Demo: Upper Canada Village, 2017

By Fáelán Ruadh ua Aodha [See the original post on her blog, complete with pictures.]

I have been quiet of late, and that is perhaps due to a lot of SCA (medieval living history) stuff that was going on. So without further delay, here is an overdue update on what exactly went on with this SCA stuff. Let us start in the order of events, so for this article we will focus on the weekend of June 9th – 11th where we demoed for the Medieval Festival at Upper Canada Village.

The weather was hot, the Festival was busy, the mood was congenial, the food phenomenal. It helps that we were hosted by Skrael – The SCA Barony of the Ottawa region, Ontario, Canada. Fantastic cookery goes on in Skrael, and open fire roasted meat is hard to beat. They were organized as the “14th Century Archers” located by the Eastfield on the map.

The role I played was wool comber and novice spinner, having had a lot of wool I had bought raw, cleaned, and needed to learn the next stage of the process – wanting to learn and do the process from sheep to cloth. The thought was that since I would be sitting in one place demoing this for a whole weekend there would be no better opportunity to work on this labour intensive stage.

That is when I learned that demoing means very little work actually gets done as you need to continually address an audience.

Among this fluxing audience was one notable family. A young man saw what I was doing and said he was familiar with combing, and his grandma – who did not speak the language, so I assume the young man was among the first generation Canadian in that family -showed us how it was done more properly. Damn she was good. And from that I now know how to card without straining my wrists – by holding the ‘anchoring comb’ with my palm upright, and the driving comb is moving either outward or inward. I am sure that there were more subtle layers to the technique that were lost in our language barrier. Even so, it was a fun and great experience to learn from those who breathe this sort of thing since childhood. If a member of that family happens to be reading this, I would like to say thank you for sharing your knowledge – because knowledge ever always is a wonderful gift.

Following that step in processing wool is spinning, and my goodness do I have a lot to learn on mastering Spinning. What I was able to demonstrate was how the fibers were twisted together and with a thick piece I had attendants pull on it as hard as they could and would not be able to break it. Wool is tough. But other than that, I am a complete newbie. So I ended up making attempts at showing spinning, failing horribly, then Dame Helen – a master spinner, would show how it should go. Being a great visual aid in demonstrating that it is not as easy as it looks. Though some people do take to it easily, many others, like me, struggle in accomplishing that skill.

In the Skrael “Medieval Daily Life” & “14th Century Archers” camp around me and my little corner of wool stuff, there was leather working – more specifically cordwaining (shoe-making), fiber crafts, wood carving, food preparation, Carnival Games, full sized siege engines (that I got to launch a few times), archery, axe throwing (did a bit of that as well), and armored combat demonstrations.

These Siege Engines are operating on their lightest possible setting so that the stones remain in the demonstration field. For the Trebuchet, it’s counter weight bin is literally empty.

So those big beautiful horses went on to do this,

Nearby our camp and the Jousting Field were other Living History Groups. The following images are of DARC – Dark Ages Re-Creation Company. Though these folks pictured are also involved in the SCA as well – as there is a lot of cross over between such groups.

Because I was demoing at this event, I did not get much opportunity to take photos of the other groups at this Festival. There were quite a few groups and performers that I did not get to see at all. So demonstrating Living History does have its draw backs. What I did see was still pretty awesome.
ESCAPE TO THE FUTURE – The Pioneering Future!

The Sunday, immediately after closing to the public, and within an hour before the village is completely closed off, a few of us decided to briefly check out what the future had in store in the Upper Canada Village proper.

“Cous” is Middle English spelling and pronunciation of Cows.

Next SCA installment will be Trillium War!

War of the Trillium, 2017

By Fáelán Ruadh ua Aodha [See the original post on her blog, complete with pictures.]

Trillium War, the largest SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) event held in the kingdom of Ealdormere (check out last year’s article here)

This year was hot with waves of rainstorms. But that did not stop the attendees from having a good time.

