The Cú Allaidh Chronicles

Yikes

2010-12-03T13:43:00.000-05:00

I have let this blog become terribly terribly outdated. In my defense I have been very busy, although that's kind of a week defense. All my work on mead has now moved to a new site, now everything mead related is being done at The Mead Hall, my personal little slice of the intertubes. As I stated, I have been quite a busy little bugger of late, my fighting has been left by the wayside and my A&S projects are booming along at a good pace.

I am now officially the Seneschal of Trinovantia Nova, Patrov tricked me into the position a few months back (joking). I am enjoying the role, sort of, but it is keeping me busy. For those of you that are following this because you know my modern persona (Jeff Johnston) and know nothing of the weird cult of the SCA (not really a cult mom, don't worry), the Seneschal position is basically the equivalent of Chapter President. In medieval terms the seneschal was either a steward of a noble's house or (in the French Administration system) the King's representative charged with the application of justice. So in short, I guess I am now the "big man on campus" around Trino. In reality it translates to the guy who gets none of the credit yet all of the blame.

My biggest project to date has been re-engineering a sport, particularly Stoolball. This is a 14th century game which somewhat resembles cricket. Specifically I have been championing the creation of a Cider League Stoolball group of teams. So far we have only one team, the Trinovantian Merpegacorns. Sure I strong armed some people into it using my "clout" as a seneschal, what of it. Seriously it took almost no strong arming, people were quite excited about it. We had our first demo at Masq fairly recently. It went over very well. John of the Goldsworthy clan is not officially the league leader in stolen stools, despite the fact that stealing bases(stools) is not a legal maneuver. In my work at creating this I made (with my own two hands) two balls, two stools (milking stools), and a bat. The bat was the most interesting one to make, as the first attempt was so unwieldy I almost tossed it right out, but after the judicious use of a planer I manged to get it light enough to use.

I have started making my own garment, it started with an attempt at embroidery, that actually turned out quite nice. Since the embroidery turned into such a nice embroidered collar I am planning a whole outfit with considerable embroidered embellishments as part of my Pent entry. I know those who know me are going to have to re read that, yes I am sewing, I know I know I have told everyone I can't sew, well apparently even a big useless oaf like me can learn, who knew.

Well that about catches you up, hopefully I can keep this blog up to date.

Banana Mead

2010-08-04T21:17:00.000-04:00

I am woefully out of date in posting this as it has been brewing for a couple of weeks now, but I have started a new mead. It is a banana mead. I have not quite seen a recipe quite like the one I used, as most recommend a bag for the banana and brewed like tea with the banana removed before full on brewing, but they all report the banana flavour to be weak. So I have decided to throw the banana straight into the must and hope for the best.

I have taken a number of frozen bananas thawed them with water and blended it until it was smooth and about the consistency of a milk shake. I then mixed it with honey and water at 1 part banana slurry 1 part honey and 3 parts water. this makes for quite a sugary mix, and I warn you make sure you have significant room for growth.

I am making a one gallon batch as a test batch to see if its worth the effort of making a larger batch, I have plans for it if it works well. I had only the neck of the demi-jon for growth and it came to quite a shock to me to see how fast the volume increased. Apparently yeast are rather fond of bananas. Due to quick thinking on Faye's part I put the demi-jon in the bathtub and closed the curtains, and it is a good thing too because in less then an hour it blew the bung and sprayed must almost to the ceiling. I have tasted it and the banana flavour is coming out slightly, if it doesn't increase I might just add some more banana to make up for the lost liquid from the explosion and to increase the flavour.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Mead Update

2010-07-21T11:28:00.000-04:00

Well the mead has not been bubbling for a while now alcohol content should be in the mid 8% level. I am thinking though that the biggest trick to this mead is patience. It is not the least bit clarified and is showing no signs of serious clarification. I am guessing it is the cocoa solids that are taking the longest to drop, I could try pectin, but then I'd have to clear that with bentonite, besides I really am looking for the mead to absorb as much of the cocoa flavour as possible and the best way to do that is allow it to sit on the cocoa solids as long as possible. Hopefully the mead will pull as much flavour out of the strawberries and cocoa as possible to make one heck of a unique mead.

Naturally I did a taste test. Its an interesting flavour. The strawberry hits you first, then the chocolate flavour follows. It already tastes pretty much as I hoped it would end up, the question will be if the chocolate flavour remains once the cocoa completely falls.

Youth In Charge Event

2010-07-15T13:47:00.000-04:00

For a while now Margurite (Faye) and I have been considering planning an event which we are calling "Youth In Charge". This event will be an event run by the youth of Trino (and hopefully youth of all Ealdormere).

Yesterday we presented our sample budget and asked for a show of interest in hosting the event. I was expecting to have to justify why it would be a good event, instead what I got was a resounding love of the idea.

Robby Goldsworthy agreed to co autocrat it with me
Lilley (now going by Lys DuParis for the SCA) is co-feastocratting it with Margurite
and various other positions filled up rapidly. It was such a popular idea that we actually have enough volunteers to do a proper bid proposal. So it looks like I am going to try my hand and autocratting :D.

Thinking of Another Mead Batch

2010-07-08T08:52:00.000-04:00

I think I will attempt a banana mead, primarily because I can't seem to find any decent recipe for one. I am going to start with a one gallon batch and see if its any good, if it is I am hoping to do a gallon batch and fortify it with some premium Jamaican rum.

Faye jokingly suggested that the gold medal from Trillies is going to my head, perhaps she's right, but heck I am enjoying the experimentation, and hopefully I'll have some real different entries for next year.

Orange Vanilla Mead

2010-07-07T08:53:00.000-04:00

Obtained the recipe for Orange Vanilla Mead from the Lady who won Silver at War of The Trillium. I intend to take a look at it and perhaps adapt it to my own likes and so I would be able to get an accurate reading of the alcohol content. It was a wonderful orange pop type mead, would be great chilled on a hot day.

The Recipe:
20 lbs of raw honey, sweet mead yeast,one small bottle of pure vanilla extract and one large bottle of tropicanna oj. Added more vanilla and more oj about 1/2 way through fermentation after first racking. Was in carboy for 10 months. Until it cleared and airlock dropped.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Mead Update

2010-07-06T08:11:00.000-04:00

I had heard conflicting reports about attempting to make chocolate meads, one that the oils in the cocoa inhibited the growth of yeast, the other was that the yeast tended to produce at ridiculous rates. I think I am firmly in the camp that it produces at ridiculous rates. My chocolate strawberry mead is bubbling like crazy, in fact it blew the lid right off the airlock twice yesterday, and Faye tried to clean it up after the second time only to have it turn into a chocolate strawberry volcano.

It is a rather unique thing to watch bubble though. Most times the airlock on the mead bubbles at a constant rate, however with the chocolate mead it bubbles at an irregular rate, a pause then three or four rapid bubbles then a pause. After obsessing over this and watching it for close to half an hour this morning I think I figured out what was going on. The head on this mead tries to a semi solid state, it looks, and seems to have a similar consistency to moose. Unfortunately really the mead itself looks rather like a septic tank that is in desperate need of draining, but I am really hopping that it clarifies nicely and looses that particular quality.

Gold Medal Winning Mead

2010-07-05T09:43:00.000-04:00

Although I did mention it in my WOT summary, some readers might not be interested in that stuff, so I thought it important enough to mention on a post all its own. My Oak Aged Chai Mead which is my Chai Mead aged with oak chips for six months won the gold medal at the Urich Von Den See Mead Tasting Competition. I am tremendously proud of this as the list of competitors included some very talented mead makers.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Mead Update

2010-07-05T09:19:00.000-04:00

Well after War of the Trillium I got back and tested the mead and was shocked to find out it exceeded my expectations and dried right out. the SG reading is 1.0, well actually a little below that but I figure 1.0 is close enough. This puts the ABV at about 7.2-7.5. I racked the mead into my large carboy and the fermentation kicked back into high gear, so it might actually even dry out some more and could climb a little higher.

Cú Allaidh Goes To War

2010-07-05T09:01:00.000-04:00

I made it to War of the Trillium again this year, and once again it was a fantastic event. I geeked in many ways, and partied until I could barely stand.

I finally managed to fight a newbie tournament. Newbie tourneys are a tournament between anyone who has been authorized for less than two years. Its a great way for the green fighters such as myself to actually have a chance at acclaim by right of arms. Of course, even amongst newbies, I am not a very good fighter and was one of the first eliminated. The tourney was an Atlantian Speed Tourney basically everyone was pared off and fought simultaneously, then winners went to one side of the field losers to the other. If you were on the loser side and lost you were eliminated, if you were on the winning side and lost you went to the loser side. Then it was just whittled down from there. While I did poorly two other Trinovantians showed that us shirefolk are hardy and do not fall before a challenge. Victoria (I cannot recall her SCA name) and Lord Tadc had the honour of fighting each other for the gold. I cannot recall who won quite frankly, if anyone was there and recalls please refresh my memory.

I also participated in the individuals tourney, and lost just as fast there as at the newbie, but again had a blast doing it. The sun did me in on my final bout though and I decided that was the last of the fighting for the day. I am afraid I have gotten terribly out of shape after my battle with gout and need to work on endurance a fair amount.

In the A&S field I did not get my mead entered into the A&S competition, however I did get it into the Urich Von Den See 10th annual mead tasting competition. I had two entries, my Cyser and my Oak Aged Spiced Chai Mead. I entered the competition purely for the feedback not expecting to even place. However my Oak Aged Spiced Chai Mead won hands down, it was exceedingly popular. I have a gold medal to prove it and am ridiculously proud of the medal.

So I would say that WOT was a very successful event for me, and actually for our Shire of Trinovantia Nova who definitely won our share of medals. Wassail to all.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Mead Update

2010-06-30T08:46:00.000-04:00

I took a SG reading of the mead only to find that the sweetness level was a little low, the maximum level of alcohol would be 5.84 so I added more honey to boost the SG up to 1.055 which makes the possible alcohol level at 7.82% ABV. It should be an interesting mead, a dry chocolate and strawberry mix hopefully. Time will tell what it is like.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Mead

2010-06-29T22:48:00.000-04:00

I started a new mead today after bottling. I figured this deserved its own post. This is one of the most unique meads I have even heard of. I am calling it Chocolate Covered Strawberry Mead. The recipe is as follows:

3 Kilos of strawberries
500grams of cocoa
3 cups of honey
Water to make up five gallons
1 pkg of 1118 Lavin Champagne yeast

Boil the strawberries for twenty minutes then put all ingredients except the yeast into your primary fermenter. Once the must has cooled enough pitch the yeast and wait. I will post the initial gravity reading once I obtain it.

