Rough Hurech: Adventurer

By J. F. Dargon

Having heard the amazing and alluring accounts of seafaring men who
spoke of a strange land at the edge of the western oceans reach, Rough
Hurech assembles a group of adventurous men and tells them a tale
of fame and glory and vast Templar riches that awaits each man brave
enough to follow him across the storm tossed sea. The Staffordshire
Men as they are called, assemble at Hurech Manor where they kiss
their wives and children goodbye to seek out fame and fortune. As they
follow their lord Rough Hurech to their destinies, they find reality is far
different from the promise.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 20, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524500078

J. F. Dargon

J. F. Dargon is the author of the children’s book Beetle and Lady Bug and has authored the novels Private Revolution and Carry Me!, the historical fiction novel Josiah Ironknife: Colonial Warrior, as well as the YA sci-fi novel The Plinkers and the true crime novel Cold Valentine. His next work scheduled to be published is Rough Hurech: Adventurer, and he is currently writing a multivolume history. A native of Boston, J. F. Dargon is a graduate of Cape Cod Community College and is a Phi Alpha Theta graduate of the University of Massachusetts/Dartmouth and a navy veteran. He lives on Cape Cod with his wife and children and grandchildren.

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Copyright © 2016 by J. F. Dargon.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2016907806

ISBN:   Hardcover   978-1-5245-0009-2

   Softcover   978-1-5245-0008-5

   eBook   978-1-5245-0007-8

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the

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Rev. date: 05/19/2016

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Wealth is a comfort to all men; yet must every man bestow it freely, if he wish to gain honour in the sight of the Lord.

–12th Century Anglo Saxon Rune Poem

Cut the lettters into yonder stone, he commanded, so that those that should follow would know upon which road I take.

Aye, m’lord, t’is as ye order. All will recognize the symbol of wealth and will follow willingly, the stone cutter acknowledged.

Aye cut the feoh and an arrow, and below that our Lord’s cross so that all will know we be followers of Our Savior, Christ.

T’is as ye command, m’lord, the stone cutter said as he commenced his work. He was glad to be doing his cutting in the morn’s earliest hours. Before long, the heat of the midday sun would not be so welcome even in the shade.

I, look back now with nostalgia upon those times I kept the letters and farmed the land as a socman, free I was, but still in service to mine lord, a knight of some notoriety. I was bound to perform the services required of a man to a lord whose claim to the land given him by his father’s father’s father for service to the king during the conquest. We men of Kinver Edge lived close to our lord’s manor house in Staffordshire. All served him we knew as Peter Hurech, but affectionately called Rough. Rough Hurech was not a man to be trifled with; although those who were closest to him knew him to be only rough in his speaking. His heart was pure, and his reputation was that of an honest man. He knew his letters, and was beholden to our Lord, Christ, as all good men should be.

It was in the darkest hour just before the dawn that we all gathered about the manor house awaiting our lord’s call to enter. David, our lord’s man could be heard grumbling to himself as he reached the doors, and clumsily lifted the bar so that the door swung open wide. He made a twisted motion with his lips and nodded his head giving us the know that it was fine to enter the lord’s manor house. We felt a great blast of heat from the fire emanating from the center fireplace as we entered the great hall of Hurech Manor House. The first thing mine eyes fell upon were the lord’s monogram of his initials molded in terracotta above the mantel. Crossing over this were a pair of broadswords said to have been used by his grandfather in service to the king.

They all be here, m’lord, called out his man, David.

Is that the lot of ’em? asked Lord Hurech.

Aye, sir, David’s raspy voice replied tersely. That be all the squires, socmen, villeins, and bordars.

Good. Men of the manor, seat yourselves about the tables. This morning, we shall eat together, pass the mead, listen to the word of our Lord and Savior, and plan our futures. We men of Staffordshire are men of courage. We are stout men. We display valor in battle and courage in the face of adversity. We seek adventure. And put our trust in Our Lord.

Such words came to me as a cautionary device, for the last I heard such talk, I carried the devices of war for mine lord as we travelled north to Wallasey to battle the sea raiders that troubled mine lord’s cousin’s shire. I did not wish to have to battle again with such stalwart and dangerous foes as they proved, but as a man beholden to a manor lord as I was, I had no choice but to follow and fight. I saw mine lord in battle then, and knew his bravery first hand and his steadfastness to his kin and to our Savior. It made me proud to serve him. But not one looking for trouble, I wondered what was afoot.

