William Clowes
Name Given at Birth: William Clowes
Nicknames: None that are spoken to me directly, at least.
Hometown or where you were born: Kingsbury, Warwickshire
Current Residence: It really depends on the time of year. I spend late summer and fall in the small shire of Canterbury in Kent. I find it to be a relaxing change of pace from the winter, when I spend most of my time working at St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London, and in spring and midsummer when I at the docks of Portsmouth. I feel that because I work more personally in Canterbury, I feel most at home there, despite only spending a third of the year there. During a serious outbreak of the "English Sweat" in Canterbury a number of years ago, I forewent my usual duties in London and Portsmouth and stayed in the town to help combat the epidemic.
Age: Thirty
Class: I am fortunate that I inherited my father's wealth and business, so therefore I would be part of the proud merchant class.
What do you do, your main function in life/society: I see to the health and wellbeing of the populace. Mostly I cut hair and pull bad teeth, I also make sure a man's humors are in balance and keep they remain fit enough to work If it becomes necessary to operate on someone, like say, a foolish young man who cuts himself open with a farming instrument, then this duty also falls on my shoulder.
Have you ever gone skinny-dipping / do you know how to swim: Having grown up in a port town and being a more rambunctious youth that I am today, I have had my fair share of "swimming lessons" if you will. I have not had the pleasure, or displeasure if the circumstances are right, of going skinny-dipping.
Do you make fun of people: No, their humors are simply out of balance and they think I am making fun of them. Too much black bile makes one a poor sport. I'd like also to note that few make fun of me, as I am the one who does pull teeth.
Favorite Color: The color of healthy blood.
Have you ever committed or been convicted of a crime: I have not, though I have been accused of such audacious things as graverobbing for cadavers for study and other such nonsense. None of these accusations are true in any way.
Closest friends/How did you meet: I consider my former master, George Keble, a good friend. I learned much from him during my apprenticeship to him in London, and still keep in touch with him to share ideas and new insights. My dearest friend would be John Banester, a fellow surgeon that I met in Normandy. Also, while they are not close friends, I do try to act as a friend to any of my patients, not only to ease their pain but to hear the stories that men will tell to anyone who is patient enough to listen.
I am on good terms with the Leech Breeder, as I am quite often in need of her talents when working on a patient
After operating on her former two husbands (and unable to save their lives sadly,) I have formed a professional relationship with Elizabeth Borden, the local widow of Canterbury, though, due to the nature of my profession, it will never go beyond that (a fact that I am quite relieved about, as she isn't known as widow of Canterbury for nothing.)
I encountered the ragseller known as "Sour Jack" a few months prior in London, and at the time wrote him off as a simple vagrant who could amount to nothing, it was later when he confided in me his plans concerning the orphanage in Canterbury that I changed my mind about him. While I disdain what he "teaches" these children, it is good to see someone who watches out for the orphans of the town, and so I've offered my services to Jack and his orphans at cost. I also taught him how to properly shave, something he was quite insistent on learning (something about a nickname.)
One Pillow or two: Just one, two pillows are bad for the neck, I treated a man here in Canterbury who swore by two pillows, and his humors were all out of balance. After a few leachings he saw the error in his ways.
Pets: None. Pets tend to be rather filthy and I try to keep my shop as clean as possible for the sake of my patients.
Favorite Type of Music: I've found that hiring a musician to play while I work on a patient helps them relax. Either that or drowns out the moaning to a point where I can concentrate.
Hobbies/Pastimes: Though I can be called to work at any time if it is an emergency, I usually have plenty of free time during the Harvest Faire, which I must say, is quite an exciting event. My business usually does extremely well in the weeks following the Faire as I treat ailments caused by overindulgence.
Personal Hygiene: Immaculate, for the sake of my patients. I wash my hands at least weekly, and moreso if I have a particularly messy operation. My tools are cleaned weekly as well and I do what I can to reduce rust on them. I recently discovered, after spilling some hard whiskey, that alcohol helps the patient survive better. While I have received odd looks for "wasting good swill," I am convinced that it is helping my patients.
Favorite Food: Due to my work as a field surgeon, I have no qualms with eating dry or stale food. When I get a chance though, I highly enjoy fine pheasant, though usually I am too busy to indulge myself.
Are your parents alive, do you get along with them: My parents are dead, I never met my mother, but I did know my father, Thomas Clowes, and got along with him relatively well.
If your parents are dead, when and how did they die: My mother died in childbirth, I received word that my father died of tuberculosis when I was about eighteen.
Favorite place to relax: I enjoy the comforts of the local alehouse. Usually I can tell who might be coming to my house tomorrow complaining of a headache or toothache.
