Case
1: Killing Hugh de Audley's Animals
Aymer Walter is accused of killing one of Hugh de Audley's stags.
He is also accused of carrying a bow and arrow in the forest. If Aymer
Walter is found guilty of killing the stag he will have his thumb
and first two fingers on the right hand amputated. If he is found
guilty of carrying his bow in the woods he will be fined two pence.
Witnesses are called in the following order: John Nash, Gilbert Payne;
Henry Rolfe, Thomas Brooker, Aymer Walter, Joanna Cheeseman and Margaret
Mannering.
Case
1: John Nash
Every Monday
evening at about 7 o'clock, all men aged between the ages of seven
and fifty take part in longbow training at Yalding Lees. John Nash,
the village reeve, is in charge of this. While at Yalding Lees on
Monday 15th September, he saw a movement in the forest. At first he
thought it was a deer but eventually he identified Aymer Walter coming
out of the forest. John Nash told Walter that he should not have been
in the forest with his longbow. When Nash looked at Walter's arrows
he discovered that one of them was smeared with blood.
Case
1: Gilbert Payne
On Wednesday
17th September Gilbert Payne was in the forest near Yalding Lees helping
the pigs find acorns. While he was there he found a dead stag. An
attempt had been made to hide the stag under some leaves and twigs.
The animal had an arrow wound and had been killed within the last
couple of days. One of the legs had been removed. Part of the leg
was found close-by. The shoulder of the stag was missing. Gilbert
Payne went to see John Giffard and told him what he had found.
Case
1: Henry Rolfe
Henry saw
Aymer Walter walking along with his longbow in his hand a couple of
hours before archery training was due to start. When Rolfe asked him
about this, Walter claimed he wanted to try out the new longbow he
had made. Walter said he hoped this would improve his accuracy. Rolfe
said he needed a new pair of eyes for that.
Case
1: Thomas Brooker
Thomas Brooker
is in the same tithing group as Aymer Walter. Brooker, like all the
other men in the village make jokes about Aymer Walter's inability
to hit the target during archery training on Monday night. Aymer gets
very annoyed at these jokes and has on several occasions been involved
in fights over this issue. In all the years they have been friends,
Brooker has never known Walter to go poaching. On the evening of 15th
September, at about 6 o'clock, he saw Aymer Walter in the forest.
He was some distance away but Thomas thought he saw Aymer Walter carrying
something in his arms.
Case
1: Aymer Walter
Every Monday
evening, all men aged between the ages of seven and fifty must take
part in longbow training. Aymer Walter is the worst archer in the
village. The men kept on making jokes about it so he decided to take
some extra practise. On 15th September, 1340, Walter decided to walk
out of the village to a place where no one else would see him. On
the way he met his friend, Henry Rolfe. After a short conversation
with Henry he walked to the forest behind Joanna Cheeseman's house.
While he was there he saw a squirrel climbing a tree. Much to his
surprise, Walter was able to kill it. Walter called in to see Joanna
Cheeseman at about 6 o'clock. Joanna cooked the squirrel. When they
finished eating the meal Walter realised he was in danger of being
late for archery training. Walter did not want people to see him leaving
Joanna's house so he slipped into the forest behind her house.
Walter does
not want to tell the court about the meal with Joanna as his wife
is very jealous of her. To help Walter, Joanna intends to say that
she saw him firing arrows at the squirrels in the trees behind her
house.
Case
1: Joanna Cheeseman
On the evening
of 15th September, 1340, Joanna Cheeseman was visited by Aymer Walter
at about 6 o'clock. He brought her a squirrel he had killed in the
forest. She cooked the squirrel and the two of them had a meal together.
As Aymer's wife is jealous of Joanna's friendship with her husband,
she does not want to tell the court of this meeting. However, Aymer
is in danger of being found guilty of killing one of Hugh de Audley's
stags. Therefore she intends to say that she saw him firing arrows
at the squirrels in the trees.
Case
1: Margaret Mannering
Margaret was
working on her croft all evening on Monday, 15th September. At about
6 o'clock Margaret saw Aymer Walter enter Joanna Cheeseman's house.
He was carrying his longbow. He also appeared to be carrying something
else in his arms. He stayed some time and when he left he went into
the forest between Joanna Cheeseman's house and Yalding Lees.
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