Twas a time mine friends when we went together to fight a common foe and came back the better for it. Aye, I know we lost good men in the process, and still we grieve their passing. But I can tell ye all that they, each and every one of them, still live in mine heart. We still care for their widows and children; providing and maintaining hearth and kettle. But I digress to a time past. Today, mine good men, I talk of a new future. A future where those who choose to follow mine stead have the possibility of fame, fortune, and the knowledge that steadfastness in the Lord will bring each and every one safely back to wife, children, and hearth.

Lord Hurech looked about the great meeting room. He watched their faces – some curious, others fearful, still others hung their heads in silent prayer hopeful they would not be made to go whilst their fields were being sown. I know the time of year, mine good lads. I know some are sowing, others husbanding their flocks, and most repairing their roofs, but believe me, this is a once in a lifetime chance at glory and riches – riches beyond the hoards gathered by any dragon of old. He raised his voice as he spoke those last words.

I shall follow m’ lord, Hurech! called out the blond Norseman known as Savage for his fierceness in battle. I shall go! he called out again.

Good man, Savage, Rough Hurech acknowledged his offer and nodded his head. Come hither and stand by me, mine good man.

Savage strode to Rough’s side displaying a broad smile highlighted by the Norseman’s tumbled down golden hair and shining blue eyes. Savage stood legs apart, arms crossed, head nodding and looking about the room. Rough slapped him hard on the back, as one would a work horse. Any other man would have toppled from the blow, but not Savage. He, like mine master wanted to know who would be second for adventure. Mine tenant neighbor Leo, stood up and stretched, and as he did so, he pushed the heads of the two men that were foolish enough to have taken their seats next to his.

I won’t allow that fool blond to steal all the fun. I’ll go too!

He walked in deliberate fashion toward Rough, and as he did so, he slapped the heads of a number of disconcerted men unlucky enough to have taken their seats along the space between the tables. He disdained working the master’s demesne as much as he hated being a villani, and he would do anything but work the land to improve his lot.

Without realizing it, I began laughing aloud at the discomfort he caused his fellows. I looked to mine lord and felt his burning gaze upon me. He said not a word, but his eyes spoke his command. Once more, I had felt I had no choice, and felt mine legs carrying mine body with its not completely unwilling and curious psyche to its place as Rough’s scribe and chronicler. I turned to see Leo grinning and Savage pointing in mine direction. I was soon joined by our manor’s stonemason and freeman, James, as he rose to his feet followed by mine lord’s principle swordsman, Michael, and the manor’s smithy, Thad, and the Twins, Michael and Paul who bore longbows and crossbows.

It looks to me as if the Kinver Edge men have made a good showing, Rough pronounced. I shall hand pick the rest that I require to make this journey with me across the vast sea. Brother William, as bearer of the word of the Lord, your presence is a necessity. The monk slowly and silently nodded his acquiescence, and as his right hand fingered his prayer beads, he joined the small group. To those who watched him move, it was almost as if he was gliding on a cushion of air. His serenity was sublime, but his thoughts meandered between those souls he would be leaving behind and the possibility of baptizing new ones across the sea.

Richard, Rough said when he came upon his brother, you too are required as mine standard bearer and second."

Who shall look after the manor and our lands and tenants, brother? Richard asked.

Our trust is in the Lord to bring us back before the harvest, but in the time of our absence we shall trust to the judgment of our wives as we did during the time at Wallasey when we did battle against those Dane sea raiders upon our good cousin’s land.

Will our cousin, Robert, be checking in on the manor during our leave?

Nay, he will be joining us. In fact, he will be providing a ship worthy enough to carry us thither and yon and back again. Stand, Robert of Wallasey! Rough ordered his close kinsman. Robert did as he was commanded and walked to stand between his two cousins.

Methinks we will be in need of a musician, cousins, Robert suggested. "I know of just the minstrel, indeed. He is a possessor of lute and fife, a singer of songs merry and inventive, and a teller of stories, epics, and poems of love’s delights. He will bring us pleasant diversion indeed. He lives along the Seabank Road, and when we take our leave from Wallasey, we shall ask him to join us.

