From: justin@inmet.camb.inmet.COM (Justin du Coeur MKA Mark Waks)
Subject: A Little of Everything, pt. 2
Organization: The Internet
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 23:06:29 GMT

Greetings once again to the Rialto -- here's the rest of my catch-up...


Re: Barons & AoAs

Various people have discussed the idea of having AoAs given in local
courts, instead of simply in absentia as is often done.

Having received my AoA in basically this fashion, I approve heartily.
I was supposed to recieve my Arms at Coronation, but there was a
Carolingian event that day, and I preferred to stay home and teach
dance at the local event. So Patri, our Baron, went to Coronation,
picked up the scroll when it was officially presented in Royal Court,
and gave it to me in Baronial Court that evening. Even leaving aside
the issue of whether I could have made it to Coronation, I think I
prefer the way we did it -- getting the award at a local court,
surrounded by people who actually know whether or not it was deserved,
is *far* more gratifying than getting it in a court elsewhere, and
getting a perfunctory "Vivat" from the crowd...

I must say, though -- I also like the alternative that Tibor suggests:
having a herald act as the voice of the Royalty, and present the
award. It feels right, and can present a good option for groups without
local heads of state to do it...

Lothar writes:
>        Giving out AoAs locally would eliminate the reprehensible
>Midrealm practice of bored people going "Ooooooh, Aaaaaaah, OOOOOOOH,
>Aaaaaayyyyy, murmur, murmur, murmur" after every AoA scroll is read.

Would it? I don't see any reason why it would -- when that practice
was current in the East, it happened in local courts as well, at least
sometimes. The only way we managed to get rid of it was by concerted
effort. Arval (who was then Brigantia Principal Herald) pointed out that
it was rude, and encouraged others to point it out as well. A little
prodding at local heralds, and a few comments on the Rialto and local
mailing lists, and it died *fast* -- I think it took less than two
months from the time Arval started discouraging it until it was
effectively dead...


Re: Surprises

On a related thread, Aryk suggests (and a number of people agree)
that surprise awards can be a lot more hassle than they are worth.
I'll agree whole-heartedly with that, and add a small story. My
Laurel was supposed to be a surprise. Her Majesty had only the best
of intentions, but failed to realize that, had she succeeded in
surprising me with it, I probably would have refused it publically
-- I was quite firmly of the opinion that I wasn't yet up to Laurel
caliber. Fortunately, I figured it out in advance (after a while,
you develop a sixth sense about these things), and talked to several
people whose opinion I respect rather more highly than my own; they
talked me into accepting.

As various folk have said, tastes differ -- there are people who
do like surprises, and it's probably worthwhile to cater to those
tastes as well. But it's a tricky thing, and surprising the wrong
person can lead to unpleasant surprises...

Continuing on this thread, Branwen writes:
>I was thinking, during Amanda's (surprise) Pelican ceremony, that if
>someone is true Pelican material, they should have no idea that they
>are. In other words, all Pelican ceremonies should be surprises, because
>true Pelicans will be so busy doing things. Artists and fighters, by
>the nature of what they do, are constantly comparing their art or their
>fighting to other people's as a measure of improvement, so they would
>have a pretty good idea when their skill level had reached peerage quality.
>People who primarily do service, however, don't have the same kind of
>measure to go against. 

Oh, I don't know if that's really true -- there are measures for
service as well. Running large-scale things well for a while tends
to get a Pelican eventually. Running smaller scales very well for
a long time often gets one to that point as well. I'd say that the
measures for a Pelican may be a little more subjective, but they're
definitely there.

(And Pelican-class folk have a tendency to understand the workings
of the Kingdom best, which may offset the increased subjectivity
of the measures...)


Re: Specialties for the Laurelate

John, trying to change the subject, asks:
>In the Laureling ceremonies that I just witnessed, areas of
>excellence were discussed (Master Geoffry is excellent in
>dance and shoemaking) but it was almost an afterthought.  I
>have heard that many other kingdoms give specific Laurels; that
>is, the Laurel is tied to the skill (one or two), so it is
>a Laurel for dance.  Is this true?

