Category: Blog Post

PGC2019: Mistress katherine kerr’s “How to puzzle a Knight with the written word”

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Mistress katherine kerr describes her entry:

“I have some languages: the Scots of my country (though little used here in the Laurel Kingdoms so mostly forgotten); the English of our near neighbour and the close dialects used within the land of Lochac; and a smattering of the Latin and Italian I learned when a young girl living in the Venice of my birth.

This Challenge provided impetus to take a look at Scottish terms, vocabulary and oaths; a surprising number of which were reasonably familiar to me!

One of my long-held SCA disappointments is how difficult I find it to do a convincing accent, so katherine has never sounded particularly Scottish, but I am becoming more familiar with Scots usage in written form.

I had been working on a series of letters to my lord-consort, Sir Radbot von Borg. As I was to be overseas for an extended period, I was missing three tourneys. The letters were given to the Baroness of Southron Gaard for delivery when Sir Radbot made his salute to me.

I used some general Scottish/Elizabethan usage but really went to town in one using an English-Scots translator supplemented with various word lists. By the time I was finished, it was pleasingly well-nigh incomprehensible….

The second letter in the series was scheduled for delivery at the Fiery Nights Tourney — the Feast Day of St Matthew, whose angel stands for the application of reason. The latter was pertinent as the letter expressed concerns for Sir Radbot’s safety in such a dangerous environment where I “have a premonition that [he] may be burned or [his] clothes catch fire or flaming stones rain down upon [him] from on high”.

In this letter, the first page of the bifolium (the folded paper typically used for correspondence) was written in a tight secretary hand using as much Border and Lowland Scots terms and forms as I could muster. So the above-mentioned concern was expressed as: “I hae a firebrod ye micht burn yersel, your claes cuid catch oan fire an you cuid be skelp by a flaming stane fra on hie.”

The second page had katherine’s apologies for “the uncivil tongue which precedes this more harmonius note” as she went on to explain that she asked her secretary to take down her words “never thinking he would transcribe my thoughts into his own broad Border Scots, a tongue I know you do not ken”. She then provided a clear English translation of the original text, albeit somewhat gentler in tone than the Border Scots.

Thus the secretary’s transcription started: “Tha bruit came th’daie hither thit ye war thinkit tae put inta tha firey rammy an a am worriit thon it kin be a glaikit thing tae dae whit wi tha danger n aa.”

Or as katherine put it: “I heard today that you were thinking of entering the Firey Tournament and am worried that it might be an unwise (Scots glaikit = stupid) thing to do given the danger.”

The address included the instruction “make haste” — this was not an uncommon phrase, sometimes repeated again and again, on letters with a time-critical aspect. Cecil and Burghley were known to use this inscription when about Queen Elizabeth’s business.

The letter was locked using a tucked-in format and a seal, based on the form used by Erasmus.

Letterlocking: Desiderius Erasmus’ Tucked Triangle Lock (1517)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCRo1_sulAM

I am told Sir Radbot was called up in opening court to receive my missive and spent some time with Sir Sebastian trying to puzzle out the Scots (much easier to do when you try reading it aloud!). It apparently took them some time to notice the second page….

Given that I ayewis gie it laldy, I now have a list of interesting words and phrases I may throw into the conversation and see how they go.

Lang may yer lum reek!”

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PGC2019: Mistress katherine kerr’s Soul Cakes

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A delicious entry from Mistress katherine kerr under the heading of “Do you think because you are virtuous, that there shall be no more cakes and ale?” She says:

“Soul Cakes, Soul Cakes, please good Mistress a Soul cake

For that it lies near the Feast of All Souls Day and for that said day is the Natal Day of the lovely Lady Vigdis, know that the November Monthly Tourney on the iiid day of said month shall be graced by Soul Cakes for the sustance of all. And further, the aforementioned month occasioning the Feast Day of St Catherine upon the xxvth day, there will be Cattern Cakes for my saint’s name’s sake. For those not approving of the old saints, then it is a day in especial honour of lace-makers and the Queen.

