Ramkin

Motto: QUIS HABEMUS SERVAMUS

What We Have, We Keep

The most famous and the only surviving member of the Ramkin family, Lady Sybil 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.

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.