Bottled Mead

2010-06-29T22:42:00.001-04:00

I bottled two gallons of the three gallons I had aging. One stirred up to much and won't clarify again, the other two were pretty well cleared. I am entering the Cyser and the Spiced mead into the Trillies mead competition assuming we go.

More on Pent

2010-05-31T11:14:00.000-04:00

So I have thought some more on entering Pent, and I think I will, however I have refined what I thought I will do for the entry, now I am considering:

Category III Technological Sciences

Weapon Making - atlatl making and using

Woodworking Construction - making and using a pole lathe

Category IV Studio Craft

Bookbinding - Coptic Binding

Pigments and pens - do a comparison of various inks on various papers

Category V Domestic Arts and Sciences

Wine/Mead/Beer/ale/lager - Period beer brewing with a beer bread made from the remains.

The pigments and pens instead of a calligraphy was because I was researching for doing calligraphy and decided I'd do home made period paper and home made period ink, and in researching ink recipes I discovered that there are a number of factors in choosing the right ink for the right paper, so a straight out comparison would be interesting, since I couldn't find such a comparison I decided to do one myself.

Contemplating Pent Entry

2010-05-27T10:23:00.000-04:00

I am considering entering Pent in the 2011 Kingdom A&S. Now I know don't have a hope in hell of winning, but I figure it could be a fun experience, plus get me working on more A&S. Pent is an arts and sciences competition where you enter five arts and sciences projects covering a range of categories.

You cannot enter more than two entries in any one main category, and only one per sub category. The categories are:

I. Performing Arts

• Bardic recitation

• Dance: Middle Eastern

• Dance: European

• Dance: Original Choreography

• Dramatic Performance

• Juggling/tumbling

• Musical Performance: Mixed ensemble

• Musical Performance: String Instrument

• Musical Performance: Voice

• Musical Performance: Wind instrument

• Music Composition1

• Poetry1

• Prose/Playwriting1

• Research1

II. Textile and Needle Arts:

• Costume accessories

• Costuming: European pre 1200

• Costuming: European 1200-1351

• Costuming: European: 1351-1451

• Costuming: European: 1451-1600

• Costuming: Non European

• Free-form embroidery

• Lacemaking

• Counted thread work

• Miscellaneous needle work

III. Technological Sciences:

• Armour: cloth/leather/Horn

• Armour: mail/plate

• Ironwork/tool making

• Miscellaneous crafts

• Musical Instrument making

• Scientific Instruments

• Weapon making

• Woodworking: construction

• Wood, Horn and bone carving

• Animal Husbandry

IV. Studio Crafts:

• Calligraphy

• Ceramics/pottery

• Drawing

• Decorative metalwork

• Pewter casting

• Glasswork

• Illumination

• Lapidary

• Leatherwork

• Miscellaneous crafts

• Painting

• Sculpture

• Bookbinding

• Pigments and pens

V. Domestic Arts and Sciences:

• Wine/Mead/Beer/ale/lager

• Cooking: illusion foods

• Cooking: multiple dish

• Cooking: single dish

• Dyeing

• Knitting

• Knot work

• Spinning

• Weaving

• Miscellaneous crafts

Quite a wide variety of categories eh! This is what I am considering entering:

Category I
Research - A paper on beer and bread

Category III
Woodworking: Construction - Making a Pole Lathe and using it to turn bowls

Category IV
Calligraphy - Do some Calligraphy Scroll work
Bookbinding - Do some Japanese bookbinding or Coptic bookbinding

Category V
Wine/Mead/Beer/Ale/lager - Well I am becoming known as a mead maker so what would an A&S entry from me be without some mead. My idea is to find as period a mead recipe as possible (preferably sixth century Irish to fit my persona if I can) and make that.

In any A&S competition there are three levels, Advanced Intermediate and Beginner. Generally speaking Pent entries don't stand a chance unless they are all advanced, but I am not entering Pent to win, am entering Pent (assuming I DO enter pent) for the experience, as such I probably won't be entering every entry as advanced, though the mead would probably have to be advanced since I am gaining such a reputation as a mead maker (even if my mead isn't up to the same level as others). Most entries will probably be at the intermediate level.

Foolish Thoughts

2010-05-25T09:58:00.001-04:00

Fruits Of Our Labour, more commonly known as FOOL was run this past weekend. It was more fun then I thought possible. It is perhaps one of my favorite events to date, despite all the "interesting" things that occurred. FOOL is a learning/teaching event, there were classes all weekend, and I took as many as I could, not to mention I taught two classes. The two classes I taught were Fireside mead, and Intro to Mead Making.

I had fun teaching both, but it was much more different than Forward Into The Past. At FITP most of the students had never made mead and had lots of questions about the process. In this case my students had, for the most part, made mead before, and one student actually helps run the mead competition at Trillies. It was daunting.

The fireside mead turned out quite interesting, weak and watered down, but not nearly as yeasty as I expected. In the two days pretty much all the honey was converted to alcohol and the flavor that came though was a hint of honey, fairly strong orange and subtle spice. I wouldn't deliberately make mead like that again, however I could see doing it for camping events, it was actually quite a refreshing drink. The fireside mead also devolved into an impromptu bardic circle, which was fine with me.

The intro to mead I was actually smart enough to make an extra couple of bottles so I had one to take home this time, well to be fair I didn't have a full class, but I also gave some away to others who hadn't taken the class for various reasons.

Sir Edward the Red's Pole Lathe class had to be one of the highlights of the event for me. I made a bowl on the pole lathe. And I got so incredibly hooked on working the pole lathe that I am looking at ways to modify Ed's designs to create a more portable version that will fit on my balcony and then I can turn bowls plates and goblets to my hearts content. I know the woodchip covered beard I dawned for pretty much the entire day on Saturday was the source of amusement for many who felt I might have been a little too enthusiastic on the lathe, but none the less I enjoyed myself, even if it took the rest of the day to finally rid myself of the sawdust and woodchips.

Unfortunately Lilley, my lovely daughter, had her weekend cut short. She decided (despite numerous warnings) that it would be fun to play in the woods behind the tents and ended up with a bad case of poison ivy. But she spent Sunday and part of Monday with her Grandmother getting fawned over, so I think she's ok with it.

The other big news is Margarite DeChamps (MKA Faye) was given an Award of Orion for her Arts and Sciences Prowess. I am proud beyond words of her, even if she still kind of feels that she didn't really earn it. I will have to find a suitable frame for the lovely scroll she received so we can place it in a prominent place. Perhaps we will have to create scroll wall so Lilley can put up her Boffer Tourney Winner Scroll as well.

I managed to fight at FOOL, which I know will shock some of my fellow Triovantians since, apparently, I am known as "The Fighter Who Doesn't". But my fighting foray was plagued with disaster and in the end I had to withdraw from the torchlight tourney after only three bouts with everything but my shame in tact. It began with a cut to the nose while putting on my helm, then His Majesty saw that the padding in my loaner helm has broken down to the point it no longer passes inspection. I then received the honour of His Majesty King Quilliam, long may he live, granted me the supreme honour of loaning me his personal helm. Despite the massive honour of wearing the Kings own helm, I must say that things went downhill from there. While I lost the first round 2-1, the next round against Rocriptus was going well as after an intense bout I managed to get a clean body shot in taking him down. Unfortunately a hold was called as it was discovered that a most vital part of my armour underwent catastrophic existence failure and I was left without my "gentlemans protection" which oddly jumped three feet to my right without any reasonable explanation. I was forced at this point to withdraw from the field and felt that there was no reasonable way of remaining in the tourney without significantly delaying the combat. As such I withdrew and heartily thanked His Majesty for the great honour he bestowed upon me by lending me his helm. I however did amuse His Excellency Percival quite a bit, as well as everyone else watching from the sidelines, so in some regards I call it a victory (only because I have to look at the bright side lest I turn an even darker shade of crimson then I did at the time).

Interestingly enough I gained a number of nicknames at FOOL, Koo Koo was one of the most common, but I was dubbed Coolaid by his majesty King Quilliam, Koo Koo Ca choo by various people watching the torchlight tourney, and interestingly enough, apparently Koo Koo CaChewbaca by someone(s) from Septemptria. At least Coolaid was relatively close to my actual SCAdian name.

Officer Position Part Duh

2010-05-17T11:19:00.000-04:00

Archery practice was this weekend, and I had a bast as usual. Raithe was kind enough to lend me his atlatl and darts to try, and boy was that fun. Nothing quite like hurling six foot long spears. Sure my aim sucked, but it improved the more I used them and in fact managed to not only hit the target boards a few times but actually score even.

Elzbeth, who had indicated she might be willing to take the position of Seneschal cornered me at archery and told me she'd be more comfortable if I took the role, so I have been cajoled and press ganged into service and am submitting my letter to Lord Petrov at our next encounter, I believe he will be at FOOL.

Now I have a ton of paperwork to read through. Have to study the Marshal handbooks more still and have to read though the Seneschal's Handbook now as well.

Officer Position

2010-05-13T12:04:00.000-04:00

I have officially applied to be the Webminister for Trinovantia Nova, which means that, should the populous agree to give me the position, I will be responsible for the Trino Website. I have also told Krow (our current Herald) that I will act as his deputy with the possibility of becoming Trino's Herald.

When I began my journey with the SCA I didn't think I'd really want to hold an officer's position, however now that I have been a member for some time, I find myself wanting to do more to make Trino as successful a group as possible. There were some pushing for me to put in for the Seneschal instead of the Webminister, however I don't think I can do it justice, even with the assistance of the ever capable Wulfgang, so I think, for now, I'll stick to areas I am comfortable with.

Technically the position of Webminister is held by Dante de Valencia, however he hasn't been to a meeting since taking the position, and the site is sorely out of date. I don't want to usurp anyone's position, however I believe its time we started keeping things as up to date as possible.

Back Again

2010-05-12T14:00:00.000-04:00

Ok, so keeping this blog up to date took a turn for the worst. But I beg your patience, I have an excuse. Sure I know April 1st was my last post, however I claim clemency from the wrath of my readers, for over a month now I have been off for medical reasons.

I have gout. I know, the irony is not lost upon my, a medieval re-enactor succumbing to the Rich Man's Disease. Go ahead mock away, but I'll have you know I am in good company, Henry VIII, Nostradamus, Isaac Newton, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Karl Marx, the T-Rex known as "Sue", and many more, were all sufferers of gout.

Gout is a joint inflammation disease in the arthritis family. It is a build up of uric acid crystals in a given joint. No one is quite sure why some people get gout and others don't, but suffice it to say if you don't have it thank your lucky stars. To say it is painful is an understatement.

