The White Company · Chapter
How Hordle John Cozened the Fuller of Lymington explained
Alleyne Edricson, on his journey from Beaulieu Abbey to Minstead, encounters a series of comic misadventures involving the roguish Hordle John.
What happens
Alleyne Edricson, on his journey from Beaulieu Abbey to Minstead, encounters a series of comic misadventures involving the roguish Hordle John. First, he meets Peter the Fuller, who has been tricked by John into exchanging his clothes for a monk's habit, only to be left nearly naked when John runs off with both sets of garments. Alleyne retrieves clothes for Peter from a charcoal-burner's wife, but John returns and cozens the fuller a second time, leaving him in only a shirt and shoes. Alleyne then meets John himself, who is struggling with the oversized robe he took from Peter. The chapter highlights Alleyne's naivety and the contrast between his sheltered monastic upbringing and the wiles of the outside world.
Themes in this chapter
Clash of Worlds: Monastery vs. World
Alleyne's sheltered monastic background is contrasted with the cunning and worldly trickery of Hordle John, illustrating the tension between religious seclusion and the practical realities of life.
Camaraderie and Brotherhood
Despite John's roguery, the interactions between Alleyne, John, and Peter are marked by a rough humor and mutual dependence, hinting at the bonds that will form among the White Company.
Characters to notice
- Alleyne Edricson
Alleyne, a young clerk from Beaulieu Abbey, shows kindness and naivety as he helps Peter the Fuller and encounters the trickster Hordle John for the first time.
- Hordle John
Hordle John is introduced as a red-haired, freckled, and roguish monk who cunningly tricks Peter the Fuller out of his clothes twice, laughing heartily at his own mischief.
- Peter Terlake
Peter the Fuller of Lymington is the victim of Hordle John's pranks, left in a comical plight and seeking help from Alleyne.
- Dame Eliza
The charcoal-burner's wife, a ruddy and outspoken woman, provides clothes for Peter and teases Alleyne about his monastic upbringing, giving him his first kiss.
Key passages
“I was passing this way, hoping to reach Lymington ere nightfall when I came on this redheaded knave seated even where we are sitting now.”
Peter explains that he encountered Hordle John while traveling to Lymington.
This sets up the first trick where John convinces Peter to exchange clothes for a monastic habit.
“He had scarce got them on, and it was a sore labor, seeing that my inches will scarce match my girth—he had scarce got them on, I say, and I not yet at the end of the second psalm, when he bade me do honor to my new dress, and with that set off down the road as fast as feet would carry him.”
Peter describes how John, after putting on Peter's clothes, ran away before Peter could finish his prayers.
This highlights John's cunning and Peter's gullibility.
“Hast learned from the monks, I trow, to fear a woman as thou wouldst a lazar-house. Out upon them! that they should dishonor their own mothers by such teaching.”
The charcoal-burner's wife criticizes the monks for teaching Alleyne to fear women.
This reflects the chapter's theme of the clash between monastic and worldly values.
“He laughed so the while, like a great croaking frog, that I might have caught him had my breath not been as short as his legs were long.”
Peter laments that John's laughter slowed him down, allowing John to escape.
This emphasizes John's mischievous and jovial nature.