SCA Life

Chinese Flying Money?

I used to collect an entertaining trivia column written by L. M. Boyd. The column, “Q & A: Puzzles, Predictions, Problems,” included medieval and ancient period trivia. Here are some more of my favorite excerpts. I hope you enjoy the silly stuff.

1 – Alexander the Great, Louis XIV and Napoleon hated cats, it’s said, because those imperious potentates couldn’t stand anyone who didn’t come when called.

2 – Ancient histories of the Chinese indicate they found it so easy to carry their paper currency—the world’s first—that they called it “flying money.”

3 – In Shakespeare’s time, smugglers brought boatloads of untaxed contraband ashore at British seasides. Royal guards hunted them. But to let them know when no guards watched, lookouts on land signaled with firelight. The meaning of those signals wound up in the idiom: “The coast is clear.”

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I used to collect an entertaining trivia column written by L. M. Boyd. The column, “Q & A: Puzzles, Predictions, Problems,” included medieval and ancient period trivia. Here are some more of my favorite excerpts. I hope you enjoy the silly stuff.

1 – Item 3319C in our Love and War man’s files is this English Proverb: “A poor beauty finds more lovers than husbands.”

2 – Medical historians say the Aztecs mixed powdered chilies with honey to treat mouth cuts.

3 – “Don’t underestimate the pony,” writes a historian. “Genghis Khan’s cavalries conquered vast territories astride horses so small they’d now be called ponies.”

L. M. Boyd, LM Boyd, trivia, SCA, Society for Creative Anachronism, medieval, middle ages, renaissance, Genghis Khan, Aztec, Aztecs, proverbs

(Left: The Battle of Agincourt).

As I believe I mentioned once before, I used to collect an entertaining trivia column written by L. M. Boyd. The column, “Q & A: Puzzles, Predictions, Problems,” included medieval and ancient period trivia. Here are some of my favorite excerpts. I hope you enjoy the silly stuff.

1 – Englanders in 1060 used a coin shaped like a four-leaf clover. Each leaf could be broken off as a separate piece of currency.

2 – LOVE POEMS: In the 1415 Battle of Agincourt, the British captures a Frenchman named Charles, Duke of Orleans, and took him to the Tower of London, where he wrote rhymed love letters to his wife. His poems, according to some historians, were the first in the long tradition of mailed Valentine’s Day verses.

3 – Spain’s first bullfighter of record—in 1040 A.D.—is listed in a collegiate encyclopedia as “El Cid.”

You can check out more witty sayings by L. M. Boyd at The Quotations Page.

SCA, Society for Creative Anachronism, medieval, middle ages, history, LM Boyd, L.M. Boyd, trivia, bullfight, El Cid, bullfighter, clover, Agincourt, Tower of London, Valentine, Valentine’s Day, love letters, poetry, poems, poem

(Due to my increasing inability to write coherently while taking codeine, Eideann has graciously agreed to write guest blogs for today and Monday. Today’s topic: bards. Monday you will be introduced to the wonder of the Medieval Mall! Be sure to check out Eideann’s blog at Fan Fiction Frenzy. Take it away, Eidz!)

I am told that this is Friday Fun Facts. So now I must come up with facts that are fun about the SCA.

Hmmmm . . .

Well, when I tell my mundane friends about the SCA, I typically tell them we’re a group of people who dress up like the Middle Ages and whack at each other with rattan sticks. It is a simplistic description, but then the people I’m usually talking to think the Middle Ages, also known as the Dark Ages, were a time when it was dark and people didn’t have sex. (No, however much I might like to be, I’m not kidding.) As a result, I tend to stick to the obvious

Well, needless to say, the SCA is a lot more than funny clothes and martial arts involving rattan. I thought I’d share some information about one of my favorite activities.

Live music and poetry were a big thing in the Middle Ages. After all, with no television or radio or CD players, they had to do something. If you’ve been following this blog, you know that people do a fair amount of singing in the SCA, and a lot of it seems to be to the tunes of popular modern songs. While this is true, there are also folks who write original music, and people who write words to ancient tunes. Sometimes you run across the ambitious soul who translates medieval songs into modern English.