From my end of things, I mostly hung out at the thrown weapons range. Trying to take advantage of the few times of the year I actually can throw my axes at a target. What was pleasing was to see so many other people at the range and competing. Wanting to keep my competitive edge, I noticed my literal axe edge needed some attention if I wanted them to not bounce off of the target. So I took up a fair bit of the event just sharpening my axes (thank you Kaolin for letting me use your axe file – and since confirmed that I needed to sharpen the blade in a different fashion than what I had been doing. So I must give a nod to someone, whom I did not get the name of, who tried to point that out and I thought my memory served me on what was to be done, which I was mistaken. Axe Filing, It is not like a sharpening Stone!). While I was doing that I had a Thrown Weapons Range attendee check my progress,

Even at the Thrown Weapons Range I managed to learn some Arts & Science. Not many people know this, but SCAdian women love lifting up their skirts – for you to see their seams

It really helped me get a handle on how to accomplish Norse styled clothing stitches. To which I also later attended a class just on Inserting Gores Into Flat Fabric by Dame Helen. It had a great hands on segment that was a miniature example so you know how to apply the theory.

Another class I attended at Trillium War was on Bone Carving. Which had this lovely example showing what you can do with bone,

The following image is not all that great, but it shows the Trillium War Brew Tasting Competition. It included Beer, Cider, Mead, and Cordial, often with various sorts of brew in between. It, as usual, ended up being pretty fun which attracted the Queen who remarked on how loud our tent was with laughter and chatter. Needless to say, there is so much great brewing going on in Ealdormere and as they are almost entirely just home brews I definitely make sure I always am at this competition for the rare taste.

Even though these events typically have open alcohol, do not let that fool you. It has a very family reunion feel and kids are abound enjoying the Medieval camping to the max, as shown in this following image,

And her Majesty is so keen on making the Kids feel like they are a part of Events like this that she arranged a Hobby Horse Children’s Procession,

During this time I was attending a Woad Dying class, which is among the coolest dying methods to watch. The following image is an animated GIF attempt to show how the fiber changes color as it is exposed to oxygen,

Later we went to the garden to see what the Woad herb looked like and gathered some of it’s seeds so we could grow it ourselves.

Now, Trillium War annually falls on the Canada Day weekend, and since this was Canada’s 150th year, there was a special Axe Throwing Tourney to celebrate called “I AM SCANADIAN” hosted by Hexenhaus, to which the winners would be announced at Court.

I competed and at Court, I found out that I won!

Court also revealed the War Banner for that year, and it was themed on bacon – having the Trillium as Bacon strips and the Motto, “Bacon Brings Victory”

I should also mention that this Trillium War’s Theme was “The Silk Road”, and alas, I did not photograph the many wonderful people who were dressed in theme for this event. But the event did hold a wonderful “Silk Road Bazaar” at Merchant’s Row on the Saturday evening where participants were encouraged to bring items to barter.

I managed to bring raw Alpaca Fibers from The Great Whitestone Isle of the Lake Seas (Manitoulin – where I live), fossils I found on the island, the last of my glass stars, a couple of antique glass bottles I fitted with corks, rings – two of which were spinning rings, a bangle, and two bone carved pendants.

And from some of those items, and some cash I got through trade, I obtained two ridge pole hooks, a three legged cooking pot, herbs of Sage and Dill, Red Silk, Wool Tartan, A Children’s Hood, A bronze Pendant, a pair of Bronze Anglo-Saxon Fasteners (Their exact use is a mystery, specially made by Emer ingen Uí Áedán. I hope to do some experimental archaeology with them to find out how they could have been used), Two small cups (one was mysteriously gifted actually – Thank You!), and a large Icelandic styled drinking cup – now a favorite that I use all the time.

My kiddo managed to trade a fossil for a Silk Fan, and my spouse managed to trade a leather drinking vessel of his own making for two knives, and bought some trim.

During the weekend there was also a number of Moots, one of which was the Herald Moot, and the new Trillium Herald (Kingdom Level Herald) had sought out if I were interested in filling in the role of herald for the Ubershire (Shire Brennstein Vatn, that covers Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, and North Bay), and I said I am. So now that is in the works and I hope to be able to do some good service for the great shire of the north.

Next SCA Installment will be Brouhaha!

Baron's Brouhaha, 2017

By Fáelán Ruadh ua Aodha [See the original post on her blog, complete with pictures.]

Baron’s Brouhaha is annually held in the Canton of Northgeatham in the Barony of Ramshaven (see a previous article on this event here).

Brouhaha is one of the smallest events, but that also makes it one of the most relaxed events too. Even so, there is something for everyone. And this year had a special component, The Baron and Baroness of Ramshaven were going to select their Champions of Ramshaven at this event. So there was a Championship Tourney for each skilled art – and this year was the first time an Arts & Science Champion would be named. These champions will not be selected by a straight forward win in their respective tourneys, but “…to find Ambassadors to each of the disciplines, and those come at any and all levels of skill.”

