Illuminating my Illuminations: Scribal Work 2016-Present

Illuminating my Illuminations

Since joining the SCA in 2009 I focused mostly on sewing but always meant to try my hand at scribal arts and after 7 years I finally managed to get started!  I must mention that the calligraphy aspect of scribal arts is something I have tried and catastrophically failed at...partially because I just cannot get the hand of it and partially because it aggravates my neck and shoulder issues.  So I'm sticking to illumination!

Although I have lost some photos of past scrolls due to a computer crash (eek!), here is a sample of things I have done in the 2 years of my scribal life so far:

This is my first scroll ever...an Arts and Sciences scroll for our Ruantallan Baronial Championship.  I did the illumination as well as the wordsmithing.  My daughter (Emily Colin aka Lady Kira) did the calligraphy.  Notice the dog in the upper right corner?  Yup, this is my "scribal signature".  I like to include a dog in each of my illuminations to pay homage to all of my doggy pals past and present, as well as to honour the time I was a  Foster-Mum to a few rescues.  All the dogs in my life are in my heart forever.

Another Arts and Sciences scroll...illumination and wordsmithing by me and calligraphy by my daughter (Emily Colin aka Lady Kira)...who also happened to win the Ruantallan Baronial Arts and Sciences Championship for which the scroll was made...so she ended up with a piece of art done by her mother and herself!

Next up is a scroll for our Canton of Seashire Rattan Championship...the one and ONLY scroll where the illumination, wordsmithing AND "calligraphy" was done by me.  The "calligraphy" was achieved by very careful and painstaking tracing with the use of a light-box.  NEVER again.  My neck is still complaining.  Funny, the person who won this tournament was my husband!  The first photo is the inspiration image from 14th century manuscript:

And my version...I changed the face of the shield to the Canton of Seashire device.  Also, notice the "dog"fish?  I quite liked that little addition.

Next is one of my favourite scrolls.  It was a local Ruantallan Baronial award called "The Order of the Iceberg".  The recipient is known for her music, sewing, heralding, and archery skills.  Here is the inspiration image from a late 15th century manuscript:

In my version of the scroll I modified the image to show the recipient in one of her own outfits wearing an Iceberg medallion as a necklace, 3 rats which are from her personal device...one playing a flute, one heralding and one sewing the hem of her dress, and finally I included a very tiny Ruantallan Baronial device as a flag on the castle.  Do you see the hidden dog in this one?

Next up is a recent Arts and Sciences scroll for the Principality of Tir Mara Arts and Sciences Championship...this one is for the "Princess's Champion".  Here are the inspiration images from the Winchester Bible:

  

And my version.  Fairly simple.  I included the device for the Principality of Tir Mara in the "A" and added the Arts and Sciences candle image to the "L".  I'm loving the little doggy face at the bottom of the "A".

The last two scrolls are ones that I was given the honour of illuminating for my daughter (Emily Colin aka Lady Kira).  The first one is the most recent one.  She recieved a Silver Brooch award at the East Kingdom Spring Crown Tournament this spring (2018) for her Arts and Sciences work, specifically her calligraphy and illumination.  Seriously, she is hands down much better than me!  So, I wanted her to have a scroll that reflected her scribal work.  Here is the inspiration, an illumination from a late 12th - early 13th century manuscript depicting a female scribe by the name of Marie de France:

In my version I changed the colour of the dress to blue to add more vibrancy, the hair colour is red as is my daughter's, the boarder was changed to reflect her recently joining House Crimson Company and of course, there's a dog at her feet.

And finally, although this last scroll was done last year (2017), I left this one to the end because it is my very favourite illumination of all the illuminations I have done.  This scroll was given to Emily (Lady Kira) for her induction into the Ruantallan "Order of the Iceberg".  Before I go on, I will credit Mistress Zaneta Gavlinne Angiolieri with the lovely calligraphy.  I could not have done it myself!

Although Lady Kira does not yet have a personal device, when she does register one, it will most certainly include a sea turtle, reflecting her environmental science and marine biology education and a job she once had during one of her summers on a boat when she, of course, saw a sea turtle.  The inspirations for this scroll did not come from an actual manuscript but from various ideas.  The turtle, in mythology, is often represented as carrying the world upon it and is associated closely with the Earth and environment.  My illumination is celtic in nature, with the turtle holding a celtic tree on its back with the roots reaching through it and creating a celtic knot boarder for the scroll.  And, of course, the dog...it is depicted running on the top of the Iceberg device in the top left corner...she has wings and is dark in colour which represent a very much loved deceased family dog that will always be in Lady Kira's heart.  I am SO very proud of this scroll...almost as proud as I am of the recipient!

And that's my scribal life...so far.  I love painting, so there will be sure to be many more scrolls in my future!

The Ugly Mermaid

So I've had my SCA registered device for some years now.  When it was originally sent in it was sent back because it was judged that the trident wasn't big enough.  So someone else re-drew it to make the trident bigger.  And now my official device looks like this:

Azure, a mermaid proper sustaining a trident bendwise, a gore Or.