After Rough filled out our ranks with a carpenter, a clothier, and other sundry stout fellows for labor, he called for food and mead. He regaled the chamber with tales of gold, silver, and all manner of precious goods, and of a mysterious people living in a far-off sparsely populated land across the stormy Western Sea who were willing to trade. At the end of the feast, he dismissed the remainder to tend to their business; a good many of whom it must be admitted, believed that Rough’s desire was folly and were that much happier they had not been chosen to follow their master to his probable doom. Some grumbled as they went their separate ways that the lord of the manor would be taking the last of their winter provisions leaving them to starve. But they truly did not know Peter Hurech. They did not know how he had been planning to cross the great sea many years. They did not know that although he and his brother wore miniver collars on their cloaks, they and their cousin had long been storing enough supplies for the hazardous crossing of the tempestuous sea. They did not know, nor would they have understood the sacred geometry, nor the heavenly astrology required for such an undertaking. No, those yeomen and tenant farmers were content to live their backbreaking lives tending their fields and flocks like so many Cains and Abels of Old Testament fame.

Whilst those men of the fields grumbled and complained and sought words to soothe their dissolute souls, we stout men of Kinver Edge sought our fame and fortune with the man most called Sir Peter, but known unto his close friends and kin as ‘Rough’, a knight made of the peerage by the granting of our king. Many of us had carved our homes into the rock walls of Kinver Edge, and were versed in the use of the stone mason’s tools from an early age, but Rough had sought out the master mason of Staffordshire almost as soon as he heard the tales of the land across the sea from certain Bristol fishermen. He’d seen with his own eyes the fishes they brought back from the western land’s shores – fish that never yet swam the Irish Sea, nor the English Channel. He listened intently to their tales to take their measure. He sought out others that might corroborate the stories he’d heard, and he was convinced of their veracity. But it was not until he met with a Scottish squire called MacAulay that he found out about the wealth buried upon a small island. Rough told us that t’was MacAulay who had accompanied the keepers of the Temple at Rosslynn as they made their voyage to keep the great treasure of our Lord from the Pope in Rome and the greedy noblemen of France. MacAulay was one of the number that helped ship a vast treasure entrusted to their safekeeping to the lands of the west. I wondered why a man such as MacAulay would tell Rough such tales. And found that he had been cheated out of his heart’s true love. I found that many an Irishman corroborated such tales of lands to the west as well. We had been making merry and drinking as was our want, and feasting upon succulent roasts, sweetmeats, and such when Rough rose to his feet, and not without some help in maintaining his balance, stood upon his chair and raised his goblet of gold and silver.

Mine friends! he shouted above the din of the merry making, Mine friends and mine kinsmen! Today we have entered into a pact amongst ourselves to go upon a quest such as none has ever gone. We raise our drinks to honor our great King Edward III, slayer of Frenchmen, victor of Halidon Hill against the Scots, victor at Sluys as master of ships of war, and most importantly, Crécy, and he being the peacemaker and the man whose hand signed and sealed the favorable terms of the Treaty of Brétigny. We raise our goblets to him and his wife, the Lady Philippa, daughter of the Count Hainault. And to his son, brilliant in battle, Edward, the Black Prince. He thrust his cup high above his head, spilling some of the contents upon his head. His brother and Savage who had been flanking and propping him up laughed uproariously. Our good lord, who too loved making merry, did join in their mirth as did the remainder of those in the great hall. For some men, drink doth make them merry only to make them mad, but for Rough, drink doth make him merry, and that way he stayed till his head did nod.

Our company did make its plans steady, and did prepare for the great adventure and task that Rough had lain before us. As we worked upon the preparations, his good brother Richard checked and rechecked that all was as had been ordered. Robert of Wallasey and Rough took to their horses and rode ahead of our company two days prior to our departure to superintend for themselves the outfitting of our vessel that was commanded to be built to carry our company across the wide grey-green sea. It was meant to be oared and to carry sail, to carry provisions enough for all, and its sturdiness had to be assured. When first I saw it, its bottom was being coated with the blackest pitch as it lay upon the stony shore of the Mersey River not far from its wide mouth.

For mine part, I, as I lay with mine good wife Anne, did I tell her of what mine lord had planned. She lay quiet for a spell before asking if I must take leave of her and our small children. Her breasts did heave as she cried without sound. I did the best a man could to do to reassure her of such uncertainties as her mouth did utter. What if thou should not come back? she begged. The children would be without their father, and I without the one and only man I have always loved. How is it that our lord can demand that thou must follow him into battle and regions unknown? How can one man wield so much power over the lives of so many and demand they follow against their wills?

