Went to Pembroke Castle and did a tour, which was great. Got to hear all the nitty-gritty details about what happened there. Most of the castles I've been to didn't have tours or audio guides. I just walked around on my own. There are almost as many castles in the UK as there are ruins in the hills of Italy.
Henry VII was born in Pembroke Castle. Found out they're putting up a statue of him on Saturday. We'll be in Paris so I won't get to see it.
Henry VII
I got talking to a lady who was in the room below this one.
She said she was clairvoyant, and saw a ghost of a woman wearing white,
with a short cape around her shoulders.
Didn't sound like the way they dressed in this period.
I went into that room later. Didn't see any ghosts.
The ladies gathered in this room to do sewing and embroidery.
The guide said this building is haunted by a monk,
who walks through and looks out the window at the far end.
(The guide has never seen any ghosts.)
At the end of the above room (top RH) is a doorway where the loo is.
Underneath is the river that carried everything away.
The Dungeon
This deep hole is where poor Whithorne languished for 7 years.
When they let him out, he was blind.
Great Hall
Before the castle had been expanded with other towers, this is where the lord lived with his family and all the servants. (11th century). They would pull tables to the middle to have their meals, then the tables were moved back against the walls, and everyone would sleep on the floor. The servants slept here too, where the lord slept.
The floors were covered with rushes, but they were changed only once a year, in the spring.
The rushes were full of nasty things. When they ate, bits of food would fall down into the rushes, and beer would be slopped on them. Dogs lived there too, and the way the guide put it, the dogs didn't always go outside to the bathroom. Then there were the mice and the rats and the flees. This is what everyone slept on.
Apparently they were afraid of the river water, thinking it was bad for them. Probably was, since their latrines went straight down into the river. They collected rain water, but still didn't want to drink that, so made beer. Everyone included the kids all drank beer.
The guide said they washed their clothes in urine. Hmmm... would the river water be worse than that?
By the 1200's, I noticed that they must have started using water. There were basins by the banquet tables where people were expected to wash their hands before and after they ate.
Fireplace.
Kids had to turn the spit when they cooked their food.
Another kid would hold a pan under the spit collecting the tallow that dripped down.
The tallow was used for candles.
