Permission granted to post this anywhere you think it might be welcome.
I'm posting this now, before I forget to and then wonder why no-one's asked for DVD's (it's been a loooong trip, starting off with landing in London, taking the tube to my hotel and even before checking in having my wallet stolen, so I'm even more absent-minded than usual).
One Major Warning: it'll be on the order of months before I get all the digitizing done, so if nothing arrives soon, don't worry about it. If I waited until after, I'd have forgotten I hadnt posted anything.
Ususal rules: you want the DVD's, sent me your postal address. Be sure to include that. I can't fit DVD's through your email slot. Postal address, dammit! My address is alban at socket dot net
An indication of what you'd like would be nice, too: "music only", or "Herbals only", or "everything", or some such. These'll all take several DVD's, and I don't want to overwhelm your mailboxes with stuff you don't want.
Alban, heading home in a day or so. (I see I forgot to mention I'm in Amsterdam right now.....)
(Slight alteration in payment schedule: If you're in the SCA, the DVD's are free. Should anyone getting this be in a univeristy music department or choral union, or professional or semi-pro singing group - you know, Professionals - I'd appreciate a small donation.)
I came across some intriguing old books a few minutes ago, while waiting for some insomnia to dissipate. And the books led me to wonder about not only how useful period primary sources (such as the music and the herbals I've gotten ahold of) are, but also how useful period secondary sources would be. I was idly looking for period dance manuals, not expecting to really get any hits - and came across:
.......text begins...... ARGENTI Agostino ?. Cavalerie della città di Ferrara. Che contengono il Castello di Gorgoferusa, il Monte di Feronia et il Tempio d'Amore. 1566. First edition of the detailed account of the Tempio d'Amore, an elaborate torneo performed at the court in Ferrara as part of the festivities for the wedding of Duke Alfonso d'Este to Princess Barbara of Austria. There are full details of the buildings, statues & decorations, the words of the choral and spoken verses and the names of the participants. Preceding this are corrected reprints of accounts of two torneos which had taken place in 1561. All three belong to the form of torneo which incorporated singing, dancing, spectacular scenery, elaborate machinery and transformations, and flourished particularly strongly at Ferrara. These were the first examples of this genre for which detailed accounts survive. ......text ends.....
Now, obviously, if we wanted to put on a Really Really Spiff wedding for two of our leading citizens who are of Italian/Austrian personae, this'd be a primary source, and quite a useful one.
But I wonder about the singing and dancing bits. Has anyone hereabouts had any experience with using something like this to get at not only what was sung, but how they sang it, down to music and instrumentation? And to not only what dances were danced, but what the steps were? In other words, how detailed were the "detailed accounts" that survived? Or would books like this one have to be used in conjunction with dance manuals like Caroso? ("Lessee, Argenti says they did a lefthanded pavane and then a whoop-de-doo a la Francaise...so, [flip][flip][flip] where is that page? Ah, here it is in Caroso.....")
I know Peers discuss how to go from secondary sources to The Real thing all the time with their own associates and students, one-on-one. But has there been any classes in how to do it at Lilies, or Pennsic, or via royal universities? Round-table discussions amidst a multitude of people, a set of varied Peers and sundry Students?
I _hate_ late-night ruminations like this. They always get me into trouble - if only because I wind up falling asleep much later than I'd hoped because they keep me thinking.
I've been in the SCA for about three years now, and am starting to think about looking for a household to join. I'm not actively looking yet, just thinking about it. My primary interest is service, but I'm having trouble picturing what a pelican-protege relationship would be like. I know that every peer-associate relationship is different, and I can see why some people would want to squire to a knight or apprentice to a laurel, but I'm curious (and clueless) about the pelican-protege arrangement.