The First Day

The site was opened on Friday and was the quietest and most relaxed day of the event as most were arriving on the Saturday when all the scheduled activities and tourneys would take place. So, I decided that this was the best time to make a traditional pottage with my recently acquired three legged cooking pot from the Silk Road Bazaar at Trillium War. This is because this kind of fireside cooking takes a lot of time – but well worth it.

Now, I am keen on becoming completely able to consistently start a fire with only the items and methods available in my persona’s time period (~600 AD or earlier). So I had brought my flint, Norse styled steel striker, and my gathered fire starters of chard linen, frayed strands of linen, thistle / milkweed fluff, and pine resin.

I was able to get heat and smoke consistently, but it was so windy that the flames never lasted. Eventually we caved and used a bunch of paper to keep the fire going. At least I was able to use this fire to make more charred cloth, which is made by putting your linen into a tin – having some air able to reach the interior but otherwise completely sealed away from the flame – and cook it in the fire until it stops smoking. Take out, let cool, and then you are done!

So with this fire, I took my three legged pot, and followed the instructions given to me from the maker – who had traveled from the Southern Kingdoms (USA) to sell their goods at Trillium War (the biggest SCA Event in Ontario, Canada). I was told that with such pots you Do Not put them directly into the fire, but beside it and drag the coals out and put them under and around the pot. This will bring your pot’s temperature high enough to boil, so add or remove the coals to reach your desired temperature. Once your pottage is satisfactory to your taste, Do Not remove it directly from the coals, but slowly remove the coals from around it and let it cool slowly. This whole process takes at least a couple of hours, but the longer you cook the better your pottage. Some people have it going all day to eat for dinner.

What I had put in this pot was first chopped bacon and leeks. I then let that simmer until all the fat was melted and spread around the pot. Then I added chopped carrots, sage, basil, rutabaga (closest thing to a turnip I could find), parsnip, and rolled oats (as a thickener). Followed by water poured until it was covering all the contents. As it was cooking I had been enjoying some Oat Stout that was made by our local brewery in Gore Bay, Manitoulin, Ontario, “Splitrail Brewing Company“. And promptly decided to liberally add that to the pottage as well.

In the end it came out DELICIOUS!

The Big Day

Throughout Saturday there was Archery, Axe Throwing, Armored Combat, Rapier, some Arts & Science classes, and many people socializing in the Hall while working on their own Arts & Science projects. For each activity you participated in, you were given a Settlers of The Ram card – which you can gather and ‘cash in’ sets of at the ‘gate’ to enter in a draw for a door prize of that set type. The cards were much like the Settlers of Catan resource cards, but a ramshead instead for the sheep. A set of wood cards would give you a draw for the Wood door prizes, a set of Ore cards would give you a draw for Metal themed door prizes, etc.

Like Trillium War, for Brouhaha I mostly hung out around the Axe Throwing Range as that was one of the last times I will have a target to throw at, and I wanted to practice for the Ramshaven Thrown Weapons Champion Tourney. And I definitely needed the practice as it took a little while before I was consistently able to hit the target as desired.

And because of that I did not take many photos of the rest of the event. But Thanks to Mic Cillian and R. M. Ridley, I have photos to fill in some image gaps of what went on.

I did later participate in the Arts & Science Championship Competition where I presented:

– Some Powder Douce (a 14th c. France spice mix) I mixed and had as a free sample jar for attendees to use throughout the event + a small bottle for their excellencies to use as they wished.

– A Diggy Diggy Hole Song Sheet that I did in Futhark (a Norse Alphabet). One side of the sheet was in English with the common Latin Alphabet we are familiar with. And the opposite side of the sheet had maintained the English lyrics but done with the Futhark alphabet. That way those who want to learn how to read Futhark can do so with this song.

– I showed and sang my “Storm At Glyndmere Hall” song

– And an in progress basket woven style hat, which was promptly donned by each of the judges,

There were entries from several others, A great woolen cloak beautifully embroidered for the owner’s geographical time period, a song from the same artisan, lots of tablet woven bands by a highly skilled newcomer to the craft, nalbinded bags and hats, a different song about the hosting land, and probably am forgetting an entry or two with this. It was a good showing regardless and healthy competition.

