Random Notes from the Seneschal
Random Notes from the Seneschal
Greetings,
As autumn comes to Scolairi, things heat up as well. Plans are underway for our Pens & Pots event in December - make sure you contact the autocrats to see how you can help with this event.
The shire's fall anniversary party is also coming up. Held at Chen and Elayne's country estate near Minonk October 27, the party will celebrate our shire's 22nd birthday. It is BYOB & some food to share. There will be a fighter practice during the afternoon, and the traditional bonfire (with sacrifices) in the evening. It is also a costume occasion. The only caveat is you can not wear your own garb! For more details contact Chen or Elayne.
With my very tentative training work schedule I feel it is important that I get a deputy/successor as soon as possible. It is not fair to the shire to have a seneschal who may or may not be able to attend business meetings and other shire functions on a regular basis. Anyone interested in the post should contact me as soon as possible.
Have fun...play nice...
Rory
Greetings unto the fabulous populace of Scolairi from your Chatelaine.
I have just returned from a very pleasant day in the incipient shire of Foxvale. I was accompanied by my nephew, Robert, who was attending an SCA event for the very first time. He had a great time absorbing all the sights and activities while I enjoyed his enthusiasm and watching him practice his best court manners. He took each ladies hand and bowed as he was introduced around the room. He is especially enthusiastic about trying the armored combat, so watch for him at upcoming practice sessions.
I highly recommend seeking out new people and attending events with them to re-charge your energy and enthusiasm for our current middle ages.
Renewing old acquaintances is also an enjoyable part of each event. Baroness Julienne was in attendance and sends her best regards to all of Scolairi. For those of you who may not be familiar with Julienne, she is a former resident of Scolairi and has served as our seneschal, knights marshal, and probably several other posts I am forgetting.
I did remember to pass the word along about our own upcoming Pots and Pens event. All the scribes I spoke with are looking forward to the event with great anticipation.
Ellen of the Scholars
From the Pursuivant (aka Heraldry 101)
I know that some in the Shire are beginning to work on their devices so I thought I would give you a bit of information the begin with.
Argent (Silver), Or (Gold), Azure (Blue), Gules (Red), Purpure (Purple), Sable (Black), and Vert (Green). These are the Tinctures (metals/colors) that the College of Heralds has approved to be on devices. While working on your device think about what colors you want and how they are going to work together. To go along with the solid colors you can also have the choice of Gold/Silver with black spots and Black with Silver/Gold spots.
Next month I will cover a few of the rules that go along with the use of these Tinctures. For more information before then go to http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/education.html#Lessons
Altani
Greetings all,
Since several people were ill the day of our last A & S meeting, we were unable to learn about Shading as planned. This class is therefore re-scheduled for the next meeting, which will be on October 18, 2007. Remember that we are now meeting in Room 301 at the First United Methodist Church Annex. Sally is also willing to bring some clay and teach us to make our own inkpots. She will fire them for us.
If any of you would like to teach a class in an art or science that you know or are investigating, contact me or talk to me at a business meeting. As Charles Oakley says “Go out and make stuff!”
Sites of Interest
Celebrating the Luttrell Psalter.
http://www.luttrellpsalter.org.uk/
Accessed 9-24-07.
The Luttrell Psalter is an illuminated manuscript made for the Luttrell family of Irnham village in Lincolnshire, between 1325 - 1340. It is housed in the British Library. This site records the making of a short film that depicts the various scenes of English village life in the 14th century as they appear in the psalter. There are several delightful trailers that you can click on and watch including a new one of villagers dancing the farandole. The costumes are based directly on those worn in the psalter
Aswyth, Elen of Eriskay.
Making an Illuminated Award.
http://home.gwi.net/~chcurtis/whitevine.html
Accessed 9-24-07
A Step-by-step essay on how this lady from the East Kingdom made a white vine manuscript.
Eithne
Where have all the Heavy Fighters gone?
Look around at war. You will see and hear the many exploits of the noble fighters at every turn. Some of Baile na Scolairi's fighters are even part of the leadership.
But where is the heavy fighting here at home? Some do not go to war, but still fight. They do exist. Some do not aspire to fame, glory or rank. Maybe they are just trying to be the best fighter they can be. Or maybe they're in it just for the fun. Some are even new people who are just learning to fight, but are eager to try. What of those people?
Heavy marshals are fewer and farther between than they used to be. In some cases life has understandably taken over and play has moved to the background. In other cases the marshals feel burned out and just want to play for themselves a while or simply not fight. A rare few have volunteered to become marshals, however becoming a marshal takes dedicated time and effort.
Has heavy fighting and the teaching of heavy fighting died in this shire? That would be a sad day.
So, where have all the heavy fighters gone?
Catalin
Midlands Encampment at Pennsic:
""O Yez! O Yez! Unto the populace of the Midlands do I, Lady Kytte Wynpeny, send greetings and tidings of a gathering to discuss the future plans of our regional Pennsic camp: Camp Midlands!!