Our shire (Ma'ale Giborim) is almost 5 years old now and as of yet we have no peers of our own, though a few have visited from other places. I am about the only one here who ever was part of a larger group somewhere else in the SCA (Barony of Carolingia mostly). Most of our members don't even KNOW any peers except via LJ or the one or two visitors we have had. The truth is that I think that the teacher/student dynamic is an important part of the SCA. I would love to see some folks here establish links with the wider SCA and to mature as scadians.
I am hoping that some good brain storming here can help come up with some ideas for how to establish such links.
My email is alban at socket dot net, for those wondering where to send their postal addresses.....
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Excuse please the interruption from a very occasional lurker, but.....
Hi. I'm Alban. I collect old books, digitize them, put them onto DVD's, and send said DVD's, free, to whoever wants them. A few weeks ago, to add to my collection, I ordered some books, three of which are:
Leonard Mascall, A Booke of the Arte and Maner how to Plant and Graffe all sortes of Trees, how to set Stones and sowe Pepins, to make wilde Trees to Graffe on, as also remedies and Medicins. (No, it does not include plans on how deep a certain hobbit has to be planted....). 94 pages of difficult-to-read type.
Konrad Gesner, The newe iewell of health...Roughly 260 pages, in English, of a similarly difficult-to-read typeface. "Among the many remedies Gesner offers are a mixture of turpentine, aloe vera and myrrh to preserve corpses, butter and St John’s wort to close wounds; and the more complicated rosemary, borage, camomile, marjoram, sage, violets, red rose leaves, and bay steeped in wine or aqua vitae then distilled, added to a turpentine-gum mixture, flavoured with powdered spices including ‘graines of 36 Paradise,’ and distilled again with added musk and ambergris as a ointment guaranteed to sharpen the wit."
Antonio Musa Brasavolo, Examen omnium electuariorum. Venice; ex Officina Erasmiana Vincentii Valgrisii, 1548. together with Jacques Dubois, Morborum internorum prope omnium curatio. Both in Latin, darn it - but in a wonderfully easy-to-read Italic, which isn't odd since the book-of-books was printed in Italy. A first edition of Brasavola’s pharmacopea and third of Dubois’ book of cures. Roughly 300 pages total (150 and 145 pages, plus odds-and-ends).
A fourth manuscript, a French hand-written thing that contains household accounts, and recipes, that dates to the mid-16th century, is on order but hasn't yet arrived. (It's scheduled to show up here in late February.)
Unfortunately, I'm heading to Florida on Friday for a two-week vacation, without the books and without a good camera - but when I get back, I'll digitize everything and cram it all onto (I hope) one DVD.
Would anyone care to have that DVD? They're free of charge (and, no, I won't take postage, or blank disks, or indeed payment of any kind)......All I need is a postal address.
I was curious what customs are in other Peer/Associate households.
I've been apprenticed to my Laurel for some time and for the Christmas holidays, I usually get her some awesome fabric that I could not resist buying that would look better on her than on me (she can get away with all the autumn colors). You know the logic, if I can't have this, someone I know and like will!
On other occasions, I've chipped in with the household to get her some Uber Gift.
Other times I've got her antique mundane silver-plate flatware serving pieces (she entertains a lot) which usually contain elements of her heraldry or has laurel wreaths.
It always seemed the safer and less pretentious road to pursue these options, than to make her something from my own hand...and also part of it is I'm just too backed up with projects to spend the time I think a gift for my peer deserves.
Has anyone else experienced this? Questions? Comments? Personal Experiences?
Not going to name any names but I have a friend who is entering into an associate relationship with someone with a BAD reputation. I've repeatedly adv that they have to be aware that people's views on this person will reflect not to well on them just by the association.
This is the second post on a discussion of peer-student relations, drawn from a couple of roundtable discussions.
A second point of agreement is the firm feeling that a peer and potential student need to sit down and talk about – negotiate is not too strong a word – the parameters of the relationship.
Actually, this begins with talking to yourself. As a peer, you have to ask yourself what you want out of the relationship. Why do you want this person as a student? What can you offer them? What can they offer you? The prospective student needs to do the same thing. Why do I want to associate with this peer? What do I want to learn from him/her? What can I offer to them?