Shortly thereafter was court with a lot of well deserved acknowledgements of people receiving their Guidon, with silver and gold banded ones given as well. Great honors to be sure. Then the tourneys had their winners announced followed by the announcement of the Champions of Ramshaven:

Rapier Combat Champion: Lady Alienor la Fileuse
Armoured Combat Champion: Lord Bartholomäus Hespeler
Thrown Weapons Champion: The Honourable Lord Daniel of Whitby
Archery Champion: Helga
Arts and Sciences Champion: Lady Fáelán Ruadh ua Aodha

Fáelán Ruadh ua Aodha, That’s Me!

Now the funny thing with this honor is that since it is the very first one of the Barony, I am charged with designing the regalia and/or trophy of that station. And being an Arts & Science enthusiast makes this quite an exciting and daunting task. Primarily because, unlike book heraldry, I do not have easily recognized boundaries to work within and keep me in check.

So I can get crazy creative with this, and am thus mulling things over for a while, letting my mind calm down after all the excitement, and waiting until I can present some of my thoughts with the Baroness after Pennsic (if anybody knows anything about Pennsic, is that contact with attendees there is a write off and when people get back they will need some recuperating time – Pennsic Is A Big Deal). It helped a great deal to speak with many Arts & Science folk while I was at the event afterwards to get their ideas and thoughts on the subject.

So, that is very exciting news, and I look forward to presenting what comes of it here.

Potluck Feast & Door Prizes

Then there was the Potluck feast. As usual, there was plenty for everyone, and for thirds besides. I was pleased that this time I was able to recreate a couple of Norse styled pies,

So many dishes were made with an obvious passion for food, making it surprising that any was left. Everyone ended up feeling stuffed even before dessert.

This is when the door prizes were announced, and I somehow made off like a bandit – getting everything I entered for, and for my kiddo as well who got the shield they wanted that came with a red cap they came to love wearing. I got a clay spindle whorl and a beautifully tablet woven belt.

Funerary Ceremony

After door prizes, and when dusk was nigh, we had, for the first time, a special in-period Norse themed ceremony for remembering those that are no longer with us.

It began with a candle lit procession while carrying a wood and paper Norse ‘viking’ ship to a pyre.

During the procession we all sang “Life Blood” by Wyndreth Bergensdottir,

“Drink, for the wind blows cold and
Drink for The Wolf runs free.
Drink to the ships with sails like wings and
Drink to the storm-tossed seas.

Drink to the lasting nights
and those who warm our beds.
Drink to the mead that warms our hearts
and the cold that clears our head.

Drink to the Allfather’s Eye
for Odin’s sons are we.
Drink to the World-Tree where he hung
and the Runes of Mystery.

Drink to the truth of steel
and blood that falls like rain.
Drink to Valhalla’s golden walls
and to our kinsmen, slain.

Drink to the Glory-field
where a man embraces death, and
thank the gods that we live at all
with our joyous dying breath!

Drink for the wind blows cold and
Drink for the Wolf runs free
Drink to the ships with the sails like wings
for Odin’s sons are we!”

After the procession and song the Ship was laid onto the pyre as a commonly known poem was read aloud by all attending,

Then those attending who have lost and wish to remember someone help lit the fire with their candles while saying the name of their loved one.

Then a moment of silence in remembrance.

After this moment passed one of our talented bards sang Mead & Wine (Dusk & Dawn) that wrapped things up very nicely.

As The Night Went On And The Morning After

The night followed into relax jovial conversation, a goodly fire resulting in a great many s’mores, and a bardic circle where I was requested to sing my song about ‘The Storm At Glyndmere’. That was officially the fourth time I ever sang it, and probably the best I have ever sung it. The fireside singing and conversations lasted well into the night and virtually into dawn.

The next morning had only one scheduled activity for those interested, and that was to play with Smithing in Glyndmere’s Smith Shop.

Since we had a long day of travel ahead of us we did not partake in this activity. But as we were packing up to leave that day, I managed to snap a couple photos of the weather that had ended up lining up with the afternoon sun creating gorgeous rainbows over the grounds.

And during our good byes I saw an interesting critter that I had to at least photo document, whom I will leave you with to consider who this beastie is – seriously, fellow naturalists out there, help me out. I do not know what kind of beetle this bad boy is and would love identify it.