To enjoy this music, people gather in what’s called a bardic circle. At outdoor events, this often strongly resembles gathering around a campfire for music, like one might do at scout camp. Group sing-alongs do occur, but bardic circles also include solo singing, poetry readings and storytelling. One thing to note, if you participate in a bardic circle, there is no requirement that your voice be anything beyond the ordinary. People are gathered to enjoy the sharing. Vocal talent (or lack thereof) is a side issue. To someone of mediocre voice who nevertheless loves to sing, this can be enormously liberating. (I should know, unlike Catslyn I have a perfectly mediocre voice.)

At a bardic circle, everyone typically participates to one degree or another. You can sing, you can suggest a song for everyone to sing together, you can tell a story, you can read a poem (by yourself or others). The only requirement is that if you present something that you did not create, you attribute it the best you can. Saying, “I didn’t write this, I don’t know who did, but it’s fun,” is usually sufficient if that’s all the information you have. Unlike the campfires some of us attended as kids, there is not typically someone who is in charge. Everyone contributes, making it very much a community event.

If you go to a bardic circle and feel shy about participating, don’t be afraid to say so. You may pass until you get more comfortable with joining in. Attend a few, feel your way, and maybe one day you’ll be competing to become Bard of your local region.

My mundane job once involved reading newspapers by the ton, and so I came to collect an entertaining trivia column written by L. M. Boyd. The column, “Q & A: Puzzles, Predictions, Problems,” included medieval and ancient period trivia. Here are some of my favorite exerpts. I hope you enjoy the silly stuff.

1- Running a little late in reporting this, but contrary to the widely believed rumors of the 1600s, potatoes do not transmit leprosy.

2 - In 1610, a retired Japanese Samurai named Hachirobei Mitsui pawned a couple of his swords to start a ribbon and komono shop. It became what’s now the world’s oldest department store—Tokyo’s Mitsukoshi.

3 - Among the earliest English trademarks were those imprinted on bread loaves by bakers. in 1266 A.D., they were ordered to stamp their own identities thereon, so they could be caught if they tried to sell a bad batch.

SCA, Society for Creative Anachronism, medieval, middle ages, history, trivia, L.M. Boyd, Boyd, newspaper column, bread, samurai, Mitsukoshi, komono, trademark, trademarks, leprosy, potatoes, Hachirobei Mitsui

For today’s Friday Fun Facts, I present you with four websites about medieval games. The top two websites have playable online games, and the bottom two have information on the creation, evolution and playability of medieval games, including instruction on how to make basic copies of some games.

Concentration II: Medieval People

Fun Trivia: Medieval History Quizzes

Kidipede – History for Kids

Medieval & Renaissance Games Home Page

medieval, middle ages, games, game, concentration, history, SCA, Society for Creative Anachronism, play, quiz, quizzes, trivia, medieval trivia

There’s nothing new under the sun. Pain is as old as the hills and as universal. While the Chinese poem below was composed a little early to qualify for the Society for Creative Anachronism’s timeline (600AD to 1600AD), I felt is was worthy of sharing.

It is certainly beautiful and evocative. It makes me think of so many things: Iraq, World War II, anyone who’s ever lost a loves one. Let me know what you think of it.

Iraq, SCA, Society for Creative Anachronism, renaissance, middle ages, medieval, Chinese, china, poetry, poem, verse, war, prince, BC, battle, castle

Like you, I too read blogs. You’re amazed, I know. And some of my absolute favorite blogs are located here on 451press.com. Today, I’ll give you peek at three of them.

First, there’s The Book Stacks. Written by Elisa, The Book Stacks covers a wide range of book related topics including new book reviews, favorite reading spots, books being made into films and title contests. It is well written and definitely worth your time. So check out The Book Stacks.

Next up, we have Pop Buzz UK for everything British, cool and trendy. Not to mention the fact that the blog has a new masthead that completely rocks. Pop Buzz UK is written by DaveP and is a must read for all the anglophiles like me out there.

Finally, we have Food Past. This blog features recipes for all food from our pasts. The range of food discussed is terrific, including medieval recipes and mom’s best mundane casseroles. I love reading Food Past because it gives me ideas for SCA food, and I enjoy the memories that people share along with the recipes. What’s more, Gillian Pollack, the author of Food Past is an intelligent, kind and fun to talk to lady.

Well, those are my blog recommendations for this week. So have fun reading, and, as always, I’ll see you online tomorrow. Bye now!

food, history, renaissance, medieval, middle ages, Gillian Pollack, Pop Buzz UK, Food Past, feast, British, anglophile, England, SCA, Society for Creative Anachronism, reenactment, The Book Stacks, book, books, mundane, casserole, blogs, blog