The Winchester Goose

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The stews” closed in the 17th century, and by the dawn of the Victorian era, Southwark was one of the worst slums in London, dense with crime and cholera, a place even policeman feared to tread. Cross Bones was repurposed into a pauper’s graveyard that served the parish of St. Saviour’s. In 1833, the antiquarian William Taylor wrote: “There is an unconsecrated burial ground known as the Cross Bones at the corner of Redcross Street, formerly called the Single Woman's burial ground, which is said to have been used for this purpose.” The area’s inhabitants led miserable lives, and suffered indignities even after death: Cross Bones was a favorite hunting ground for the bodysnatchers who unearthed corpses for use in anatomy classes at Southwark’s Guy's Hospital, among other places. Isabella Bourne was born into nobility, and, when young and unmarried, takes up a place at court, along with her sister, the vivacious Eve. She attends both queens. The other main character is Joanie Toogood, the 'Winchester Goose' of the title. This was how the prostitutes living in Southwark were known; her mother was a prostitute too, and led Joanie into the life when she was too young to protest. What the two women have in common is their association with young rogue Francis Wareham; through certain events, their lives become inextricably linked. From: Frédéric Buret: "Syphilis to-day and among the ancients, Vol 2-3 – Syphilis in the Middle Ages & Syphilis in Modern Times", Philadelphia: F. A. Davis, 1895, p.48: And that lewdness was a feature of life in London when Chaucer was writing. If you were a young man who wanted some fun – you would probably take a stroll across London bridge (the only bridge in the city at that time) and enter the borough of Southwark on the south bank of the river Thames. All four of the main characters, Joanie, Francis, Evelyn and Isabella are given voice in this novel and such different and compelling voices they have. The common denominator in their stories is Francis. As a reader, you think you see where these women’s relationships with handsome, swaggering Francis will lead, but nothing prepares us for the brutal and heart-wrenching reality.

Pratt, David (3 October 2019). "Reg Meuross: Raw - Folk Radio". Folk Radio UK . Retrieved 29 June 2020. Citie Matrons 6: Such a Nipp I gave him of my Winchester goose, that it lasted him some 30 or 40 moneths. Marlowe, Sam (18 July 2023). "The Southwark Mysteries at Southwark Cathedral, SE1"– via www.thetimes.co.uk. John Stow, in his A Survey of London (1598), made mention of a "Single Woman's churchyard" in Southwark, near the Clink: An actor whose performance wasn’t up to scratch might describe the experience of being goosed; that is – hissed at by the crowd. Alternatively,

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gossiping (and disproportionately directed towards women). “Gaggle” is only correct when the geese are on the ground, by the way: the collective noun for a group of airborne geese is fasting during Lent, and so permitted. (This from the time period that brought us the Vegetable Lamb of Tartary, of course. I’ve written about both previously.)

Their competitive screeching gave them the name “geese”. But why “Winchester geese”? The reason was that the brothels and their female workers fell under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Winchester. He was the local landlord. However, the more respectable etymology source Online Etymology Dictionary disagrees with this etymology: can possibly thank Shakespeare, although he probably only popularised this one) begins without consideration of where it might end up. J. Taylor ‘Taylors Goose’ in Works (1869) I 105: Then ther’s a Goose that breeds at Winchester, / And of all Geese, my mind is least to her: / For three or foure weekes after she is rost, / She keepes her heat more hotter than a tost. / [...] / From Fornication and Adultery, / From reeking Lust, foule Incest, beastle Rape, / She hath her birth, her breeding, and her shape.

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Our readers will remember that, in the account we have given of the Stews on Bank-side, mention is made of a piece of ground, called the Single Woman’s Burying Ground, set apart as the burial place of those unfortunate females; we are very much inclined to believe this was the spot, for in early times the ceremony of consecration would certainly not have been omitted; and if it had been performed, it would doubtless have appeared by some register, either in the possession of the Bishop of Winchester, or in the proper ecclesiastical court. We find no other place answering the description given of a ground appropriated as a burial place for these women, circumstances, therefore, justify the supposition of this being the place; for it was said, the ground was not consecrated; and the ordination was that they should not be buried in any spot so sanctified. [7] The plaque was removed. Another appeared in its place and also removed. Some unknown soul climbed the fence and planted a small, wild garden. Friends of Cross Bones Graveyard bonded together to protect, recognize and honour those buried without comfort or care. Small notes and memorials appeared on the cemetery gates…names, dates, prayers, candles and occasionally, bottles of gin. In 1351, the City of London passed an ordinance that ‘lewd or common women’ must wear a striped hood to identify themselves and refrain from beautifying their clothes with any fur trim or fancy lining. At that time, any woman not of noble birth could be described as ‘common’ so the ordinance seemed to cover almost every female in the city. London’s proud womenfolk weren’t going to have men dictating what they could wear, so most ignored the ordinance and challenged any constable to arrest them, if he dared. When Edward III added his own authority to this law three years later, he was careful to specify it applied only to Although the Bishop of Winchester regulated and taxed the area’s prostitutes, Christian doctrine prevented them from being buried in consecrated ground. The first likely reference to Cross Bones as a cemetery for Southwark’s “geese” comes from Tudor historian John Stow, who wrote in his 1598 Survey of London: “I have heard of ancient men, of good credit, report, that these single women were forbidden the rites of the church, so long as they continued that sinful life, and were excluded from Christian burial, if they were not reconciled before their death. And therefore there was a plot of ground called the Single Woman’s churchyard, appointed for them far from the parish church.” Kettler, Sarah Valente and Trimble, Carol. The Amateur Historian's Guide to Medieval and Tudor London, 1066-1600. London: Capital Books, p.155.