Now enough with this whining, and on with the blog:

I finally got back to fighting last wednesday, off hand and with my right hand behind be since my right arm is still weak from the separated AC joint, but I fought. It was glorious. Managed a kill or two, but I suspect my victims took the kill out of mercy and not out of the hits actually having enough weight behind them to count in normal circumstances, but it was fun.

Did some more defense work with Lilley. Had planned to go to Lady Mary so she could fight in the Tourney there, but unfortunately a snag with the insurance company meant that I didn't get my short term disability check yet and couldn't afford it. No worries though, FOOL is having a Boffer Tourney, and there are lots more events coming up.

Haven't gotten any new signatures on my marshal training forms, but as I said FOOL is approaching, and hopefully I can get at least one ASAP.

SCA Chirurgeon hot under the collar

2010-04-01T15:09:00.000-04:00

At the organization's capital in Milpitas, California (USA), several corporate-level officers of the Society for Creative Anachronism and members of its the Board of Directors are in a heated debate about healthcare reform, and tempers are flaring on all sides.

It started with a simple premise from the leaders of the Chirurgeons' Guild: "We can ask the SCA Inc. to pay for bandages for event attendees who cannot afford them." That question, and the proposed change to Corpora to implement it, has led to a major outcry of support from some officers and opposition from others. With the Board, officers, and kingdom Royalty deeply divided on the issue, some are wondering if the organization can survive.

For years, merchant cartels at events have controlled the sale of bandages and other first aid supplies, charging high prices. In the words of one merchant, "You are all, as you put it, 'noble lords and ladies of these Current Middle Ages.' Well, then, if you are nobles, you can afford a few gold coins. Or, you are welcome to continue pouring your noble blood on the dust of the road. The choice is yours." Yet some SCA members cannot pay these steep prices, and with the winter interruption of caravans the price has skyrocketed in recent weeks.

Frustrated with the situation, the newly-elected Society Chirurgeon, Laird Barrick O'Bimma, proposed that a portion of membership dues should fund a Society-wide bandage supply. But this did not sit well with conservative officers such as the Society Exchequer, Master John of Bay Knorr, who say that the SCA simply cannot afford luxuries like this. In a recent interview with a reporter for the Wily Fox, a widely-distributed conservative handbill press, Master John said, "We can't go about giving free handouts to everyone! That is utterly alien to the ideals of monarchy for which our Founding Members sacrificed! Besides, there is a war on. In fact, several of them, every single year. We need to spend our money on armor and swords and horses, not bandages for peasantry!"

Even merchants are divided on this issue, with the well-funded Bandage Cartel opposing the Corpora change that they fear would undermine their profits. Opposing them are members of the Barbers' Cartel, who say that millions of SCA members who could not afford dentistry will now be able to experience fully-authentic tooth pulling (without anesthesia, of course). The Barbers, of course, expect to collect millions of florens in extra profits from these new patients.

Things turned ugly last week when a sharply-divided Board of Directors published for comment a 3700-page hand-calligraphed manuscript outlining what the Chairman describes as, quote, "A very simple, reasonable, understandable, and affordable plan to bring Chirurgeonate care to every SCA member." The populace reacted strongly on both sides, with some claiming that the Board would be appointing panels of Marshals to decide who lives and who dies among those who lose their limbs in battles at Pennsic War. Others claim the Corpora change does not go far enough, and leaves several dozen members without access to bandages. A Laurel, Master Beck of Gleann Ora, has loudly decried the lack of authenticity in the manuscript itself, claiming that it represents Greek-style "Democracyism" and not the Monarchism that has always been the SCA's form of government.
The Society Exchequer has pointed out that the free bandages will require a large increase in membership dues, and that although the dues increase is immediate, the free bandages won't be offered until A.S. LIV. Said Master John, "The bloody lot of peasants will have bloody well snuffed it by then, now won't they?"

As members of the Board entered the castle for their historic vote, opponents of the proposal showered them with loose tea leaves (which are period) and insults (which are also period), shouting, "You [are] heedless joltheads and unmannered slaves!" and referring to one distinguished Board member as "a bankrupt, a prodigal, who dare scarce show his head on the Rialto."

Kingdoms, also, are divided over this contentious issue. SCA members in Lochac, Ealdormere, and Drachenwald pointed out that they have had Kingdom-funded Chirurgeonate care for years, paid for with higher Royal levies and, in the case of Drachenwald, by tourism revenue from their real castles, of which the rest of the Known World is justifiably jealous and will someday invade and take by force. SCA members in other kingdoms insist, however, that they do not want to do anything like those people do because, well, well, well....just because, dammit!

No one knows whether the populace will approve the proposed Corpora change, but it is certain to be controversial from now until the next Board meeting.
________________________________

This article is a work of parody and is not intended to represnt actual policies of the SCA Inc., its Board of Directors, or its officers. Happy April Fools!

As posted to the Ealdormere List, thanks Duncan for the chuckle

Catching up to date

2010-03-29T14:54:00.000-04:00

I just realized that in my haste to update this blog I overlooked something fairly critical. I am now a heavy Marshal in training, in addition to my Minor Boffer Constible in Training. This means that once I have both I will be a Heavy and Minor Boffer Marshal and not a constible at all.

The difference between Constible and Marshal is that a Constible has all the authority of a Marshal save that only a Marshal is permitted to run authorizations. I need three signatures stating I assisted at events on each and then two additional on my Heavy stating that I am a capable Marshal. Looking at upcomming events I should be able to get the signatures fairly quickly, provided I do alot of reading of the rules and study up real good. The plan is to contact the marshals (both boffer and heavy) at any event I am going to this year and offer my assistance. The plan is to attend Trillium War for sure, and probably Lady Mary, Murder Melee, and Pensic. Now I am not sure if Pensic would count or if I could even get any signatures there since it is out of kingdom and all that, but betwwen the other events I should get a good jump start on my signatures fairly quickly.

Regular Blogging

2010-03-29T13:50:00.001-04:00

I have been terrible at keeping this blog up to date, however I am going to attempt to improve the frequency of posts, especially now that there are a couple of regular readers. I will continue making more mead making posts and gathering more and more tried and yummy recipes for you you all.

As my last post mentioned I had a blast at FITP (Forward Into The Past) and Ragnar, who was one of the main organizer, provided me with a nice supply of honey that will keep me in the mazing business for some time. Next batch to commence ASAP :D.

Forward Into the Past

2010-03-29T09:19:00.000-04:00

So Forward Into The Past was this weekend, and I think it is perhaps my favourite event I have gone to todate, even with the fact that I taught, for the first time, Intro to Mead Making. I think the class went well, and the students seemed interested, especially when I informed them they'd have a bottle of Mead to bring home to finish fermenting.

Other than teaching I learned some bone carving, a little more on Ogham and Runic texts, some shoe making, and much more. If you are reading this and have never heard of or been to Forward Into the Past I highly recommend going to it next year.

For those of you from FITP who attended my class, as promised I am posting the class notes here in PDF format. The notes can be downloaded from google documents here. If you did not attend the class feel free to download the notes anyways.

New Year Wrap Up

2009-12-16T08:41:00.002-05:00

With the Chai Mead bottled, I think that that calls an end to the mead making for the year, and realistically to SCA activities in general as well. Marguerite's mother is coming to town on Sunday and remains in our dwelling until the new year. I am looking forward to meeting her, although I must confess I am more than a little nervous as well. This is Cú Allaidh signing off for now.... Merry Christmas to all, and have a Happy New Year!

Chai Mead Done

2009-12-15T09:27:00.000-05:00

Chai Mead is bottled and done.

Chai Mead progress

2009-12-13T18:24:00.004-05:00

The mead did not clarify at all over night. So I have decided to try to cold crash it, which is drop the temperature which should cause the particles to drop fast. The taste of the mead is rather chemically still from the potassium metabisulphates, but that has actually already faded a fair amount so I am confident it will still be drinkable for Christmas.

The mead is now out on my balcony to get cold, I will have to keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't freeze. The weather network reports that a low of -4 by the morning it could certainly freeze so I will have to bring it in before I go to bed.

I think to avoid the chemically taste I will skip the metabisulphates and simply use potassium sorbate on its own, that is for any other batches that I don't let ferment completely out. The chocolate mead that is next is meant to ferment completely out so hopefully stopping fermentation won't be necessary at all.

Chai Mead progress

2009-12-12T20:24:00.002-05:00

Stopped fermentation today. Hoping it would clarify so I could bottle it I rented a corking machine. As of right now it has not clarified, may bottle it anyways, if it clarifies in the bottle and leaves some sediment in the bottle I am not that worried the taste is what matters. Unfortunately you can really taste the potassium metabisulphate still, hoping that goes away rather quickly. I am bottling it tomorrow regardless of if it clarifies or not.

Minor Boffer Constable in Training

2009-12-10T11:20:00.004-05:00

I received an email from Duke Edward the Red agreeing to sign off on my MBCIT forms to get me started on the process of becoming a Minor Boffer Constable. With Sir Ed practicing in KW same as Faye getting the official signature should be a cinch, and with Winter War coming up I can get my first sign off right off the bat by helping Beth with the Boffer Tourney.

Comments on Aging of Chai Mead

2009-12-08T11:03:00.002-05:00

I originally thought that the heavy spiced element of the current chai mead batch would require considerable aging to make the taste a subtle flavouring. As I stated in my last post, I don't think this mead necessarily NEEDS aging like the apple one turned out to need. The flavour is an interesting blend of spices sweetness and alcoholic content. This should turn out to be a lovely sweet desert wine.

I am sure aging it will not harm it, and will add some subtlety and complexity to the wine and I do still intend to age some of it considerably and hopefully even age it with some oak chips as well just to see what it does.

Chai Mead progress and other stuff

2009-12-08T09:05:00.004-05:00

SG is now at 1.072 which puts the abv now at 9.2%. I tasted it too and it tastes wonderfully festive. I am thinking that this mead does not NEED aging at all, that it tastes lovely, and I think I'll be able to take a bottle or two with me to each of my christmas functions to see how well it goes over. Faye enjoyed it and agrees that aging is not 100% necessary. I am still going to put aside a gallon of mead to age with some oak to see what happens, and some bottles are already spoken for, but other than that the rest is ready for drinking.

The next batch will by the chocolate mead, and I have decided that a full 6 gallon carboy is the way to go on that one, especially if the mead is even half as good as it sounds. Though from all accounts chocolate mead is one that absolutely HAS to age. So the plan with the chocolate mead is to prepare six gallons in the carboy, allow it to ferment dry, age it for 6 months minimum in the carboy, put aside another gallon jug to age for another 2 years, bottle the rest and take out a bottle every now and then tasting it at various stages of aging.