I wanted to encourage activities at the barony’s monthly tourneys which didn’t revolve around the fighting. Everyone likes cakes so….

Soulmass cakes were traditionally baked  at the beginning of November to celebrate All Hallows E’en and All Souls’ Day. The small cakes are filled with spices and mixed fruit, and usually have a cross marked on them. I used a recipe redacted from that of Lady Elinor Fettiplace (1604).

Cattern cakes are similar but have caraway seed and currants for flavouring. They are associated with St Katherine of Alexandria or, in England, with Queen Katherine of Aragon, who was said to have destroyed her lace to give employment to the local women. This is remembered in the following rhyme:

Queen Katherine loved to deck with lace
The royal robes she wore;
But though she loved to wear her lace,
She loved the lace-folk more.
So now for good Queen Katherine’s sake
Put bones and sticks away,
And keep the yearly festival
And sing on ‘Kattern Day

In France, unmarried women over the age of 25 were called “Catherinettes”. They consoled each other on their unwed state, singing:

A husband, St. Catherine!
A handsome one, St. Catherine!
A rich one, St. Catherine!
A nice one, St. Catherine!
And soon, St. Catherine!

As form of  consolation prize, their friends would make them yellow or green hats, so they might demonstrate their faith and wisdom, respectively.

There are vague references to earlier St Catherine’s Day celebrations when women dressed up in male attire and indulged in “unfettered merry-making, including amorous (or violent) advances to passing men” !

The cakes got eaten before I thought about taking photos — didn’t notice any ladies in men’s clothing though….

katherine kerr”

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PGC2019: Mistress katherine kerr’s Materia Medica

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This entry, in the category “Throw physic to the dogs; I’ll have none of it”, is by Mistress katherine kerr, who describes it below:

“I keep a small collection of materials to assist in the health of those around me with simples and tisanes and the like. Such knowledge I have from the older folk and a few texts from the ancients recommending treatments, though some of these be more effective than others.

I have long wanted to do a cabinet of curiosities or wunderkammer, and have been collecting items for it (a cowrie shell, some bones and fossils and suchlike). Lacking a highly fancy cabinet or spare room to devote to this, the plan has lain dormant for a number of years until the Baronial Challenge combined with a chance flick through Umberto Eco’s The Infinity of Lists (Maclehose Press, 2009).

Illustrations on page 179 and 235 showed small collections in something akin to a modern shadow box; I had had one of those sitting under a table for many years just waiting for the right project….

So here is a collection primarily of materia medica, to match Challenge 13. It is modelled after the 1470 rendition of the material collection in the Book of Simple Medicines, a manuscript written by Salerno physician Matthaeus Platearius.

The box consists of:

(1) a lapidary shelf containing lynx stones (thought to be petrified urine), otherwise cited as belemnites by Conrad Gessner; white and red corals; a cowrie shell; and a portion of a large snakestone (ammonite)

(2) a shelf of scribal equipment; not exactly medical, but such items as seals and wax were not uncommonly seen on shelves in period portraits

(3) a shelf containing a variety of materials in a variety of containers: spices in a Mary Rose pomander (made by Master Edward Braythwayte) and in cloth bags; pearls and yellow amber beads strung on silk; rose oil in a corked glass jar; and walnuts in a pasteboard container with a skull on top to remind us that Death is always with us

(4) a herbal shelf, holding fenkel seeds; lemon balm; stickadove, more commonly known as lavender; rosemary; and mint unguent

The box is accompanied by writings covering the medical knowledge associated with each material, held together by a leather point, as was common practice.”

A period image of such a item can be viewed here.

