A&S Project of the Century

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:

1. 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.
   
   
2. 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.


3. 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.
   
   
4. 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.

War of The Trillium

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.

A Weekend in the Middle Ages

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.