My intent is to get to the wine shop today and talk to the proprietor about it and find out about the possibility of getting wine bottle sized bungs for running the course on mead at FOOL. With any luck I'll be able to provide every participant with a simple mead for them to take home and allow to finish fermenting. Not sure how well such small batches would turn out, but it might get a few more people interested in mead making, which is a good thing in my book.

My lady has put me to the task of assisting her in researching some period candy recipes as well. I know she has been considering a cooking course for FOOL, perhaps a candy course might be on the plate, I think it would be quite popular. If we are not careful we might end up being known as a household of decadent treats LOL.

Chai Mead progress

2009-12-07T10:47:00.002-05:00

Took a reading on Saturday, the SG has dropped to 1.08 which makes the mead currently at 8% ABV. It is nice and sweet still, and yet packs a bit of a punch. Going to stop it fairly soon I think, it is quite drinkable as is and I don't want to over ferment it.

Introduction to Mead Course

2009-12-03T10:34:00.002-05:00

So I have decided to offer a course at fool on the basics of mead making, well actually two separate courses. One in which myself and the participants will make period fireside mead using a variation of the weak honey drink recipe from Sir Kenelme Digbie's Closet which was published in 1669, the recipe is a very period method of making a weak mead which would have been common throughout Europe for many centuries. The other course would be a course on making more modern mead, and hopefully we can make individual bottles of mead for each participant.

I have to go to the wine shop I frequent and ask if there is airlock for such small batches in order to do this, but I think over all it could be a very popular course. Faye (Marguerite) says she is pretty sure no one has ever attempted to hold such a course.

Chai Mead progress

2009-11-30T11:07:00.001-05:00

Nothing interesting to report with the mead over the weekend. No significant drops in SG.

Chai Mead progress

2009-11-24T21:18:00.003-05:00

Tested the SG and aerated it again. The reading is 1.112 which puts the alcohol at close to 3% ABW (alcohol by weight) and 2.7 ABV (alcohol by volume). The yeast seems very happy. Progressing very well I think.

I think, considering the tannins from the tea, it might be interesting to age some of this batch with some oak chips or cubes to see the effects. I think I will buy some cubes and age one gallon with some oak and see where things go from there.

Chai Mead progress

2009-11-23T17:06:00.004-05:00

I tested and aerated the mead today. It has fallen to 1.12 which puts the alcohol content at 2%. Judging by the current rate of sugar consumption by the yeast I would guess I'll be at optimal alcoholic content rather quickly, perhaps even as soon as two weeks, but then again who knows. While the first couple of days the yeast are multiplying more than producing once they produce enough alcohol they will start dying out so the process will slow. I guess I just have to have some patience I guess.

Added comments:

Just in case anyone was curious the reason I used tea as the main ingredient instead of just using a collection of spices is because tea contains tannins that add astringency and structure and also act as a yeast nutrient. In short I have provided the yeast with a jug of food for it to live in. The only question will remain is if there are too much tannins which will make the mead too astringent.

Chai Mead

2009-11-22T17:52:00.002-05:00

I tested the S.G. and aerated the mead today. The SG has fallen to 1.130 from 1.140 meaning it has already hit the 1% alcohol content. Sure its not much, but that's quite a feat for 24 hrs. It will still be quite some time before its 100% ready, but heck its off to a great start.

Error Correction

2009-11-21T21:14:00.001-05:00

I retested the SG of the mead, apparently I missread, the mead is actually 1.14 not 1.135, not a drastic difference, but significant enough.

New Batch of Mead

2009-11-21T15:35:00.004-05:00

Well the new batch of mead is brewing, this time I am trying a metheglin or spiced mead. It will be a chai mead mixed with chai tea instead of water in much the same fashion as the apple mead that is aging in my closet. This is the recipe I used:

10 Chai tea bags
water
22lbs of honey
cubibs
star anise
cloves
half a stick of cinnamon
casia buds
1 pkg of Lavin EC-1118 champaign yeast
a tsp of lemon juice for acid

The 22 lbs of honey is probably throwing anyone who has been reading this blog off so I should state that this is a 6 gallon carboy not the measly 1 gallon one I used for my last batch. That is still considerably more honey than I used per gallon on the last batch but I thought I'd aim for a sweeter finish in hopes it combines well with the spices.

Speaking of spices I know my measurements are far from exact, but that's all part of the fun, why make homemade mead with scientific precision, you can buy it at the liquor store if you want that, me I am aiming for something unique.

The heavy spice element will mean the need for some pretty drastic aging, I think the bulk of this batch will have to sit for a minimum of a year, where as the apple mead I think might be drinkable in a couple of months.

Down to the brass taxes here. Since I actually have a hydrometer now I can take a Specific Gravity (SG) reading now so I can get an actual accurate reading of alcohol content. The SG of this mead is 1.135 which is WAY sweeter than the last batch. With any luck this will end up with a nice sweet mead, if it dries right out it would reach 18.7% Alcohol, I think I'll shoot for a maximum of 15% though which means I want to stop the fermentation at an SG of 1.025 or so.

Mead Making Progress

2009-11-16T08:28:00.002-05:00

I stopped fermentation on my mead on Saturday Nov 14th because it had dried out quite nicely. It is now in a 1 gal bottle to age out a bit before I bottle it.

It was still quite cloudy when I bottled it, but an hour after I bottled it it had already started to clarify, now it is pretty much all clear with considerable sediment on the bottom. I was quite surprised with how much it has clarified, I thought considering the cider base it might remain quite cloudy but instead the apple particulate fell like a rock once the yeast wasn't swimming around any more. Quite nice.

The final gravity reading is 1.000 which is the same reading you get of water which means it dried pretty much right out. There is almost no sugars left in the mead. It should be somewhere around 10.3% and 11.7% assuming a starting gravity of 1.08 or 1.07 but could be as high as 13%.

I think it will need considerable aging to make this a really good mead so I am planning a few months in the gallon jug followed by as much time as I can stand in bottles.

Mead Making Progress

2009-10-31T14:21:00.002-04:00

Tested the mead and the S.G. is now down to 1.025 which puts the alcohol content between 6% and 8.5%, and it has definitely dried out some more too. Very tasty.

Mead Making Progress

2009-10-27T18:09:00.002-04:00

Well so much for my stuck fermentation I picked up some yeast nutrient and some additional yeast thinking I'd have to attempt to breathe life back into the fermentation only to discover that the SG plummeted its down to 1.03 which puts the alcohol content at about 5% or so if I estimate the starting SG at about 1.08 based on the fact it was at 1.07 early on in the process of course it could be as high as 7.3% but since I didn't take an original reading I won't ever really know. The good news is though that the taste is wonderful, its really drying out and isn't nearly as sweet as it was.

Torc #2 Made

2009-10-27T09:40:00.003-04:00

I made another torc the other day (actually the week before last, but I just realized I didn't blog it). This one is much nicer than the other, but the finals still aren't quite what I'd like. For this one I took copper wire, silver wire, and gold wire and made a tri-coloured rope out of them. The effect is quite nice.

I made up a nice little torc making device which enables me to keep pressure on the entire structure without doing any awkward poses. Basically it is a board with holes at various lengths to hold doweling in place. It works quite nice, though I think I need something stronger than doweling if I am going to wrap the wire tight enough to make a difference.

Unfortunately I got a little overzealous with my twisting and ended up bending the end near the finial in a way that doesn't want to straighten out properly. Its not the end of the world and it isn't really noticable, but it bothers me.

My next project is to use my torc making device to make a circlet for Faye.

Mead Making Progress - Stuck Fermentation

2009-10-27T09:35:00.002-04:00

Well it appears my fermentation is stuck. The SG is not falling and its barely bubbling. I did managed to get some bubbling by agitating it and giving it some air. Hopefully it kicks in, I will measure the SG tonight and see what the deal is. I suspect acidity might be a tad high, either that or preservatives in the cider might be stopping the yeast from replicating.

Mead Racked

2009-10-21T14:18:00.002-04:00

I racked the mead yesterday into another carboy and pitched some more yeast in it to get the fermentation back in gear. Still seems slow, but I'll test the S.G. in about a week and see if its working.

Mead Update

2009-10-20T15:54:00.003-04:00

So its been a while since an update. The fermentation seems to have slowed, I will be taking a SG reading this week and if its not progressing I will rack and introduce more yeast in a secondary fermentation. So basically nothing to report.

That being said I have had second thoughts on my next batch, I stumbled upon a recipe that was made by a fellow SCAer in the Midrealm, its called Lord Rhys Chocolate Mead, it sounds wonderful. I think this is the winner. Apparently it is a very slow fermentation recipe, and one that should be well aged. If I can save a few bottles of this one for a few years it might be quite a wonderful mead for special occasions.

Reports of this mead is that it has a subtle chocolate aftertaste that is nearly unidentifiable, but the extasy effect of chocolate remains.

Mead Thoughts

2009-10-08T15:22:00.003-04:00

Ok I could have put this in the last post, but I thought it worthy of its own post on its own.

I've been considering my next batch, because why wait until this one is finished, might as well work on getting a good supply of the stuff going... and plain mead just isn't good enough for me ;) I think I am going to go with a spiced mead or as its properly known a Metheglin. I think a mead made with cinnamon and a few other top secret spices (aka I don't know what yet) would make an excellent Christmas wine, and since the idea is to have a well aged mead for next Christmas it should work well. I need to make a trip out to Monroe's in Alvinston to pick up 15-20 lbs of honey for it though. Although I did come across an interesting recipe for a maple mead which sounds plenty interesting as well.

I have also been thinking about simulating the oak aging by getting some oak chips to add to carboy for aging. Have to look into it more and figure out when to add it and how long to leave it in and such, but it would add that extra bit of subtlety to my meads. I'd love to one day get a bourbon cask and use it to age it, just for that added wow factor, but I am not interested in spending the hundreds of dollars at this point, its not like I plan on selling my mead.

Mead Making Progress

2009-10-08T15:01:00.002-04:00

Ok, the fermentation slowed considerably. I have been a little concerned about this the past few days, however some reading seems to confirm that the fermentation process in very sweet meads tends to be very slow despite what the guy from somerset suggested. I think I will leave it another week then rack it off into a different carboy, this should ensure that there is no off flavour from the lees. The lees are the dead husks of the yeast.

Shield Making and other stuff

2009-10-05T09:14:00.002-04:00

So I worked on a shield, not Lilley's, but rather the loaner shield I will be donating to the shire. The reason I worked on that shield and not Lilley's is because Lilley wants to paint her own shield, or at least help. This makes sense and is fine by me. So I figured I'd do up the loaner shield and Lilley can use it until such time as her own is made and ready.

In addition I made a device which should help me make some pretty cool torcs, arm bands, circlets and other such jewlery. Once I play with it some and get some stuff out I'll post pics and details about how it works. But it is extremely simple to make and could make some real impressive stuff if it works the way I hope it does.