At 3pm on November 3rd at the All Souls event in the Shire of Vanished Wood there will be a meeting for any and all interested to discuss what our region would like to see done with our Pennsic campsite. You do not need to have camped with the Midlands this past Pennsic in order to attend - the meeting is open to everyone!
Some topics that will be talked about include:
-The forming of a "Midlands Public Works" group
-Who will be next year's land agent and what exactly does being land agent mean.
-Personal Responsibilities of Campers (or Where the camp needs your help!)
Please come and hear what plans are being made for YOUR Midlands Camp!! ""
Thank you very much for sharing this information with your groups. The more input there is, the better our Camp Midlands will be!
In Service,
Lady Kytte
I’d heard about the previews before I saw them. And what I heard was not inspiring. A sword in a stone. A lady arising from a lake. Roman soldiers. Then I saw the previews myself. And it was even worse than I had feared. Still, many members of the cast were well-known, even internationally known, and respected actors. So maybe it wasn’t going to be as bad as I feared it might be. Then opening day came, and I noticed that, for a wide release movie, it wasn’t playing in many theaters, and not on many screens in those that were running it. Indeed, of the three multi-screen theaters I regularly patronize, it was playing on one, count ‘em, one, screen. But remembering the Da’ud Bob motto (which some would say is more like a mantra), “We watch ‘em so you don’t have to”, I steeled myself into going. The production values were actually a little higher than I had expected. Unfortunately, that was the only thing that exceeded my very low expectations. And so it is that this month, Da’ud Bob reviews, so you don’t have to watch, The Last Legion.
Starring Colin (“Mr. Darcy” in the good Pride and Prejudice) Firth as Aurelius, Ben Kingsley as Ambrosinus, Aishwarya Rai as Mira, Peter Mulla as Odoacer, Kevin McKidd as Wulfila, John Hannah as Nestor, Rupert Friend as Demetrius, Iaian Glen as Orestes, Harry Van Gorkum as Vortigern (or Vortgyn), Alexander (“Dr. Basheer”) Siddig as Theodorus Andronkikos, and Thomas Sangster as Romulus Augustus, the credits noted that this flick was “based in part” on the novel by Valerio Massimo Manfredi. (Unfortunately, it’s probably the least believable of his several historical novels, and as a consequence, the movie suffers from the same problem.) They didn’t say which part. Maybe the bit about the sword. (“A sword of great power” forged in Britain for Julius Caesar. Yeah, right.) The basic plot is: young boy, last of the Roman emperors, is exiled to Capri by Goth invaders. He and his mystical teacher are rescued by a loyal general, a few Roman soldiers, and a woman warrior from India by way of Byzantium. They all travel to Britain in search of the “last loyal legion”, the Ninth, the fabled “Dragon Legion”. Along the way the boy acquires the “sword of great power” forged for Julius Caesar. It’s a bit of a mix of The Da Vinci Code, The Sword in the Stone, and The Phantom of the Opera, with a fair bit of fantasy, set in late Roman times.
Good points: The production values were pretty decent. There was a noticeable lack of CGI, especially in the sword fighting sequences. Aishwarya Rai is easy on the eyes.
Bad points: Nepalese khukri knives. Recurve bows used by the Romans. Fantasy chain mail veils. Horned helms. Vortigern’s lion mask. The fleeing party rides their horses to the Alps, then walks over the mountains. (If Hannibal could successfully bring nearly 30 elephants over the Alps several centuries earlier, as he did, I feel pretty safe in saying that a small party of Romans could get their horses over them.) Hadrian’s wall in Britain was not built like the Great Wall of China. Nor were the villages near it fortified like Carcassonne. A fair bit of the armor. The way it all tries to fit neatly into the Arthurian legend, from the dragon symbol of the Ninth Legion to the sword thrown into the stone to Ambrosinus “taking back” his Celtic name, “Merlin” to the orphaned Romulus taking the name “son of the Dragon [Legion]” (Pendragon) and fathering a boy named Arthur. Colin Firth is a decent leading man, but does not make a believable action hero.
Zero breasts. Two gallons of blood. 127 dead bodies. Stone fu. Ax fu. Ballista fu. Sword fu. Spear fu. Fire fu. Knife fu. Staff fu. Arrow fu. Magic fireball fu. Horsemen roll. Fighters roll. Waves roll. Gratuitous finger severing. Gratuitous eye painted on the ship’s sail. Gratuitous goats. Gratuitous trilithon used as a stand-alone gate. Gratuitous hollow oak tree. An 87 on the Vomit Meter. 1½ stars (mostly for the production values). Da’ud Bob says, “Check it out!”
This is the on-line version of The Scolairi Notes. Scolairi Notes is the publication of the Shire of Baile na Scolairi, a branch of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc. Scolairi Notes is available from Renee LeVeque, 711 E Taylor, Bloomington, IL 61701, at no cost. It is not a corporate publication of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc., and does not delineate SCA policies. Opinions expressed herein are not those of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc. Webbed version created by Rory mac Feidhlimidh.