The great bell of Beaulieu was ringing. Far away through the forest might be heard its musical clangor and swell. Peat-cutters on Blackdown and fishers upon the Exe heard the distant throbbing rising and falling upon the sultry summer air. It was a common sound in those parts-as common as the chatter of the jays and the booming of the bittern. Yet the fishers and the peasants raised their heads and looked questions at each other, for the angelus had already gone and vespers was still far off. Why should the great bell of ...
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The great bell of Beaulieu was ringing. Far away through the forest might be heard its musical clangor and swell. Peat-cutters on Blackdown and fishers upon the Exe heard the distant throbbing rising and falling upon the sultry summer air. It was a common sound in those parts-as common as the chatter of the jays and the booming of the bittern. Yet the fishers and the peasants raised their heads and looked questions at each other, for the angelus had already gone and vespers was still far off. Why should the great bell of Beaulieu toll when the shadows were neither short nor long? All round the Abbey the monks were trooping in. Under the long green-paved avenues of gnarled oaks and of lichened beeches the white-robed brothers gathered to the sound. From the vine-yard and the vine-press, from the bouvary or ox-farm, from the marl-pits and salterns, even from the distant iron-works of Sowley and the outlying grange of St. Leonard's, they had all turned their steps homewards. It had been no sudden call. A swift messenger had the night before sped round to the outlying dependencies of the Abbey, and had left the summons for every monk to be back in the cloisters by the third hour after noontide. So urgent a message had not been issued within the memory of old lay-brother Athanasius, who had cleaned the Abbey knocker since the year after the Battle of Bannockburn.
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Add this copy of The White Company to cart. $9.85, new condition, Sold by Broad Street Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Branchville, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 2020 by Blurb.
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Beautifully bound and illustrated, Doyle immersed himself in archaic English and French and delivers in this fascinating adventure about one of the Crusades. I must add that what he delivers is a bit of a muddle for 21st Century readers -- so many names of official positions in Middle English and French -- the names of foods, places, past-times -- though they lend tremendous flavor to the narrative, are maddening in that they require continual sorting out, or looking up in the dictionary or online. Still, the heroes journey has a sweep that is irresistible.
lisagayle
Dec 23, 2011
Great book!
One of my new all-time favorites! I wasn't sure if I would like it, but as a medieval history major, I love historical fiction and non-fiction. VERY entertaining and witty. Some of Sir Nigel's dialogue had me laughing out loud.