Mead Making Progress

2009-10-04T10:31:00.001-04:00

So I tasted the mead last night. It was good.... a little too sweet yet though. I will leave it another week before I test it again.

Boffer MIT

2009-10-02T10:10:00.001-04:00

Yvette managed to get ahold of Slwyn for me and pass on my email address which apparently had issues sending to from the elist. Hopefully soon I can get my papers signed by her and be a boffer MIT to help Elzbeth with the boffer training.

Mead Making Progress

2009-10-02T10:07:00.002-04:00

I searched the net for similar recipes to the one I am using and found that the starting specific gravity tends to be around 1.08 I am going to go with that, although its not very scientific. If I stop fermentation at 1.010 I will get about 9.23% alcohol by volume. This sounds like a pretty good percentage for a nice sweet wine. I found a nice little calculator online to help with figuring out abv and abw (alcohol by volume, and alcohol by weight) the site is Brewers Calculator.

Mead Making Progress

2009-10-01T12:46:00.002-04:00

Went into a wine making shop today to price out some equipment and ended up in a nice little chat with the proprietor over the making of mead. I ended up buying a hydrometer, some siphoning hose, some Potassium Metabisulphite and he threw in some potassium sorbate and bentonite for free. He also said that if I buy my bottles from him he'll loan me a corker for free. I also got no end of tips from the man. I very much recommend Somerset Fine Wines and Gifts for all your wine making needs.

Now for details on the toys I bought:

Hydrometer: this handy little device floats in the must to tell you how much sugar is still in the solution. The reason this is important to know is that if you take a reading before you pitch the yeast you can calculate the amount of alcohol in your mead. I did not do this, but that's ok, according to Dwight (the proprietor of Somerset) if I stop fermentation at 1010-1015 I'll end up with a nice sweet meed with a guesstimated alcohol content of around 9-10% give or take. Not a strong mead, but a nice sweet desert mead (oops I should be saying cyser).

Potassium Metabisulphite: shockes the yeast and prevents the yeast from fermenting. Also acts as a good disinfectant for sanatizing.

Potassium Sorbate: coats the yeast and prevents the yeast from being able to reproduce ensuring that fermentation cannot start again later.

Bentonite: Clarifier. Bentonite will take the cloudiness away from the mead.

Mead

2009-09-30T11:29:00.001-04:00

Mead is fermenting up a storm.....

One thing to note is that I should not fill the carboy as much next time.... some of the liquid from the carboy actually went up the fermentation lock and is in the chamber topping up the water LOL.

Mead Making Progress

2009-09-28T20:10:00.002-04:00

Pitched the yeast, the yeast sank to the bottom, hopefully it rises again and starts fermenting. I don't expect any real activity tonight, but we shall see.

Mead Making Progress

2009-09-28T09:38:00.003-04:00

Ok so I finally got around to starting the mead. Here's what I did:

1gallon of pressed apple cider
3 lbs of Honey

I pasteurized the mixture and put it in the gallon carboy to cool for the night. Tonight after work I will toss the yeast in and hopefully in a few months I will have some alcoholic beverage.

I am also planning a larger batch of mead that I want prepared (and aged a year) by next xmas. This one will probably be a relatively plain batch of mead and not a cyser like this batch.

Torc Complete

2009-09-25T18:09:00.002-04:00

I finished work on my first torc. Its gold twisted wire. A little small and one finial is a little wrong, but it's not bad. If I can get some pictures of it I'll post them soon. Once I have perfected the method I will also post them here.

A&S Project of the Century

2009-09-25T09:59:00.007-04:00

Ok so maby not A&S Project of the Century, but Faye and I are working on plans for an impressive piece. Faye (doh Magurite I should say since this is SCA talk) asked of the traditional dress of a 6th century Irish Celt (my persona) and I responded (after some premiliminary research), "Colourful to the point of gaudy, tunic, usually primarily died saffron and down to the ankles, from thigh to ankle tablet woven or heavily embroidered." She said she can do that and we have been making plans on how to go about it.

She requested I come up with a design for the embroidery and I have basically four interconnecting panels linking up depicting the four treasures of Ireland. I figure if you're going to do Irish you might as well do it up right. The four treasures of Ireland (for you ignorant plebs who don't know) are:

Lia Fáil: The Stone of Destiny, which has been the cornation stone of the High Kings of Ireland throughout history. It is said that when the rightful High King places his feet upon it will roar with joy for all the land to hear. Unfortunately Cú Chulainn split it when it did not cry out when Lugaid Riab nDerg stood upon it. There is said to be a link to the Stone of Scone and that the Scottish stone might in fact be a part of the Lia Fáil.
The Spear of Lug: No battle was ever sustained against it, or against the man who held it. Lug or Lugh is a Irish deity known as the long hand or the long arm. While Lugh is known for having a mystical spear Brionac there is no evidence that Brionac and The Spear of Lugh are the same.

Claíomh Solais: (The Sword of Ireland) another weapon which no man could stand against. Claíomh Solais was a great sword, the sword of Nuada Airgetlám (Nuada Silver Arm), the first king of the Tuatha Dé Danann.
The Dagda’s Cauldron: This was a bottomless cauldron, no company would leave from its presence unsatisfied. It was also said to have healing properties. Dagda is a prominent god in the Irish Celtic pantheon, he is known as the "good god" although he is often depicted as oafish and crude.

So it comes that the basic design has begun to unfold. much research must still be done since Margurite has decided to do this as period specific as possible. She has asked me to find out if metalic threads were ever used, and I seem to have found some evidence that it was.

"A SMALLER SOCIAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT IRELAND:Treating of the Government, Military System, and Law; Religion, Learning and Art; Trades, Industries, and Commerce; Manners, Customs, and Domestic Life, of the Ancient Irish People" by PW Joyce written in 1906 covers the history of Ireland from the sixth to twelfth century mentions tunics saying "It was usually made of wool or flax: some-times it was of silk, occasionally of satin, highly ornamented with devices in gold and silver thread, worked with the needle". PW Joyce however claims Celt is a phonetic rendering of Kilt and uses this as evidence of the much disputed "Irish Kilt", it is generally accepted that there never was a Irish Kilt, and that all evidence is merely missunderstanding of the manner in which the Celts wore long tunics which tended to resemble kilts from the waist down, and while wearing a brat it was hard to determine that the upper and lower were all part of the same garment. Despite the Kilt claim I see no reason to dismiss all of Joyce's claims since they are backed up with evidence from carvings and other writings.

The Crimson Star Household Favour

2009-09-11T07:29:00.002-04:00

I received my sash for joining the Crimson Star at fight practice. So I now have a black and red sash (the colours of the Crimson Star) to identify myself as a crew member of the Crimson Star.

Much updating to be done

2009-09-08T09:22:00.005-04:00

Ok, so this blog is terribly out of date again. I am a terrible blogger, but oh well, what can I say.

NEWS

Household changes:
Not talking SCA households (well got an update there, but just wait) Maragrete mka Faye has moved in with Lilley and I on a permanent basis. This makes my daughter and I quite pleased. Maragarete is also a registered member of the SCA, due to her position as Baronial Arts and Sciences minister for Rising Waters, as such we have decided to get a family membership making Lilley and I members as well.

Heraldry:
I have worked on some heraldry for myself, Faye, and Lilley, but Lilley is holding out, not sure what she wants. Faye likes hers, and once I get permission to post hers I'll post it here as well, but mine is shown here on the left. Blazoned I believe it would be Or a chief Azure, Azure Wyvern, an or wolf between two or bees in chief.

Such is the heraldry of Cú Allaidh Mac Cummascaig of Trinovantia Nova. It is not registered yet, but oh well, it soon shall be.

Household News Redux:
Ok this time I am talking SCA household. The good ship Crimson Star has asked that I join their crew, as such I am to begin my career in piracy. This is not such a stretch for my persona, as the Irish have a long tradition of piracy by the sea. Most current members are later period, but oh well they will have to take this early period Celt if they wish me a crew member. Search as I may I cannot find a website for the Crimson Star, as such I think that I will make the offer to the Captain of the ship that I shall make a site for them and host it myself.

Fighting News:
I got a chance to make it down to Rising Waters for a fight practice. It was quite the practice. So many knights, so many bruises, so many tips and tricks emparted. It was a wonderful practice in which I got to work on my blocking skills considerably, wich is a skill that seemed to be lacking of late.

First attempt at poetry

2009-07-08T00:44:00.004-04:00

This is my first attempt at a bardic poem, its a work in progress:

A Newbie's Journy

There is this group that meets I was told
A group that meets to clash sword and shield
A group called the SCA

I picked up a sword and answered a call
I picked up a shield and it joined with me
I picked up the game and found a home

Why have I not heard of this
Friends and Family alike have heard
yet none deemed to tell me

Now Masq was held
Dancing to music with steps long forgot
The grip of the game tightened yet

Hark now Rocriptus shows me the martial ropes
And Wulfgang, and Kellen, and Thord, and more
The boys of Trinovantia Nova never fail to assist

A name, what's in a name
I have a name given to me by my father
but in the society I am told a name is what you make of it

The name passed on to me by blood is cast aside
a name I take up to become
The wild hound cries in my heart

At Winter War a test was given
Sword and Board was granted to me
At Winter War a test was passed

A fate worse than death, a fighter who cannot fight
or so I thought that day at the War of the Trillium
Arts and Sciences you say

So it is St. Michael appears before me
'bind this book, I'll show you how'
stitch and glue, carve and stretch

Like a duck to water
a new interest found
the SCA seems an endless pool of possibility

So it is the Society has me
Bookbinder, meadbrewer, fighter, archer, fencer
What lies next for this society man

Perhaps its time to unleash the bard within
all the world is a stage a man once said
The society is a play within the play

Bardic arts I do seek
so the play must go on
this play within the play within the play

Very rough, but I wrote it free form with no thought to form or rhythm.

War of The Trillium

2009-07-06T09:38:00.004-04:00

July 1 - 5 I, and my daughter, had the immense pleasure of attending the War of the Trillium. This was our first camping event, and my daughters first camping experience at all. It was unique, to say the least, and wonderful. I felt like a small child, everywhere I looked there was something new and exciting to do/see/experience/taste, wonderful people to converse/drink/sing/laugh/eat with.

I joined the Society a heavy fighter, and I will always remain a heavy fighter, but due to stupidity on my fault (forgetting that most important of armor pieces the all powerful cup) I was not able to fight. I could have simply run to town and picked one up, and more than one person offered me a loaner cup (thanks Raithe and the barbarian who's name I can't recall) but I regretted missing the cup for only a moment before I saw something shiny to distract my attention, a handful of daggers to hurl at a target.