Once you’ve answered your own questions, you need to repeat that conversation with the potential peer/student. The more solid the groundwork, the better the potential for success. You need to answer questions such as: How often will we get together? Will they be regular meetings? What “duties” do each of us have? Once those questions are answered, you need to figure out what kind of regalia the student wil wear – if any – and whether there will be a formal peerage ceremony.
Yes, it sounds like a lot of work, but it will streamline the future progress.
Note: I am sorry this came out kinda pedantic. I fell back into teacher-writer mode. But I think it gets the point across.
I know I have been somewhat behind the times in writing about the two peer-student roundtables that were held at two recent East Kingdom University events. “Write up peerages” seems to be permanently just below “Clean room” on my To-Do list.
Anyway, I thought I would toss up a few of the ideas that we had come to some consensus on. I know it’s only two meetings and a little of LiveJournal discussion, but there seem to be some trends developing. I am hoping to continue these discussions at future events. And certainly, folks oughta have them on their own. I think there’s a good deal of examination that can be done about peer-student (or mentor-student) relationships. Besides, it’s a lot more fun talking about peerage stuff than about how many recommendations you need to volunteer with youth or whether a kid should be allowed to wear his garb and a sword in his high school yearbook photo.
So one thing we seem to agree on is that the peer/mentor does not have to be doing work in the same area as the student. This is more or less a Laurel question. If I am a cook, is it OK to apprentice to a garb Laurel? The consensus seems to be yes, because the peer teaches many things besides a specific skill. In fact, one Laurel commented, “probably the main thing I teach is how to do research.” And certainly when it comes to carrying yourself and acting as a peer, it doesn’t matter what skill the peer practices.
One of the areas we need to do more work in is the knight/master-squire relationship. I think in the two discussions, we have had one squire and have not had a knight/master because of conflicts with other classes and with the tournament.
I think it would add a great deal to the discussion to have some members of the Chivalry and their students present. Perhaps this is something we can do at a future event. (I am thinking about hosting something at Birka).
I would love to hear from people in other kingdoms who might do the same thing.
After the cut, you will find pretty much the whole set of questions we developed a couple weeks ago for the round table at EKU in Carolingia (Cambridge, Mass.).
I am doing another one Saturday in Ruantallan (Halifax, N.S.), and I would like to pare the list down.
Can you please pick out three to five questions you think we should absolutely do?
When I first became a protege back in 1993-ish, I swore a personal oath of fealty to my Peer. At the time, we discussed in depth (before hand) what that meant to each of us, the part it plays in the game, and what our responsibilites were. It was Good.
As sometimes happens, "real life" got in the way for awhile, and we each took our own breaks from the SCA. Then I moved out of kingdom, and she had some personal things to attend to. In all that, we managed to keep our Pel-Protege relationship alive. Not always active, but the bonds and the love never died. I continued to wear my belt, and she was always there for me as an advisor at least, and never stopped "claiming" me as her protege. We managed to connect in person at least once a year at Estrella War.
Long and short of it is, I'm thrilled to say we've come full circle and we're both playing again. I've since moved back to my home kingdom, and we're both getting much more active. These things happen in their own time, and happily, the time has come. My *very* old belt, however, has seen better days, so I had a friend make me a shiny new one. I haven't worn it yet, though, because for now, to me, it's just a yellow belt without the meaning attached to it.
While the belt and the fealty are, in my mind, relatively permanant things, it feels like a time to renew the fealty along with the belt. They've both been through the wash and stood the test of time, but why not put a fresh coat of paint on them? We've set a date to renew the oath (about 3 weeks from now) and I've been directed to paint her arms on my new belt. And come up with the renewal oath & ceremony.