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PGC2019: Baronessa Isabel Maria’s Spiced Water

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This project, completed at Golden Flight, is entered under the category of “Do you think because you are virtuous, that there shall be no more cakes and ale?” (Food and drink your persona would have known.)  Baronessa Isabel Maria has this to say about it:

“It is nice to have food and drink appropriate to ones persona when attending an event.  To that end, I was looking for an easy to make (or perhaps even convenient to buy) drink that it suitable for daytime tourneys, evening feasts or multi-day camping events.  So the question became “what did they drink in sixteenth century Spain?”

According to Daily Life in Spain in the Golden Age (Marcelin Defourneaux) there was “a great demand for iced drinks – orange juice, [and] strawberry water…” even in the summer months.  In contrast he also quotes the Countess d’Aulnoy as saying “women never drink [wine].”  With that in mind, I went looking for a flavoured water or juice recipe in 16th century Spanish cooking manuals or recipe books.  While I did not find such a book from exactly my period, there was one from earlier that met all my requirements.


Recipe: Clarea de Aqua
To one azumbre of water, four ounces of honey; you must cast in the same spices as for the other clarea; you must give it a boil with the honey over the fire, and hen it is off the fire you must cast in the spices.

Spices for Clarea
3 parts cinnamon, 2 parts cloves, 1 part ginger Libre del Coch (1529, Roberto de Nola translated by Lady Brighid ni Chiarain)

I used the above translation of the original Catalan recipe and considered the advice of several others who have made this drink, but adjusted the spice proportions to suit my tastes.

My redaction: Take 2 litres of water and add 170g honey.  Boil for 3 or so minutes and take the scum off the water.  Throw in ¼ teaspoon of roughly broken cloves, ½ teaspoon of roughly bashed cinnamon stick, a tiny fraction of a pinch of ginger.  Let steep until lukewarm, strain through 2 layers of thick linen, bottle and refrigerate.

Due to the honey used, there was a slight chemical aftertaste.  However, the addition of a tablespoon of white sugar eliminated the “tang” without substantially affecting the sweetness of the clary.
Verdict: This proved to be a light and refreshing non-alcoholic beverage, that was very pleasant to drink when chilled while watching the tourney and room temperature during the feast. It is also fairly quick and easy to make, with ingredients regularly in my pantry, meaning it is the sort of thing that can be made the evening before (or indeed morning of) an event.”

Resources

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PGC2019 Mistress katherine kerr’s headroll, veil, and earrings

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My mother Caterina Mocenigo was from a well-regarded Venetian family, and her wedding cassone houses a number of lovely items once hers. She wore this headware in honour of the Queen of Cyprus, whose funeral procession was one of the largest ever seen in La Serenissima.

I wanted to make a small head roll and veil, but I wasn’t inspired until I saw a Bellini painting (ca 1500) of Caterina Cornaro, Queen of Cyprus. Rather than a plain roll, Caterina sports a black, white and gold one, variously described as brocade or damask or embroidered. The roll is securely shoved down over a closely fitted cap made up of what looks to me like alternating bands of lace, or possibly lacis in net. (Partridge, in the Art of Renaissance Venice, pg 96, describes it as damask, so take your pick!) A coronet crowns the whole ensemble. Underneath it all are two very fine gossamer black veils.
I liked the idea of a decorated roll, and of multiple parts to the headwear allowing different looks. Another, unattributed, painting of Caterina appears to show a similar roll (or possibly a cap?) worn much further back on her head with a different veil beneath. (One thing I learned when researching this was the assertion that women wore their ears covered by veils to maintain chastity, this being the route the Holy Ghost took to impregnate the Blessed Virgin Mary!) 
My head roll is in Sir Radbot’s colours, being part of a consort ensemble of a black coat, tabbed bodice and Venetian brocade skirt. The black ribbon and pearl earrings I’m wearing are modeled off the ones worn by the Lady with Squirrel by Montemezzano. The roll bears one of our favour pins at centre. The remaining decorations came from long-stashed stuff; the wool was scored at one of Southron Gaard’s beggar markets.
The accompanying veil is silk chiffon, chosen for its sheerness and drape. The edges were stabilised with starch; Master William de Wyk demonstrated how to extract starch by heavily kneading a flour and water dough, then washing the starch out of it; that makes a clearer solution than the common approach of boiling cornflour and water. Ironing a starch-dampened edge onto brown paper made it a lot easier to cut a straight line and to press a fold into this most uncooperative fabric.
Caterina Cornaro paintings: https://theconversation.com/hidden-women-of-history-caterina-cornaro-the-last-queen-of-cyprus-108495
Another Bellini depiction of Caterina (far left) wearing the same roll: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Miracolo_della_reliquia_della_Croce_al_ponte_di_San_Lorenzo_di_Gentile_Bellini,_dettaglio_(4).JPG