We arrived on Wednesday shortly after lunch and only a handful had set up encampment, Dagmar assisted me in finding a spot for my daughter and I to set up our encampment. Being as I was the only Trionvantian there for the whole time I did not join a group encampment but set my tent up alone, as I was setting up though Eoforwic appeared and set up their encampment behind my own, and a fine fellow by the name of Toki set up his beside my own.

Wednesday I had dinner with the folks at House Druantia (I think that's right) encampment, and one of the women in the camp, Annabelle brought some garb for Lilley that was made by the ever tallented Yvette. The garb fit my daughter like a glove and she loved them beyond compare. Hopefully soon I will have the pics uploaded soon. At dinner that night I met many fine people whome I became friends with, including Tarian and her family, Annabelle, her husband (Richard I believe? and her lovely, yet supper hyper, little one L'lyn), and the beautiful Marguerite (a different Marguerite then is making the garb for Lilley that I won through the silent auction an Lady Mary). After dinner Lilley and I roasted some mashmellows and I sent her to bed. I let the fire burn down, and once it was just embers I went to the Eoforwic encampment and introduced myself since they were all still up and I wasn't ready for bed quite yet. I met many interesting folk there and heard the poem written by a nice woman named Mary who is insane, but in a nice chearful pleasant way and not a stab you in your sleep creepy way.

Thursday Marguerite from dinner at Terian's the night before came by and chatted for a bit. Then the rain hit, and myself, my daughter, Marguerite, and St. Michael (I will discuss him more later) set up shop for the day in the shelter by what would be the heavy list field. Marguerite was working on sewing and she asked Lilley if she would like to make a belt pouch and learn embroidery. This caught Lilley's interest greatly and she took to it like a duck to water. I have not seen the work much since it is a top secret project closely guarded, but what I have seen is quite impressive. While Lilley was busy learning to stitch St. Michael Alewright of Aethelmearc (Ok, so he is not a real saint, his proper title I believe is Master Michael), the patron Saint of the Ealdormerian Bookbinding Guild set up shop for binding books and asked if I was interested, indeed I was as I have much interest in books. And lo and behold St. Michael, of whome I am now a disciple, set me at a sewing frame and taught me to bind books. By the time the rain stopped and it was time for dinner Eoforwic's firepit had vanished into a newly formed bog, my own tent was quite damp inside, and all the firewood was beyond damp. Eoforwic solved their problem by piling wood up quite high and attacking it with what can only be described as a portable flame thrower (propane torch). While Toki, myself, and Marguerite attacked our own little damp fire until Toki gave up and borrowed some kerosine from Tarian's encampment. Personally I thought he used the kerosine a little reclessly, but in the end it worked and no one was harmed.

Unfortunately due to the wet and such from the day before I ended up quite ill Friday. But after a very long nap and some pills by a nice woman with an australian accent who's name I have quite forgotten I reovered well and shot some arrows, and Lilley got a chance to shoot as well. Bardic circle occured that night, Lilley made the first request and joined in to sing Rise. She sang a few more songs before I banished her to the tent and rejoined the circle.

Saturday was perhaps the best day of the entire trip. Finished binding my book (uncovered) and hung out with Marguerite some more. Lilley spent more time hanging out with other kids than she had in previous days, probably due to the amount of freedom that was granted her the day before by my illness. I tried my hand at thrown weapons, and although the first round was superb the rest not so well. Saturday was the fist time I was prepared to fight, but I discovered I had forgotten my cup. And while Rocripus managed to find somone willing to loan me one, a loaner cup (used) is not something I relish the thought of putting on. Like a small child though I was disappointed for a short time then saw something shiny and new (thrown weapons at that point I believe) I quickly forgot my dismay. Then there was the mead tasting, oy vey the wonderfullness of it all. The evening was lovely and well amusing. A visit from Mary while Marguerite and I enjoyed a cozy fire, was brought on by me tripping over some of Toki's gear brought some chuckles forth, then there was the midnight rading party to find more wood after all but a few revelers were asleep in bed.

Then came Sunday.... the saddest day of all. Parting is such sweet sorrow. I made many friends, of whome I hope I keep in touch with every last one of them. Toki gave parting gifts to Marguerite and I, and we all exchanged info. I managed to obtain the email address of St. Michael, and already I have been in contact with lady Tarian about bookbinding, overall I would say that Trillies were wonderful.

What a practice

2009-06-04T09:34:00.002-04:00

Wow, multiple knights and nearly 20 fighters at yesterday's practice, including a first time female fighter who I got a chance to fight.

Sir Vanian was quite helpful in teaching me a thing or two at the beginning of practice before many had finished armoring up, and Sir Kasmir also took me aside to give me a little one on one training. It was quite a knight's night.

Melee practice was a blast, though I died harshly several times. I have a healthy fear of spears now, not that I didn't respect them before, but after a jab to an unarmored part of my stomach and a shot that almost took off my head, I am certain I will watch for spears in future melees.

I discussed what I would like for a helm with Rocriptus, and he has been wanting to try to make one like I want anyways so I am really hoping I can afford to at least give him a partial payment in order to start work on a helm.

Kellan and I chatted about two stick stratagies and he gave me some helpful pointers on a stance I might find more effective, next practice I will have to try it out.

Mead Making Progress

2009-06-02T13:03:00.002-04:00

Ok so I finally have a bottle clean to be used, well sort of, now I have to clean it so that the cleaner is out of it and its truly clean with no trace chemicals, however that's the easy part really. That being said I picked up enough honey to do a small batch, a fermentation lock, and some yeast. Perhaps soon I will have a batch in progress. The siphon hose can always be purchased at a later date really, the fermentation process will take time anyways. I will be taking loads of pictures and such along the way so anyone who might actually follow this blog might be able to view the process.

Mead Making to Commence Soonish

2009-05-26T14:28:00.004-04:00

This past weekend I managed to pick up a fair number of carboys for making mead. This provides me with the ability to make a substantial amount of mead, though until I master it I will probably start with small batches. I was hoping to have a batch or two made up for the war of the trillium, but I am not so sure. The carboys need some serious cleaning done on them as they have sat in my brothers shed for countless years.

The only thing I need now is a pot big enough (I think I have one somewhere), a fermentation lock, and some tubing for siphoning, and some stoppers. Then I will have all the equipment I need to start up a micro meadery in my apartment. Of course many other tools could be handy as well, but this equipment will get me started nicely. I already have a host of people willing to be taste testers.

My plan is to attempt a simple mead with very little in the way of additions to it, I may try a melomel (mead with fruit mixed in) metheglin (spiced mead) after that, but I want to get a good base recipe going first.

Persona Development

2009-05-13T16:11:00.003-04:00

It's not my persona I am working on developing this time, but rather Lilley's. With the promise of some new garb she wants to work on a persona of her very own. While discussing this she asked me what my persona was and I told her I was Cú Allaidh an 8th century Celt from Ireland. She then replied "Well that's what I have to be then," I told her she was free to choose whatever period and persona she wished. It seems that she was under the impression that she had to pick a persona that fit her being my daughter, I informed her she could if she wished, but there was no real need to do so.

This intrigued her, a persona of her own, in a period and from a location of her choosing. I suggested a late period (1400-1600) posssibly Italian or French. I thought of those due to her love of dancing and that she is in French immersion, though really any local during the stated period probably would have had French speaking aristocrats so she probably would have been fine. It seems that she has her heart set on being a Parisian, this seems right to me, very fitting of her. Paris being the seat of fashionablity both in the period in question and modern times.

So now we have a period and location, it comes to naming now. This I think will be more difficult, I have come up with a few resources thanks to the fine folks on the SCANewcomers yahoo group:

I have gone over some of the names with her, and she has a few she didn't mind, but nothing concrete yet, hopefully something will grab her.

A Weekend in the Middle Ages

2009-05-11T10:13:00.003-04:00

Wassail all, I have had a weekend full of SCA activities. On Saturday I made my way to the Barony of Rising Waters to partake in Lady Mary. Although I did not compete, or fight at all both my daughter and I had a memorable time. I cannot thank Yvette enough for the wonderful event. On Sunday I made it out to my Shire's archery practice ant got a chance to shoot some arrows off, again a memorable time, and I will be returning.

Lady Mary

Although we could not stay for feast this time, it was quite interesting to watch the fighting, and see the wares for sale. Naturally I could not leave the event without making a purchase or two. My daughter picked out a wonderful little music box and has not put it down for more than a moment since she bought it. Myself I got a new belt and a belt knife.

My new belt knife is what the vendor called a gentleman's bowie knife. Not quite period, but still an impressive knife. The balance is nice, it has a beautiful cherrywood handle, the sheath is nice. It doesn't look overly decorative, which is good, because it is meant to be a functional knife for me and not just look pretty.

Heavy fighting

Alas I did not partake in any fighting at all. I felt the tournament was too prestigious for me to compete in. However all fighters are expected to have a consort for who's honour they fight for. Kellen (aka Rob) did not have a consort that day, I am sure he would have fought for his wife's honour in absentee or perhaps for the honour of the court, however he requested the honour of fighting for Lilley's honour. I granted him permission and Lilley got presented to the court. She is ever so proud of the necklace and carnation the court gave to each consort, and she was pleased as punch to have her own personal champion at the event.

Dancing

My daughter was quite excited about Lady Mary because she recalled Yvette telling her at Winter War that there would be plenty of dancing at Lady Mary. Sure enough the dancing did not disappoint her. Once again my thanks go out to the lovely Yvette, and the wondrous Brandi (not sure of her SCA name), the two of them took Lilley in hand and helped her dance and see what she wished to see, while giving me a chance to watch some fighting bouts. Brandi even offered to be my partner when I joined them in the dance room.

Despite the fact I have three left feet Brandi was a patient instructor correcting me when I goofed up without making me feel like a fool. I do look forward to more instruction in this fine art. While heavy fighting is my main area of focus I can see dancing being something I actually look forward to at events as well.

Silent Auction

There was a silent auction at Lady Mary. Quite a few interesting items up for bid, one in particular was an offer to make garb for children. Lilley desperately needs new garb, and so I put in a bid, I was the only bidder so I bid fairly low, but not obscenely low, and lo and behold I won the item. So now I get to have some garb made for Lilley at a nice cut rate price. I am sure Lilley will be excited once she can wear her new garb. I do have to arrange a time to go to the seamstress and get Lilley measured up and pick out the style. In addition to this a friend of a friend who sewed me my first tunic contacted me with an offer to do some more garb for my daughter and I, so perhaps we will be filling out our SCA wardrobes.

I am glad that the friend contacted me about additional garb, I don't like my black tunic (no fault of the seamstress, my own fault for not knowing what I was doing when I bought the material) the material is not really period, the colour is not right, basically it just doesn't fit my persona well. What I would like is a Leine, trews, a proper brat, and a Inar to really fit the part of early irish celt. I don't know if the seamstress would be willing to do all that for me, but we shall see.

