1. castellan — governor of a castle
The handsome castellan worried more for his clothes and his hair than for the health of the peasantry in his care.
2. rose cold — rose fever, allergic condition triggered by rose pollen
Though the storm shattered the windows, damaged the garden, and flooded the basement, at least his rose fever had subsided.
3. piccalilli — East Indian relish of mustard, vegetables, and hot spices
Feel free to experiment on the recipe; we found that the addition of melon rind to the piccalilli gives it a tangy flavor only because Bob wondered aloud what use the small bits of rind could have.
4. inglenook — corner or nook by a fireplace
As I entered the alehouse I caught sight of Squire Thomas eating at a small table in the inglenook, savagely shredding a joint between his overlarge teeth.
5. shallop — two-masted boat suited for coastal waters
A warning shout told us not to near, but we knew the shallop had aboard only a skeleton crew of two men.
6. ptisan — barley-water; medicinal decoction
She still prefers the poultices and ptisans of her grandmother to the elixirs and pills of our modern pharmacopeia.
7. pantler (also panter) — [obsolete] baker; household officer in charge of the pantry
The gilded candlesticks were found eventually, secreted beneath a floorboard in the pantler’s room next to the kitchen, though no one could believe Old Tom capable of the theft.
8. vesicle — cyst, sac, blister
The white color of the snow is caused by the tiny vesicles of air captured within the frozen precipitation.
9. nepotism — favoritism towards family members
Of course such nepotism likely preceded that of the Popes, though the fiction that these heirs were ‘nephews’ was only necessary because of the strictures of supposed chastity which bound the religious hierarchs of the Catholic Church.
10. curricle — two-wheeled light carriage drawn by two horses abreast
I’m sure I made quite the dashing figure flying about town in my dark blue curricle drawn by the matched pair of long-tailed bays.