Favorite Holy Day / Why: Christmas, work is slow and I can relax more.
Favorite Drink: Wine
What's your bedtime: I normally stay up several hours past sun-down studying anatomy.
What, if anything, do you usually wear on your feet: Leather boots
Are you married or single: Single, men of my profession tend to have an unnerving effect on women, so I am currently, unmarried.
Do you have a family / who are they: I was an only child, and have not had children of my own.
Favorite Entertainment: I highly enjoy the joust and a good fencing match, not only are they entertaining but they are great for business.
Favorite Subject in School or Chore growing up: Anatomy
Least Favorite Subject in School or Chore growing up: There was very little I didn't enjoy in school, however I did whatever I could to get out of chores.
Favorite Sport: I enjoy horseback riding when I have the time; and though I am not as good as I used to be, I enjoy a friendly fencing duel once in a while.
Most Humiliating Moment: Just last year, a man who's wife was under my care filed a complaint against me and won twenty shillings, claiming that I was unable to cure his wife, despite my evidence to the contrary that she was in fact recovering and he was simply impatient with my results and angered by my fee.
Proudest Moment: The moment that most changed my life was the Coronation of our dear Queen Elizabeth I, may God save her. While this in of itself is a momentous and joyous occasion, it was doubly so for myself, as this was when my profession as a surgeon took off. Elizabeth has blessed England with many great things and I consider my humble service to her and the people of London one of them.
Craziest Person or silliest you know: The so called herbalist and apothecary who harms people with quack medicines. The various pirates that I have encountered in Portsmouth are quite mad, the stories they tell are always welcome and they do tend to end up under my care more often than not. (The fact that they have just shown up to Canterbury for the morrow's festival, while unnerving, does seem to be a blessing for my business in the coming weeks.)
What do you look for in the opposite sex: A good cook, a woman who isn't afraid to get her hands dirty and doesn't faint at the sight of a bit of blood.
In our Hierarchical Society everybody has somebody "over" them, Who is your immediate "overlord": In London and Portsmouth, it is the head surgeon of those cities that I work for. When I work in Canterbury, since I am the only surgeon there, my immediate overlord is the Lady Mayor.
Favorite Sport to watch: Again, I find fencing matches and jousts to be quite enjoyable.
Do you remember your first kiss: It was during my second year of apprenticeship, I was off getting supplies for my master when I ran into a girl in the market named Margaret, several hours later, having forgotten my duties, Margaret blessed me with a kiss. I was then of course punished for tardiness and forgetting my duties, but I considered it an even trade at the time. I did not see Margaret again after that.
Do you keep in touch with your childhood friends: Sadly, I have not found the time to travel to my hometown in some time, and have lost touch with my childhood friends.
Where is your favorite "Vacation" spot: Canterbury is still one of the loveliest shires I have had the pleasure of traveling to.
Have you ever been overseas: I have been to the mainland a number of times; Paris being my favorite place to travel outside of England. I have not traveled to the New World, however.
Do you have Dirt/Mud floors or Stone: Wood floors, easier to clean blood off.
What is your bed made of: my bed is a plain sawdust mattress with fine linen sheets.
How many people sleep in your bed: One, though I have at times relented my bed to the sick or injured if work begins to pile up.
10 Things Everybody Should Know About Me:
1. I am part of the Great Company of Barbers and Surgeons and certified to perform surgery in Canterbury by the Lord Mayor and my colleagues, despite what some may say otherwise.
2. While studying abroad, I had the unique privilege of meeting Ambroise Pare, a French surgeon who is helping to revolutionize our trade.
3. My profession lets me hear a lot of secrets, so remember that if you wish to speak ill of me.
4. I am currently studying the effects of syphilis, and ways to combat it, I hope to have my works published by the next year or two.
5. I've yet to encounter a tooth I could not extract. Though often it takes some creative measure to remove some bad teeth.
6. I am sometimes quick to anger, but even quicker to forgive.
7. Much to what the contrary of what some may say. The pole outside of my shop is not painted red and white, it is simply where I hang linen to dry, and as the wind blows, it twirls the linen around the pole, creating the pattern that you see. Some Barber/Surgeons in London are considering adopting this as the official symbol of our guild.
8. When my apprenticeship ended in the year of our Lord 1563, I was assigned to the Earl of Warwick's army in Normandy, France as a field surgeon. This was mere months before the army was routed out of Le Havre and back towards England. This sorrowful journey back wrought with plague and scurvy would prove to be a taint on the beginning of my career, although I performed to the best of my ability.
9. On top of being a skilled surgeon, I am also quite adept at embalming bodies...should you ever need one embalmed....
10. Scabbards make excellent splints.