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: Most certainly it depends on the time of year; I travel quite a bit tending to the ailments and ills to many a peasant and merchant. I spend late summer and fall in the small town 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 am at the docks of Portsmouth. I feel that because I work more personally in Canterbury, I am most at home there, despite only spending a third of the year there, I feel at home most genuinely among to the good people 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: I have lived on this earth for a score and eleven years.
Class: I am wealthy and own shops in Canterbury and Portsmouth. I also have a modest house in London close to St. Bartholomew's. Because of my history in Her Majesty's Army, I am used to spartan conditions and my home tends to be rather modest.
What do you do, your main function in life/society: 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. I see to the health and wellbeing of the populace. I am a practitioner of curing all outward ills and pains that would sap the strength and weaken the constitution and make sure a man's humors are in balance and keep they remain fit enough to work. I am charged with the task of surgery when the time calls for blood to be letted or limbs plagued with vile infections to be removed. I am also a soldier, having served in Her Majesty's Army in Normandy as a field surgeon. While I currently own my own private business, I am hoping to join Her Majesty's Navy as ship's doctor. I am very skilled at treating the Scurvy and wish to help the sailors who protect England from threats from Europe.
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: I will occasionally have some fun at a friend's expense but it is all in jest. I care little for those who would put their faith into the quackish apothecary or other nonsensical treatments instead of remedies proven to work. Very few people dare make fun of me in earshot, as I tend to learn many secrets and I do pull teeth.
Favorite Color: The color of healthy blood. A wonderful hue of crimson that radiates with the health and well being of a patient. The black clotted mess of blood is a most distressing color and a sign of illness. Also the red of plague buboes is a most unhealthy color as well.
Have you ever committed or been convicted of a crime: I have not, though I have been accused of such audacious things as grave robbing for cadavers for study and other such nonsense. None of these accusations are true in any way. The corpses that I acquire for study are criminals given to me by the executioner for study. Any rumors of disappearing gypsies turning up in my shop are simply not true.
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 spend a lot time at the Blarney Cock, though not as a paying customer. I help Madame Red and her women who are suffering from the effects of Morbo Gallico and other ailments they are afflicted with during their work. I'm sure I'll be called upon again on the morrow of the festival night.
I am on good terms with the undertaker of Canterbury, despite his sometimes persistent visits to my shop.
When I had heard that the Lady Mayor was looking for a new Guildmaster, I introduced her to the Saracen named Donovan I had met some time ago in the Ottoman. I had met with him while studying there and was simply amazed by his skills as a tradesmen. Despite his uncouth mannerisms, the Lady Mayor has hired him just in time for the harvest faire.
I have, lets say, a professional relationship with the woman some call the Merry Widow. She has come to me to aid in the health and well being of several of her past husbands but alas, there was little I could do for them and several died under my care.
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 sessions of bloodletting he saw the error in his ways. I do keep extra pillows at my shop though for those who need limbs removed.
Pets: None. Pets are rather filthy and I try to keep my shop as clean as possible for the sake of my patients.
Favorite Type of Music: Marching ballads remind me of my life as a soldier.
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 consumption 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: Yule, work is slow and I can relax.
Favorite Drink: Wine; I always keep copious amounts of alcohol around my shop for my patients, though I keep my finest wine for myself.
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 the most comfortable for me. They help keep my clothes clean during messy operations, and I have been wearing boots all my life.
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, especially the recent works of Vesalius, who has helped to modernize the more archaic teachings of Galen. It is all rather fascinating, Vesalius has found many problems Galen's old anatomical charts and has fixed them, making our practice all the safer.
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. I am, however, grateful that I was forced to do such menial chores, as they helped increase my strength, which is an important asset in my work (sometimes, the patients manage to get out of their bindings.)
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. I am not a fan of the gypsies whatsoever; a couple gypsies have driven people away from my "Dirty" job as they put it. While I'll help a gypsy that comes to me for aid, I won't help them at my shop.
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, 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 Lord Mayor, who employs me directly.
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. I have traveled as far east as the Ottoman where I learned some amazing medical techniques from the Moors.
Do you have Dirt/Mud floors or Stone: My shop in Canterbury has wood floors, while my shop in Portsmouth has tile floors, which I've found are very easy to clean the 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 trying really hard to give surgery a better name. There is a large number of "false" surgeons who do more harm than help. On my first year of work in Canterbury, I was able to expose two such surgeons who worked with the Quackish Apothecary.
2. Though I express my distaste for the gypsies, I am actually quite fond of their music and revels. I take whatever chances I get to visit the revels. I've even helped the Maestro's brother Viktor with a rather embarrassing ailment that no one in his vardo knows about.
3. My profession lets me hear a lot of secrets; more men confess to me during a shave than confess to the priests and ministers, 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.
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 recently lost my leech breeder during a pandemic of consumption. I am looking for a replacement.
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 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.