Ramkin

Motto: QUIS HABEMUS SERVAMUS

What We Have, We Keep

The most famous and the only surviving member of the Ramkin family, Lady Sybil Vimes ((née Ramkin), the Duchess of Ankh) is the wife of Samuel Vimes, Commander of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch and His Grace the Duke of Ankh.

The Ramkin family's money comes from owning extensive properties in both Ankh and Morpork, renting out even to the Assassins' Guild. The more traditional Ramkins were arrogant and patriotic like the other noble families on the Sto Plains. The Ramkins prided themselves in their men never having died in their own beds, and their women always rolling the bandages waiting for war casualties. The Ramkins were perhaps a little more sensible and/or forthright than the other nobles. One ancestral Ramkin, Sybil's father, in fact, saved the estate from disastrous modifications; he achieved this by shooting "Bloody Stupid" Johnson in the leg when he approached the house.

Sybil's grandfather, Sir Joshua Ramkin, is known to have been a more competent and able military leader who raised Ramkin family regiments. At a time when no wars were going on in the central continent and there was apparently a distressing lack of sworn enemies to fight, Sir Joshua led a military expedition to Howondaland for reasons which, as yet, are unspecified. By the time he left Howondaland, there had by all accounts been a large and unseemly amount of swearing and several sworn enemies had been newly created. The battle of Lawkes Drain may have been fought in Howondaland under his generalship.

Known Members

• Lady Sybil Vimes (née Ramkin)
• Samual Vimes Jr. (on his mother's side).
• Sybil's late brother (his goal was to be able to fly without a broomstick or magic spell, built a flying machine which never made it off the ground, (Snuff)).
• Lord Ramkin (Sybil's father)
• Lady Ramkin (Sybil's mother)
• Lofthouse (a uncle of Sybil's, "a bit gaga", but at Sybil's insistance, Lofthouse was the male relative who gives her away at her and Sam Vimes' wedding, (Men at Arms)).
• An late un-named aunt of Sybil's (who, when their coach was once held up at bow-point by two desperate robbers, gave them such a talking to, they actually ran away crying for their mothers, (Thud!)).
• Lord Ramkin Sr. (Sybil's grandfather, who once shot Bloody Stupid Johnson in the leg)
• Lady Ramkin Sr. (1) Sybil's grandmother, who instructed that maids at Crundells were not to make eye contact with any gentlemen, (unattached or otherwise), visiting at the hall to prevent scandals, (Snuff)).
• Lady Ramkin Sr. (2) (Sybil's grandmother, (may or may not be the same as (1)), once defended the Ankh-Morpork embassy in Pseudopolis against a mob, with no assistance but that offered by a gardener, a trained parrot, and a pan of hot chip fat, in the Year of the Quiet Monkey, (Thud!)).
• Lady Ramkin Sr.-Sr. (Sybil's great-grandmother, once personly cooked a full dinner for 18 in a military redoubt that was entirely surrounded by bloodthirsty Klatchians, (and felt able to include sorbet and nuts), during the Year of the Lice, (Thud!).
• Jack "Mad Jack" Ramkin (3rd Earl, nickname shared with real life man, John "Mad Jack" Mytton, (Snuff))
• Woolsthorpe Ramkin (Mad Jack's jounger brother. Would have become a Wizard if Mad Jack made it known that 'any male sibling of his who took up a profession that involved wearing a dress would be disinherited with a cleaver'. Woolsthorpe later became a natural philosopher, discovering a peculier phenomenon involving apples, (Snuff)).
• An Un-named great uncle of Sybil's ("who once lost a villa and 2000 acres of prime farmland by being definite in believing that a cloak room ticket could beat three aces"; killed in the duel that followed, (Snuff))).
• Turnip Ramkin (revolutionized agriculture, involving root vegetable crops, (Snuff)).
• Rubber Ramkin (Turnip's brother, devised rubber boots and rubberized fabric, even before the Dwarfs did, (Snuff)).
• Jack "Black Jack" Ramkin (had a hill on the Crundells estate raised in height by 30 feet in order win a bet (2 gallons of brandy) that he could see the smoke from Ankh-Morpork from his property, (Snuff)).

Annotation

Wikipedia defines a Ramekin as

A ramekin or ramequin is a small dish, often white in colour, typically preferred for the preparation and serving of various baked recipes. These can be either sweet or savoury, including desserts such as the classic crème brûlée or molten chocolate cake, and savoury dishes such as moimoi, cheese recipes, potted shrimps and soufflé.

The ramekin can be regarded as a vessel of the casserole variety, and similarly, due to its robust construction, is capable of withstanding the extreme heat of an oven, or, in the case of crème brûlée, the flare of a torch flame.