So... while the original oath was very nice (as I remember it) I'm coming to you fine folks for some ideas. I'd like to base the ceremony on period sources, but I don't have a lot of time. Short and simple is good. My research skills are pretty rusty, and I'm having a mental block against knowing where to begin.
I know not all associates swear personal fealty to their Peers, but I've always been really happy with the decision to do so. My Peer is more than worthy of my trust and respect, and I've never once regretted the oath. This renewal will be mostly a private thing between ourselves. I may ask our Baron & Baroness to witness and maybe lend us their herald to facilitate, but that's about the extent of the pomp.
Any brilliant ideas/sources/suggestions out there?
This past November at 100 Minutes War (East Kingdom), I was given the honor of becoming a Protege to Mistress Mercedes de Calafia.
Being new to this I have a few questions that I'm hoping my fellow Proteges (or Apprentices) might be able to help with. Does your Peer give you specific projects to do? Or do you go to them saying you want to do 'such&such' project/job/event?
...you wince at paying more than $30-$35 for a pair of tennis shoes, but $150 for a pair of shoes for your husband's persona is entirely reasonable, and possibly, if they're made right, even a really great deal! And your jaw drops when the Mary Rose wreck replica shoes are only $65 in black ($125 in any other color)....
...you wish you had time to pick up and perfect cobbling with all of your other hobbies, then look around the house and realize that to do that you'd need to buy a larger house.
...consider seriously buying a new, larger house so you can have more hobbies.
...I'll officially be apprenticing at Spring Coronation in a month-and-a-half!
Now all I need to do is get together my part of the ceremony and make the gift to present to my Laurel. [[His only requirement out of the whole thing is to present an example of my work to give to him as a gift...so that if any Peer asks what I do in the future, he can just show them right then and there.]]
I'm quite excited to be moving up in the food chain...so to speak.
I'm Pedro de Alcazar, from Storvik, in Atlantia. I've been a protege of herveus for several years. My service has mainly been as a herald, at a number of levels. I currently edit the quarterly of the Atlantian College of Heralds, Heralds' Point. I also help out in the occasional kitchen, & I've written a bit of verse.
I have a question: when I became Master Herveus' protege, I volunteered to carve for him at feasts & other occasions, as this was an honorable duty of vassals of old, & I have done so for some time. Am I the only one, or do other folks perform ceremonial duties for their peers?
I'm finding myself, after nine years of playing the SCA, finally at the point where I think I'm ready to go to the next level and start forming some serious associations with a Peer...or two...or more.
My dilemma is that there are at least TWO Pelicans and TWO Laurels that I can see myself having a great foundation and working relationship with. And each individual has something that I completely admire...and each would have something specific that they could bring to my SCA experience...and vice versa.
For those Peers out there: Are you "sharing" any of your associates with another Peer? How did you go about establishing this type of relationship? How does this work out in the long run? What types of restrictions or guidelines did you use in establishing "shared" relationships?
Any feedback, suggestions, or ideas will be GREATLY appreciated.
Until the next time, Signore Giudo di Niccolo Brunelleschi Shire of Deodar, Kingdom of Calontir
I've made a community here on LJ to publicize completed plans to assist our fellow SCAdians in times of crisis. Please take a look at sca_crisisplans
Please note, this is not intended as a forum for formulating plans, rather it is a site where all of the details of a completed plan can be posted in one place and at one time. Hopefully this will make it easier for people to decide how to participate and will reduce duplication of effort.
Posted in my personal journal, and in as many other SCA related places as I can find.
Hi there! I'm Lord Robin Gallowglass, and I hail from the Shire of Hartshorn-dale in the East Kingdom
I'm currently the Kingdom Web Minister (for the second time) and recently steped down as Chief Information Architect of the SCA after 3.5 years. I'm a protege to Mulli'am Rabah az Zafir out of Atlantia. I'm also a Pursivant at Large and a Journeyman Chirurgeon.
I'm sure I know a lot of you on here already, at least by reputation :)
tedeisenstein
thoughtful
content
giddy
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