I am not quite sure what period to hit for Lilley, I would imagine she would prefer a more later period, going for fancier dress cloths as it would make her more like a princess. We shall see.

Feast

Alas I missed feast this time around, much to Lilley's dismay. Lilley already has quite the reputation as an up and comming bard due to her singing at Winter War and Masquerade, and she was so looking forward to singing some. Next event I should ensure that we get to feast and that I have some lyric sheets printed off for her so she knows the words even better yet. I will have to ask Yvette for some of the better known songs so I can download the lyrics and get Lilley working on the songs.

Archery

On Sunday I got a chance to go out to Louisa's farm for some archery practice. I shot archery once in scout camp when I was quite young, I didn't do terrible, but I certainly didn't do good, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect this time. I surprised myself by doing half decent. Raithe informed me I was pulling about 32 lbs or so, but I'll just have to take his word on that. After a few rounds with a 30lbs bow I got to try out Raithe's monster 75 lbs longbow. When I say monster, I mean monster, the thing is fantastic to shoot, the arrows whistle out of the bow and hit the target with quite a satisfying thump. The first few shots with the longbow were way off as my arm wobbled under the strain of pulling the string back, but once I got a little steadier the arrows flew truer, but I had to adjust my aim considerably because there was almost no drop to the arrows and most of my shots went sailing over the targets.

Lady Mary

2009-05-08T10:34:00.006-04:00

The Baronry of Rising Waters is hosting Lady Mary tomorrow. I think I will grab my daughter and head down there to check out the festivities. Rising Waters is the area I was born in, and the area I would have joined the SCA in if I had heard of it earlier. So in a way it will be like returning home. I already know some of the folk from Rising Waters, including Yvette who has been kind enough to allow Lilley to sing with her at a number of events, and some of my fellow Trinovantians will be there as well including Raithe and Steve, not really sure who else will be there.

Lady Mary is said to be quite the prestigious event, as such I think I will bow out of tournament fighting, but if they are doing secondary authorizations I think I will attempt to get my two stick and thrusting authorizations to add to my card, and it never hurts to get a little extra fighting in there even if I am not outright competing.

Apparently there is a fair amount of dancing at Lady Mary, so I am sure Lilley will be ecstatic to get a chance to learn some new dances. Although we won't be staying for feast so probably won't get a chance for her to work on her Bardic Arts.

I hadn't really planned on going to Lady Mary as I am not happy with my garb, and have not gotten Lilley new garb either and I had been waffeling on the matter for quite some time. The lovely lady Yvette however informed me that I was required to attend with my daughter. This was when I went to Rocriptus' to repair my armour a few weeks back, she happened to be there as well. Apparently she is autocrating the event, and I do so hate to let down a lady, especially a lovely one.

My task for tonight is to repair my swords thrusting tips so that they are a little larger than they currently are as I think there might be a risk of some wood hitting if I thrust at the wrong angle. I also have to make sure my garb is in order. That and make sure Lilley is prepared for the day as well.

If you are going, see you there, if not, why not?

Exhausting Practice

2009-05-07T10:25:00.003-04:00

Sir Kasmir came to practice last night, it being his custom to appear the first practice of every month to encourage the troops and give tips on improving our skills. He put us through our paces for sure. Instead of the winner staying in, each fighter remained in the ring for two fights win or lose, and we did not wait for lay on, but rather just charged in. Kellan was trying to get us to fight quicker, with less dancing around sizing up our opponents.

It was a good drill system to get us in shape for mellee fighting. A quick deal with your opponent and move on to the next. Sounds like a wonderful training technique, however it quickly left us all breathless and exhausted.

Before the real training began I had a chance to speak with Sir Kellan and he showed me how to improve my shot and had me work on it considerably alternating between my left and right hand. He showed me how I was telegraphing my hits by cocking back my arm, helped me correct it then showed me that I was still telegraphing by bopping my body a little before each shot. It was a lot to take in, and I hope my shot improved.

I did have a couple of nice kills during the practice. A few that even surprised me, including one against Wolfgang, although to be fair Wolfy was looking pretty winded at the time, and I had just come off a rest.

A Week of Experimentation

2009-04-24T09:50:00.004-04:00

Apparently this week is about trying new things.

Although I did try two stick once with Thorld (I think that's Tyler's society name), I didn't fare well and I was using loaner swords. Last week, thanks to Roscriptus, I managed to get my own swords completed and battle ready. Casting off my loaned shield I ran into the fray with a sword in both hands, and thrusting tips on both. Two stick is a unique experience, I move more, I strike more, and blocking requires quicker and more movement. Snag assisted me adjusting my calibration with my left hand (ok my calibration on my right needs work too, but my left is terrible), and I think I made some improvements, but I have to hit harder. I convinced Raithe that he needed to try two stick as well, and promptly learned that a fencers speed is a very good thing for two stick as he killed me with a maddening flurry of hits. I did get some pretty nice kills, some by accident, some intentional. I do have to send out a big thank you to Thorld for lunging into my sword tip like that, I guess its payback for all the times I dove onto his sword.

In addition to getting my swords battle ready Roscriptus also assisted me in improving my knee armour, although they still needs some tweeks to fasten them on my legs better, they are at least legal now. I also had some repairs on my leg armour done. Roscriptus you do good work, thanks.

In addition to trying out two stick, I made it out to Rapier practice as well and tried some fencing. Raithe spent considerable time showing me the ins and outs of rapier, and showing me the massive differences between rapier and fencing, taking out my tows a few times reminded me that below the knee is a valid shot in rapier. I enjoyed rapier and I am sure I will be making more appearences, that being said Heavy Fighting is my main focus for now, I will try doing every other week Rapier practice though, and go from there.

The next thing I want to try is archery. I can't see combat archery as the thing for me (who wants to stand on the sidelines shooting arrows when you can be in the middle of it all slaying foes with a sword), but I do think target practice could be fun.

A Follow Up on My Winter War Thoughts

2009-03-09T13:56:00.002-04:00

How could I forget to mention. Not only did my daughter and I have such a fun time at the event. We also both won prizes which we both are proud of and hold dear. My daughter won a wooden horse and soldier to play with, and I won fantastic leather bracers which are now part of my armour gear.

Winter War XI

2009-03-09T13:03:00.003-04:00

News reached my ears of a battle brewing in my own shire. I could not ignore the call to battle. My daughter and I made the trip to the battle grounds and she sat on the sidelines while I prepared.

To prove my worth I stood before a marshal and passed the rites of authorization. Authorized and prepared I let it be known that I was available to any captain looking to hire a mercenary. My quest to find work did not last long and a commander from Ramshaven hired me on. We fought many a foe and I believe I earned my pay, though in the end my armour failed me and my knee cop fell to my ankle. I battled against my sword brothers from Shire of Trinovantia Nova as well, and learned how swift their forces can strike.

A market had sprung up around the battle field and I took my daughter to buy her some pretty baubles, her decked out in her prettiest dress and I wearing a battle damaged tunic, we made quite the mismatched pair. Lilley found herself a couple of necklaces she loved, I bought both of them, how is it daughters wrap their fathers around their fingers so?

When it came time for feasting after the battles Their Majesties King Etain au Navaland Queen Valfreya Greenspeare held court before bread was broken. Many foreigners sent greetings from their far flung and backwards lands, I admit I paid little attention to the goings on in court until a man whom I was aquainted with, and would call a friend, Dailin Caulder was called before the court. He was honoured for his accomplishements for the shire and kingdom and was granted an award of arms making him Lord Dailin Caulder. Wasail Lord Dailin of Trinovantia Nova, you make us proud. The most regal event of the court was the raising of Her Excellency TSivia bas Tamara v’Amberview to the Order of the Pelican. her fame had reached even my ears thus it was impressive to see the splendor of such an event.

Baroness Margaret of the E'rain prepared the feast and it was beyond reproach. I do not know if I have words to explain the sheer volume and flavour of the food that was layed before us. I doubt even the greatest of poets could begin to touch on the wonder that was the feast. I have eaten food prepared by the Baroness before, at the Masquarade Ball not all that long ago, and though I knew the food would be superb, nothing could prepare my taste buds nor stomach for the assault that was made upon them. The poached pairs made an appearance as well and I could eat those until my stomach burst and still want more.

The bards voices were not heard as much as they were at Masqurade, but they were heard and Lilley added her angelic six year old voice to the throng, even so far as to sing alone for the king and queen. Though she was to shy to request the audience of Their Majesties herself I made the introduction and asked for Their indulgence. King Etain demonstrated his kindness by gracing my daughter with the language of the aristocrats responding in french to her french song. I admit I knew little of what he said, but my daughter was overjoyed at the attention of royalty. King Etain also gave her a gift, which she will treasure always. Lilley will be a bard of note in Ealdormere before my name is known amongst the warriors, of this I am certain.

First Practice of 2009

2009-01-07T23:03:00.002-05:00

Practice went well, and I learned lots.

My thoughts about the centre boss being the shield for me were confirmed again as I shunned the heater entirely and focused on the centre boss. Got some good exchanges in and the guys really worked with me to start whipping me into shape for Winter War where I hope to get authorized so I can fight at events.

I need to work more on defensive manouvers though, I got spanked a couple of times, and while it hurt I will survive to fight another day, and I learned that with one handed weapons that's not a kill shot like I thought it was.

I earned a nasty welt on my hip, stands out pretty good. By far the biggest one I've gotten yet. I am honestly not to sure who gave me this one, it might have been Snag, but I can't recall for sure.

My off side shot has improved alot, but I need to work harder. Snag helped me lots before one bout, and I think I am starting to get it down pat, just not fast enough with it.

We did some melee, and wow was that fun. At one point I got speared by Rob (what the heck is his SCA name again) in such a way I only saw the spear retract away from my face, not the actual hit, but I felt it. I have to admire that guy's speed. We did a few bouts of three on three, but after one which left me winded they did a few three on one's and such which was interesting to watch, and looked like fun.

I really need to work on my breathing. I tend to hold my breath when blocking and taking a shot, and since you are doing that most of the time in a fight it is real easy to get winded that way. Oh well just another in a long line of things that are uber important to remember.

A Lesson Learned

2008-12-18T13:23:00.003-05:00

Last nights fights went well, though there were so few of us. We did not fight in our regular location as there were preparations for a Yule party that I think would be disrupted by the combat of heavy fighters, so we went next door and discovered the room was probably twice the size, though the tile considerably slipperier. There were only four of us suited up and prepared for battle.

Since there were so few players I was taught many a lesson that night, and some I will not easily forget.