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PGC2019 Mistress katherine kerr’s pennants

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It is important, when taking to the field in a tournament for the Crown, that people know who is contesting. These pennants identify my contract with Sir Radbot von Borg, bearing our arms and a shared sigil.

Matching heraldic pennants for tourney display have been upgraded from the vinyl stick-on rats we used at May Crown! Painted flags and pennants were commissionable items, as Cennini mentions in The Craftsman’s Handbook. The cats are modelled on the 12-14C manuscript marginalia we used on our large tourney banner; the rat-chasing-cat-chasing-rat motif comes from a 1610 emblem book by Sebastián de Covarrubias Horozco, representing a world turned topsy-turvey:
Anda agora el mundo tal
que no se cual va tras cual

It’s upside-down!
Now, who can say
Who’s the chaser
And who the prey?

I prefer to think of a contemporaneous adage which warned that “when the cat and the rat join forces, the farmer should beware!”

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PGC2019 Mistress katherine kerr’s bond of manrent, and amendments

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The Bond of Manrent between Sir Radbot and me has been extended with an addendum to hold force unto May Crown ASLV. I have been recording Sir Radbot’s tournament wins and losses at both Crown events and the Baronial monthly wappenshaws. To that I have  attached some momentos of the Rose Tourneys he has entered.

The on-going record of Sir Radbot’s tournament standings, and any subsequent honours, is being recorded in the form of an Elizabethan-style jousting cheque, partially in Latin. The script is a secretary hand with sepia (squid-derived) ink using a dip pen.
I had surmised that period contracts would have extensions and assumed these would be cut and sealed onto the originals or sewn together; I have seen examples of manorial accounts and correspondence tied together for archiving. More recently I came across an example of parchment and paper amendments sewn to an original indentured deed of conveyance concerning the sale of land in Stratford in 1611. 
Bargain and sale deed:http://collections.shakespeare.org.uk/search/archive/er2711-bargain-and-sale-wood-street-stratford-04121611-item/page/114

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PGC2019 Mistress katherine kerr’s bracelets

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My father spent much of his life in Europe, as a member of the Scots Guard at the French court, then as a hired soldier and engineer-trader in Italy. I found this string of Baltic amber chips in his coffer after he died and had them made into bracelets. 
I had a very long string of Baltic amber chips waiting for a suitable project. I don’t play Viking so didn’t expect to use them, but a mention of amber bracelets in Shakespeare has inspired me into action. So I have strung on silk groups of the chips interspersed with freshwater pearls; this is a common style for the 16C in both Venice and Scotland. Bracelets were generally worn in matching sets, so I made two for me; an additional one was a tad long so it has been donated to Baronial largesse.

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PGC2019: Mistress katherine kerr’s gifts to her consort

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I have promised to be a generous consort to Sir Radbot von Borg and, on learning that he lacked suitable items to bring to table, I have begun work to rectify that.

I made a ratbag and ratkerchief, to go with a feast kit set (rat-marked market wallet, trencher, cutlery roll, bag and napkin) I presented to Sir Radbot at Coronation. The kerchief is of linen with a simple lace edging; the bag is linen with ties in his livery colours. Both bear an embroidered rat as a charge from Sir Radbot’s arms.

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