I said nothing in response. She hadn’t realized that I would follow Rough Hurech to the ends of the earth, or that when I did accompany him in battle, I did so of mine own volition. She did not know when I told her that evening of Rough’s plan to sail the sea, and that I, a man who was not a seaman, wanted, yes wanted to sail that sea with him. That I had a strong desire to see what lay beyond the shire, what lay beyond the great gaping mouth of the River Mersey and the Irish Sea, and that I was to go of mine own volition; not by the demands of mine lord. I gently cradled mine wife in mine arms, and held her close till the rising sun and the cock did crow in the yard.

Must ye go? Must thou leave us? she begged as mine children shook off the morn’s creeping coolness by the hearth. Their young eyes did implore to hear mine answer. I took mine oldest boy by his shoulder and presented him with a fine fighting blade of steel mine father did first give me. This is a misericord, mine lad. It is for close in fighting. Keep it in its sheath, and only carry it when thine mother and siblings must be protected from the dangers of the world. Tis not a toy, so do not trifle with it. I gave hugs to mine daughter and youngest boy; both of whom could not understand much of the world. Work to help thine Mum as best ye can, I instructed them. Do as mother tells thee, and behave, go to church and pray for mine safe return. Anne’s eyes were red and puffy. She did not wish to look me in the eyes, but I raised her chin gently and did kiss her passionately before taking up mine bag and slinging it over mine shirt of mail. I then took up mine sword and shield. Mine family did accompany me to the gates and watched as I was joined by some of the yeomen of Kinver Edge. I did turn and wave to them before turning to the north road. Mine oldest boy was holding up the blade so that I would see he was proud to have it. Mine wife stood silently holding the hands of our babes. I shall come back, I yelled mine assurance to them before turning up the lane.

Upon our arrival at the manor house, we did take up with the baggage and draft animals required to bring such things to that stout ship that Robert of Wallasey had built for the journey. Sir Richard took his place upon his horse at the front of our column, and after giving the command, started us at a steady pace so that our company would make it to the sea bank before the sun did set. Our only stop was to water the animals by a clear running stream that ran to the great river from which we would make our departure for the lands to the west. As we came upon that great, wide, border-river that divided the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria, but today doth divide our County Lancashire and County Cheshire, we paused to watch it flowing westerly towards the sea. From that point, it was an easy march along the well-trod road to the manor house of Robert of Wallasey. Richard did disperse our strong company as was required for the evening, and I did accompany him to the manor house to join Robert and Rough for the evening’s victuals.

That eventide’s festivities we did make merry for Robert of Wallasey did provide for our entertainment a minstrel of such sublime delight that it is almost impossible to put into words how well he did sing and play his lute and other instruments of music. He did tell such stories as I have never heard. He did recite such a vast poem that I can only recall such short and varied verses. Ah, one of mine favorites be:

The torch is known to every living man by its pale, bright flame; it always burns where princes sit within. Another of mine favorite verses is: Trouble is oppressive to the heart; yet often it proves a help and salvation to the children of men, to everyone who heeds it betimes.

And yet the two separate verses that I mine self hath strung together have become mine most favored, and they are:

"The ocean seems interminable to men, if they venture on the rolling bark and the waves of the sea terrify them and the courser of the deep heed not its bridle.

The sun is ever a joy in the hopes of seafarers when they journey away over the fishes’ bath, until the courser of the deep bears them to land.

So did I learn to recite some of the poetry the Irishman called William did recite for us that evening by the River Mersey. And how I learned to love that old poem of our Anglo-Saxon days that night; that poem and many others did he present to our company.

I came to know well William, whose Gaelic name was Ȯ Cuidighthigh, but who we Anglos simply called the ‘helper’ or Cudahy; though he did desire to be known simply as William, the Minstrel. He did carry within a sheath of soft velvet cloth a pleasant sounding fife that he played on those occasions he felt a light-hearted sound was required, but for most of his songs, he preferred to accompany his silky smooth tenor voice with the lute that he kept slung over his back. How mine lords did value his service! And how we who heard his tales and songs did marvel at his tremendous memory and ability. Tis was truly a blessing to have him in our company, and I found that Sir Robert’s foresight in placing him in our company was truly a godsend.

The next morn we accompanied Rough Hurech, Robert of Wallasey, and Richard Hurech to the river’s edge where we came upon the great wood vessel that was to carry us upon the waves of the dark green sea. Robert’s men were busy swabbing the last layer of the blackest pitch I have yet seen upon its bottom as it lay on its port side against a half cradle.

