings turning to the oldest and only profession available to her as a single woman of a certain class. Big of heart, popular among locals and with oodles of common sense, Joanie is a delight. When she falls for the rather shady but young and dashing Francis Wareham, a gentleman who seems to stumble from bad choice to poorer ones, her life changes. But so does that of two other women from a completely different class who also encounter the dashing courtier: Evelyn Bourne and her sister Isabella.