Getting ready for Hall

The next morning, it was bird song that woke Kayleigh up. She sat in bed, thinking about how she could change her fate, but no easy solutions came to her.

There was a knock on the door, and before she could reach it, just as her feet touched the floor, in came Mrs. MacConnell with a young lady of fourteen and a girl of nine.

"Good morning, Miss Kayleigh Brown." Mrs. MacConnell called to her cheerfully. "This is Ciara." she gestured to the young lady, who held women's clothing in her arms. "Ciara will be your lady-in-waiting, she will help you dress today."

Mrs. MacConnell shooed at the little girl, motioning her to close the door behind them. As the girl closed the door and Mrs. MacConnell bustled over to open the curtains fully, she informed Kayleigh, "The little one is Aoife. She will be your errand girl when she is not needed in my kitchen."

Aoife(pronounced 'ee-fa'), stood quietly a few steps from the door, while Mrs. MacConnell made the bed and then Ciara neatly lay the clothes in her arms on top of it.

As Ciara helped pull my nightdress off over my head, I noticed her clothing in more detail. Based on the colour, the quality of the material, and the quality of the dye used to colour it, I could tell she belonged to the social class below mine. As for the social class of Aoife, I couldn't hazard a guess.

There were five social class castes, that were tiered and then the social classes that lived separate from the rest of society. At the top were the 'soernemed' class, then the 'doernemed' class, the freemen who owned chattel (cattle and land), the freemen who did not own chattel (were poor) and then the unfree men (serfs, slaves, criminals in debt slavery, and prisoners of war). The classes who were separate from society included the 'fianna' (the famous warrior bands of Gaelic men) and outsiders like the Norse.

Ciara was from the class of the freemen who owned chattel. Naturally, a woman's class was the same as that of her male guardian. The good thing about the social class castes was that they were less rigid than the classes of Medieval England, it was much easier to fall down or climb up.

'I spent most of my life in the same class as Ciara.' Kayleigh thought. But now that her official male guardian was the Overking O'neill, she belonged to his class, the class above (doernemed).

Ciara, with great skill pulled the freshly laundered leine over Kayleigh and using a matching crème coloured ribbon, tied the pinned-up fabric about her waist so that it did not drag on the ground, but stopped at her ankles.

'That is the problem with this body,' Kayleigh thought, 'it's shorter than my old one.'

After she was dressed in a fancy dress, that clearly displayed her Doernemed status, her hair brushed and pinned and braided elaborately, and shoes on her feet, Kayleigh was escorted from her room and downstairs, to have some breakfast.

She ate quickly, without speaking much, as she knew the dining hall would soon be transformed to a type of courthouse, presided over by Overking O'neill. Kayleigh had never been present at a Hall before. Once in a while, she had heard rumours about the goings on at a Hall.

Even in the dining hall at breakfast, the long wooden tables and the diners were separated and sorted by social class. So, Kayleigh ate with strangers of her own class, rather than with her lady-in-waiting.

After she was done, Kayleigh remained where she was, waiting for Ciara to finish her breakfast.

A well- dressed, and rather expensive-looking servant, entered and announced to everyone present that his master, the Overking O'neill would soon start Hall and that the breitheamh were present at the castle.

This announcement caused everyone still left eating to hurry, and those already finished left.

There was only a short window of time once the room was emptied, to stack tables and benches against the far wall, and out of the way. Then the floor had to be swept clean quickly and a layer of clean straw spread over the floor, before the ceremonial chair of the Overking O'neill was put in its place.

Ciara and I left the room together to stand in the hallway outside. I was surprised how quickly the transformation from dining hall to the Hall occurred, aided in its swiftness by a small army of servants.

"I have never been required to attend Hall before." Kayleigh whispered to Ciara. "I feel quite nervous! Will you be able to wait with me once I have to go in there?"

"Yes, Miss." Ciara whispered back. "I cannot go with you when you are called forward by the Overking, but I will gladly stay with you the rest of the time.

Although Overking O'neill was kind enough to her the day before, at this moment, Kayleigh was frightened of him. He was the judge, jury, and persecutor all at once when he upheld his official duty of holding Hall.

The same male servant from earlier, appeared again and requested all those who were to have cases reviewed by the Overking to enter the room.

Kayleigh followed Ciara into the Hall. For a few minutes, people flooded into the hall, standing in a horseshoe shape cluster around the chair of the Overking. At the moment, the chair was empty. The Hall was filled with the noise of people talking to one another. Ciara guided Kayleigh to the right side of the group away from the doorway and the continuing influx of people. It was less busy there.

"How long does Hall usually take?" Kayleigh whispered in Ciara's ear.

"Oh, I believe it can be done as early as noon, or as late as two hours before sunset, Miss." Ciara whispered back to her. "Really all depends on the amount of cases brought to him, and how much each side debates about the other, in each case."

"Sorry to ask so many questions of you," Kayleigh said, "but do we stay for the entire thing, or will we leave after he has made his final decision?"

"Well Miss, the women, children and unfree must leave after their presence is no longer required, only the men stay for the whole time."

Kayleigh nodded in understanding.

"Do you know if I have any other obligations after Hall for today?"

"If you are willing, Miss, afterwards many of the doernemed women residing in the castle gather to talk, and work on the fine arts. It is mostly the women sing, play instruments, chat and do needlepoint, Miss."

"That sounds very nice and relaxing, Ciara." Kayleigh said warmly, with a smile.

Suddenly, a trumpet was blown for a brief moment, and the entrance of the Overking O'neill was announced.