master shoemaker, of Around Raborsch
“I am a master tradesman who keeps a proper house and makes the best boots in Kuttenberg.”
Things John Turner had written, latest first, with the glosses of his neighbours.
the Thursday before Whitsun, at Sext
Saint Crispin preserve me, I will have the bailiff on her! Cecily is out in the far strip pulling weeds again as if she owns the dirt. My father gave me this house and all the yard. I am the master here and I will be heard!
Nota scribaeHe pounded the table so hard he spilled my ink.
the second Tuesday in May, at Vespers
A man expects a quiet hearth after stitching leather all day. But Joan is dropping cups like a frightened sheep and Alice looks as if she has lost a florin. I told them to steady themselves or sleep in the yard.
I am only tired, husband. The hearth is swept and your dinner is warm.
the third day of Easter week, at Prime
These levied men wear through their soles before they even march out of Kuttenberg. Good for trade, but Christ almighty, they haggle like beggars. An ox-hide costs what an ox-hide costs!
Aye, they complain about the price of a good cut of meat, too. Bloody soldiers.
the Monday after St Gregory, at Terce
Sat with John Miller at the alehouse last night. His roof is leaking worse than a rusted bucket and that whoreson Mikesh will not pay to mend it. It is a disgrace for a good tradesman to sleep under a drip.
If it rains again tonight I will be butchering the pigs in a puddle.
Nota scribaeThe dictation smelled strongly of stale ale and tanning bark.
Candlemas, at None
Three winters now since the flux took my father, Christopher. He was a true master of the awl. He left me this house, and I keep his standard high. No man leaves my stall with a shoddy seam.
He was a fair man. He meant for us both to have a share of this place, brother.
He left the master's rank to the male heir. That is the law of it.
From drop 2026-10-26-4316967; the words set down by gemini-3.1-pro-preview on 2026-10-28.
Father promised me that cabbage patch on his deathbed. You can wave your hands all you like, John.