Tomorrow lads, our good ship will be ready for launching into the river, announced Robert of Wallasey loud enough so that all within range of his voice understood his command. And so, the men labored all the more furiously to make the ship ready for the next day’s launching. He looked to the sky, first turning to the north to read the winds effect upon the trees lining the opposite bank, and then he looked to the east to observe the sky’s appearance. Last night twas a good omen, he told mine lord, Rough. Twas a red sky at night’s fall. Aye, ye know that means the sailing day will be a sailor’s delight, he said and smiled. As soon as she be in the water, we will load the stone ballast and our victuals and supplies.

Will we be taking our horses along? Rough asked.

Not on this voyage, cousin. We go to see the edges of the known world, and know not what it provides, so it must needs be the second trip that will be more meaningful and of need of horses.

What if we should need them for battle or some such action, Robert?

I doubt that will be the case. From what intelligence I have learned there are so few people living there, and there be no roads or lanes of any kind. They may at first present a hindrance rather than a boon. I wrote all that I heard from that day forward. It was the cousins’ desire to have all that we did to prepare and make the journey be made a record of so that our children’s children would know of our strong hearts and manly exploits in the unknown lands of the west. I had learned that Cudahy was already making a song to commemorate our leaving the king’s dominions, and that Brother William had gone to his Excellency the Bishop of Birmingham to receive a special invocation for a safe voyage. He, William the Minstrel, and I stood together watching as our lords commanded the men of the Mersey and Kinver Edge to work in unison as they righted the ship and slipped it into a deep wedge they’d dug alongside it on the beach. At the command of Wallasey, two men lifted a gate that held back the waters from the slipway. As the slipway filled, the great vessel did rise in its place to great huzzahs and much loud banter.

A great pile of stones lay nearby, and I and mine lords – so eager to set sail, even we laid hands upon the rock and passed them to eagerly waiting hands that placed them onto the ship’s bottom.

"It must be done perfectly

To keep the vessel balanced…

And to hold her in the ocean stream.

Her size alone will not do…

Nor would the winds and waves provide for her steadiness

But the stones of the land will remind her

Of from whence she came

And that mine lads will bring her to the other shore

And our name fortune and fame!"

Those were William the Minstrel’s first lyrics that he did sing for us again and again upon the sea and upon the land. Not used to such hard toil, as I am a man of the quill. Mine hands did blister and ache, but by day’s end I felt exhilarated to have played a small part in such a noble endeavor. I confess I slept as soundly as a babe caressed in his mother’s arms that night.

We participated in Brother William’s Mass for the Faithful the next morn at the great church that lay along Hoylake Road near the great boundary stone. He did tell us during his homily that "Our Bishop Paul who is accounted honorable and is also called lord, as he now holds in the same room of Parliament house with the barons hath announced to the faithful that they pray for our success. When I told his Grace of this great venture, his countenance seemed at first to me to be one of a lusty man’s, but then his brow did pinch together as he thought it through, and how he did regard it to be in his estimation and authority worthy a venture to give his solemn blessings upon our quest.

Howbeit in these days, he did ask of me, that we have amongst us such stout men esteemed as they are high and low that be willing to cross the vast seas? Be it that they search for gold, fame, or some such thing as the Grail? That not be the matter so long as Christ grants they return unto us with knowledge and souls saved. For knowledge, even knoweth the fool, is power, and power wisely used is a boon to all mankind. And so, to help this quest, and to protect those that sail beyond our shores, he hath given unto us a man of unique knowledge and skill. This man be a physic and astrologer; a man of letters. His mind is filled with wondrous things and he has great knowledge of other lands to the east and the religions of the Jew and the Mohammedan. The man his Grace hath presented us with is known as Petrus. He pointed toward the edge of the congregation where Petrus stood. All eyes turned in his direction, but not a word was said.

With the conclusion of Mass, we gathered on the shore by the great ship that was to be our vessel and did feast and make merry before pulling on the ropes that led our ship to the river’s vast mouth. Before we finished boarding and taking our places within its vast cavity, we raised a single tall mast with the king’s pendant at the top fluttering in the breeze. And mine lord Robert of Wallasey did order that the ship’s path to the river be extended and widened with a dock built along the south side so that upon our return, we could simply pull in and tie up.

As our ship pulled away from the shore and into the stream of the