Lesson 1) The cup is all important, all praise the cup, I may found a religion based on the protective powers of the cup. Without the cup last night Lilley would have definitely been my only child, although perhaps my singing voice might have improved with the new ability to hit higher notes.

Lesson 2) I am not a heater shield person, time to build my own center boss. Center boss is the "Boss".

Lesson 3) Cover my ass for a blow to my seat makes a painful ride home.

Lesson 4) Vary my blows, I am way too predictable (some who know my alter ego Jeff might not be shocked by this revelation).

Barroom Brawl at Yule

2008-12-11T09:22:00.002-05:00

Trinovantia Nova celebrated Yule yesterday (Dec 10th), and what a party. There was enough sugary goodness to knock out even the hardest of sugar addicts. I know that even this morning I still felt the effects of a sugar high (or was that the mead I drank when I got home).

I did discover (as I do every year) that I can only stand so much hot apple cider before my stomach revolts. If only cider didn't taste so darned good I could resist it a tad, or at least before my fifth glass. There was fantastic homemade fudge there that was just beyond good. And whoever made that onion dip should be commended as well.

Before the food was brought out a barroom brawl broke out. First there were no apparent alliances, truly a free for all brawl, then slowly groups began to form until it became heavies against boffers. Though the boffers outnumbered us we still managed to teach them a thing or two. I found I rather enjoy using two swords, fighting two fisted is even more fun than sword and shield. I did use a great sword for a while, but since it was a boffer great sword I wielded it one handed with a short sword in the other hand. There was one kid who was just deadly with two weapons and try as I might I could not land a blow past his whirling arms though he was half my hight and I should have had an incredible advantage. Funny how the smallest of warriors sometimes are the most deadly. Until that kid I always thought the quick twirling of swords you see in the movies is generally ineffective, this kid proved that if done right it works. I didn't catch his name, but he was amongst the youngest of the fighters I believe.

Raithe was up to his usual shinanigans constantly attempting to sneak a shot in even if I wasn't engaged in battle with him, however I got one or two good shots in on him as well, and I am practicing more and more with my sword so I am hopping to teach him a lesson in our next battle that he won't soon forget ;).

Practice Dec 3rd

2008-12-04T11:43:00.002-05:00

I attended fight practice again and fought hard. Sir Kasimir attended the training as well, it is his tradition to show up to Trinovantia Nova's Heaving Fighting practice once a month. I had much to learn from Sir Kasimir and Vanion who both took much time to teach me much.

Adelle and I sparred once and she managed to do a nice wrap to my back which I still feel this morning. She felt bad for her blow, but I assured her that it was a fair and well placed shot. The bruise should heal by next practice.

I was impressed to see Raithe take down Kasimir in a single blow. I hope someday to be skilled enough to do the same.

I did win a few bouts, though for the most part I know they were given to me to demonstrate how to take advantage of openings and to keep my moral up.

This is my first attempt at using the leg armour graciously loaned to me. It felt good to toss the hockey pants aside and have the mobility that the new armour gave me. Though the spanking I got form Kasimir definately made me pine for the protection of the hockey pants, luckily there is no welt on my rear to stand testiment to the pain.

I'd like to thank Damon for his assistance in teaching me how to peen a rivit and helping me get straps and stomach protection on the kidney belt. It was definately a learing experience.

So What is Heavy Fighting

2008-11-28T09:44:00.002-05:00

So yesterday I described (very) briefly what the SCA is, now you might wonder what Heavy Fighting is. Amongst the SCAdians Heavy Fighters are commonly referred to as "Stick Jocks" This is meant to be a slur, but personally I think its a great title. Heavy fighters are the armoured fighters of the SCA, we dress up in armour and bash each other with sticks. I'll lay out what happens and how we are armed as I understand it now.

Weapons:
The weapons of the SCA Heavy Fighter are length of Rattan of 1-1.5" diameter. For those of you who don't know what rattan is, it is solid bamboo, very hard chunk of wood. With the rattan you can make pretty much any weapon that was used in the middle ages except hinged or chained weapons such as nunchucks and ball and chains. Some common SCA weaponry:

Slashing Sword
This is your standard starter weapon for Stick Jocks. A simple length of tapped rattan with a hilt of some sort. Basket hilts are the most common because with a basket hilt it is legal to wear half gauntlets enstead of full gauntlets and are thus less restricting to hand movment.

Thrusting Sword
This is your basic sword with a thrusting tip added. A thrusting tip is a piece of close-cell foam tapped to the tip of the sword so you can include thrusts to your maneuvers. You are not allowed to train with a thrusting tip until you have authorized with Shield and hand weapon first.

Great Sword
A great sword is just a two handed beast of a sword. Think of the Scottish Claymores.

Mace
A mace is a basic bludgeoning weapon, usually with an large head, sometimes with points added for added effectiveness. I don't believe anyone in Trinovantia Nova uses a mace right now, but as I understand it it is a somewhat common weapon.

Spear
In the SCA a spear is similar to a great sword except it can be two handed or one handed depending on length and generally only has a thrusting tip, though you can add slashing blades to it as well. Since my personna is an irishman from around 700BC I would like to start using a shorter one handed spear with a shield to be accurate to my personna.

Pole Axe
A particularly useful weapon when fighting melee with a shield wall, the pole axe is a two handed axe with a really long handle. Useful for reaching over shield walls both friendly and enemy to strike down foes.

Armour:
In the SCA there are certain armour requirements, beyond that it is up to you to do as you feel comfortable. The rules of armour are:

Helms:

Helms must be 16 Gage steel at a minimum
Face guards on the helm cannot have more than a one inch gap
When the front of the helm is pushed it cannot come in contact with your nose
Must have a chin strap
Must be padded with 1/2 inch closed-cell foam

Gorget (neck protection)
A cup (guys you really really really want to make sure on this one)
Kidneys must be protected
Hands must be protected
Elbows
Knees

Beyond that anything is optional, however I would recommend some chest protection and shoulder protection. On a first time out go with as much coverage as you can (and still move) and scale down from there for comfort as you improve if you find parts that are unnecessary.

Shields:
I didn't include this in armour because really a shield is optional, although in starting out you must authorize (I'll explain that later) with shield and hand weapon before you can train in any other weapons. Your shield in tournament must be no larger then you can reach with both hands when the opposing edge is touching your chest. In melee your shield can be as large as you can carry thus enabling Roman style shield walls in combat recreation. You can go with heater (standard shield shape), or center boss (round shield with a metal bowl in the centre), or any other shield configuration that would work.

So What is This SCA Thing Anyways?

2008-11-27T13:59:00.001-05:00

Wassail (Wassail is a general greeting/cheer that people in the Kingdom of Ealdormere use) readers. So you've popped into my little blog here and are wondering what the heck the SCA is. Sit down and allow me to regal you with the tale of the SCA.

The SCA is the Society for Creative Anachronisms. In case you don't know an Anachronism is something out of time. For example if you are watching a period movie such as Brave Heart and one of the characters has a wrist watch on, the wrist watch is an Anachronism within the movie. Within the Society the Anachronism is the players. I know this doesn't really answer the question, but it sets the tone for how the name came about.

The SCA is oft quoted as "The Middle Ages as they should have been". We are reinactors who don't necissarily bother with the trivial details of actual events but rather the time itself. That is not to say we aren't interested in actual historical facts, but rather that we are interested in the way things worked and not the geography or actual battles and such.

The SCA started in the late 60's by a bunch of sci-fi/fantasy geeks (writers and readers) at a birthday party in which they hosted a middle ages themed tournement. From there it progressed to over 30,0000 members world wide. For more information visit thier website.

The SCA is a global organization, and it has been devided up into The Nineteen Kingdomes:

I reside in the Shire of Trinovantia Nova which lies in the kingdom of Ealdormere. Check out this site for an interactive map of the Knowne World. The Kingdom of Ealdormere is the only all Canadian Kingdom, it encoumapses most of Ontario. The Shire of Trinovantia Nova encompases London and surrounding area (no idea how far it stretches, but I believe it includes Woodstock).

Masquerade II from a Newbie's Point of View

2008-11-27T13:54:00.000-05:00

Last weekend was Masquerade II a Trinovantia Nova hosted event that was held in St. Thomas. Here are my thoughts on the event:

I am new to the SCA. While I have been out to heavy fight practice several times in the past few weeks I was not quite ready to authorize to fight in the lists quite yet (next time I'll be ready). My daughter Lilley, who is six, enjoyed Masque even more than I myself did I think. This was our first event, but far from our last I suspect.

Everyone showed extreme kindness to myself and my daughter, and for that I thank everyone, from the Event Steward Wulfgang to other guests, particularly the dance instructors who took Lilley and I under their gracious wings to teach us some wonderful dances. Although I am
generally not a dancer and have I two left feet, my daughter, however, loves to dance and we spent many hours learning new dances and I must admit even I enjoyed the dancing.

Sitting at head table was a treat. It was a unique experience to experience my first ever feast from such a vantage point, next time I hope to earn the right to sit there in battle.

The songs were wonderful, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I think my daughter has the makings of a bard. Never have I seen her so keen to get in front of a crowd in such a public manner. Though music has always been a passion of hers, dancing and singing seems to be
something she does even in her sleep, she is generally shy and reserved in front of a crowd. I think because of the warm welcome we received she felt more at ease and was able to enjoy the attention she received for participating.

The toys she got from Gerard the "Evil" Toymaker are now her pride and joy. She brings them with her wherever she is able to. She has figured out how to "free the prisoner" (with a tip or two from me) and delights in the misery of others who cannot master the toy a six year
old has.

Now that she knows that the SCA is more than just fighting (she is quite interested in boffer, especially since she has seen some combat now) she is eager for more SCA experiences. She enjoyed the event so much she insisted on wearing her garb to her mother's on Saturday and
apparently wore it for most of the day.

Introduction

2008-11-27T13:44:00.000-05:00

Hello,

I am Jeff Johnston, and recently I started going out to the SCA heavy fighting practices and am quite enjoying myself. So I thought I'd start a blog about my SCA activities and interests.

Everyone in the SCA has what is referred to as a "Society Name", this is the name you go by in the SCA, I have not officially registered one yet, but I have picked one out. I am Cú Allaidh mac Cummascaig a 8th century Irishman. I don't have any more of a backstory than that yet, but it seems fitting enough. While not all early celtic names have meanings this one does Cú Allaidh mean "wild hound" or "wolf", and Cummascaig means both 'the act of mixing together; mixture' and 'disturbance, strife, conflict, battle'. Since mac means son of my name can be translated as Wolf the son of Battle. I thought it sounded sufficiently bad ass enough for my purposes as a heavy fighter.

So from here on out I will be writing as Cú Allaidh and not Jeff.