More or less. Certainly, the prevailing myth in these parts is that
Laurels are given for a specialty; the reality is a bit more fluid
than that. At one of my first Laurel meetings, I said something about
a person not really having a specialty yet, and was informed (in
no uncertain terms) by several senior members of the order that a
specialty is *not* a requirement for the award.

Nonetheless, most Laurels are at least loosely tied to a specialty.
This seems to be somewhat indirect -- in order to get noticed enough
to come to the attention of the order, one *usually* has to have a
specialty that one is exceptional in. I suspect that this isn't
really any different in the West -- we just notice it a little more.

On the other hand, most of the more-respected Laurels practice at least
several arts, and there are more than a few generalists out there (eg,
our latest addition, Master Dof, who is good at so many different things
that it's hard to put a finger on any *three* that are most significant).
So this concept of specialty is, at best, a fuzzy one, and not really
all that significant...

Other people have mentioned that we do both heralds-for-hire and fools
locally, so the remaining topic from John is:


Re: Later Period

John asks:
>The character of my local area has shifted later, with a lot
>more elizabethans and landschneckt--late period types--extant.
>Is this happening elsewhere?  

I think I've noticed a very slight drift towards later-period, but
it's a little hard to say; a large fraction of Carolingia has always
been Renaissance, due in large part to our heavy dance orientation.

I can see two reasons why people in this area have drifted a little
later:

a) Fencing. A large percentage of active fencers take on personae
   appropriate to the art. This means a *lot* of late-period types.
   On the other hand, this wouldn't affect the West much...
b) Research. We seem to be developing rather more people who are into
   the idea of doing things from the primary sources. The later you
   go, the better your sources tend to be for most arts, so the easier
   it is to find persona-supporting details. Also, the Renaissance
   tends to be fairly challenging in many arts, from garb to dance, and
   so a lot of the more ambitious artists like it...

Neither of these would seem to cause a really broad shift in regional
character; on the other hand, as I said, the drift here seems to be
fairly incremental. There may be other factors at play in John's neck
of the woods...


Re: Oral Tradition

Cariadoc points out how unrelaible SCA oral tradition is, where SCA
and medieval history are concerned. He's quite right, but it's worth
strengthening that a bit -- SCA oral tradition is unreliable in almost
*everything*. An extraordinarily high percentage of the standard
SCA-accepted "facts" are houses built on foundations of sandy assumptions,
or are simply downright false. It seems like every time I look at a long-
held assumption, it proves to be less than solid. (Eg, the recent longways-
dance discussion; after thinking about it a bit, I still think that
duple minors are rather baroque, but the evidence is a *lot* weaker
than I had previously realized.)

The lesson is simply that one must keep an open mind, and *constantly*
question your assumptions. It's all well and good to listen to what
people tell you, but if the facts *matter* to you, there's no substitute
for documentation...


Re: Thumb-rings

Cariadoc also writes:
>Fingers? You people grab the bowstring with your fingers? What will
>these ferangi think of next.

Which reminds me of something I've been wondering for a while: what
*does* a thumb-ring look like, anyway, and how is it used? I've heard
about the things repeatedly, but I've never seen one. I gather that
it's some sort of ring on the right thumb, with a hook for drawing the
bowstring. What kind of hand position is used? How do you release the
string? What are they made of? My curiosity is (as ever) piqued...

				-- Justin du Coeur
				   Information Omnivore

Random Quote du Jour:

"German Food: Distinct central European national cookery which, with two
	      notable exceptions, has made a contribution to world cuisine
	      of roughly the same importance as that made by English wines,
	      Swiss seafood dishes, Canadian cheese, and Chinese desserts.
	      See Hamburger."
		-- Henry Beard