Suffice it to say, that's not how I envisioned her!  So when I wanted to paint a banner for myself to hang at events and in camp I decided to give her a little more presence.  I also wanted to give her a little historical flair so I gave her a tail that mimics the tail of the "Mermaid of Zennor" on The Mermaid Chair, a wooden bench dated from 1400-1500 with a mermaid carved on its side found in the church of St. Senara in the Cornish village of Zennor in England:

The Mermaid Chair

The Carving

And here are the results!  I used plain white broadcloth and painted it with outdoor craft paint.  If I were to do it again I would use a canvas material as she has a tendancy to curl up with the broadcloth, but the most important part is that I love her design.  She truly makes me happy!

Here she is hanging in my tent at Pennsic:

References:

https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/cornwall/churches/zennor.htm

https://folkrealmstudies.weebly.com/cornish-legends-the-mermaid-of-zennor.html

Shrewsbury Cakes: A Simple But Delicious British Delight!

*At our recent East Kingdom Crown Tournament event we had an Arts and Sciences display.  I decided to share one of the recipes I used for my "Fool's Paradise" event in 2017.

Shrewsbury Cakes: A Simple But Delicious British Delight:

For an April Fool’s Day event I ran in 2017 one of the things I wanted to do was make silly food.  One of the things I made was “fish cakes”, which were actually fish-shaped cookies. Of course, I needed a recipe for an SCA period cookie.  Shrewsbury Cakes were a perfect selection. The first thing to know about Shrewsbury Cakes is that they are not really cakes at all, they are cookies, or biscuits. (Davidson, 2014)   Made with flour, sugar and butter, they are very much like shortbread cookies and are known for being flavoured with spices and/or rosewater. (Davidson, 2014) 

Origins:

The book entitled The Taste of Britain by Laura Mason and Catherine Brown suggests Shrewsbury Cakes were first documented in the 1500’s, referring to their crisp and brittle texture.  (Baking for Britain, 2007).  Specifically, there appears to be reference to Shrewsbury Cakes in 1596 when, due to a shortage of grain, there was a ban on making these “fine cakes” in Shrewsbury. (Eve, 2014) There are several literary references to Shrewsbury Cakes including many cookbooks. (White, 2014) One of the most notable and early literary references to the crisp and brittle texture of these biscuits comes from Lord Herbert of Cherbury when writing to his guardian, Sir George More in 1602:

“Lest you think this country ruder than it is, I have sent you some bread, which I am sure will be dainty, howsoever it be not pleasinge; it is a kind of cake which our country people use and made in no place in England but in Shrewsbury; if you vouchsafe to taste them, you will enworthy the country and sender. Measure not my love in substance of it, which is brittle, but the form of it, which is circular.”  (Eve, 2014)

This reference to Shrewsbury, a town in the county of Shropshire, England, is very likely the origin of the name of these delicious cookies.  Since then, the Shrewsbury Cake name has gained in fame and is a well known cookie in Britain, with many flavour variations used including rosewater, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon or orange, and even dried fruit. (Davidson, 2014)

Recipes:

It is possible the first recorded recipe for “fine cakes” comes from a 1617 cookbook by John Murrell entitled A Daily Exercise for Ladies and Gentlewomen:

“To make a fine Sugar cake.  Bake a pound of fine wheat flower in a pipkin close coured, put thereto halfe a pound of fine Sugar, foure yolkes and one white of egs, Pepper and Nutmegs, straine them with clouted creame, and with a new Ale yest, make it in past, as it were for Manchet bake it in a quicke ouen with a breath fire in the ouens mouth, but beware of burning them.” (The Copper Pot, 2014)

A cookbook published soon after in 1623 entitled Couentry Contentments, or The English Hous-wife Booke by Gervase Markham also records a recipe for “fine cakes” but this recipe does not contain yeast:

“To make fine cakes; take a pottle of fine flour, and a pound of butter, a pound of sugar, a little mace and a good store of water to (as will) mingle the flower into a stiffe paste, and a good season of salt and so knead it, and roll out the cake thin and bake them on papers.”  (Markham, 1623 and Carr, 2000)

The first recorded recipe for a “fine cake” using the actual title of Shrewsbury Cakes was published in The Compleat Cook by W. M. in 1658:

“To make Shrewsbury Cakes:  Take two pound of floure dryed in the Oven and weighed after it is dryed, then put to it one pound of Butter that must be layd an hour or two in Rose-water, so done poure the Water from the Butter, and put the Butter to the flowre with the yolks and whites of five Eggs, two races of Ginger, and three quarters of a pound of Sugar, a little salt, grate your spice, and it well be the better, knead all these together till you may rowle the past, then roule it forth with the top of a bowle, then prick them with a pin made of wood, or if you have a comb that hath not been used, that will do them quickly, and is best to that purpose, so bake them upon Pye plates, but not too much in the Oven, for the heat of the Plates will dry them very much, after they come forth of the Oven, you may cut them without the bowles of what bignesse or what fashion you please”.  (Hughes, 2018)

My Personal Redaction:

My personal redaction takes my gluten-free diet into account. There are not that many ingredients in a Shrewsbury Cake, with wheat flour being the only ingredient containing gluten. With that said, I have swapped out wheat flour for white rice flour. Available since ancient Greek and Roman times, rice flour was quite a staple and highly regarded grain in the Middle Ages, so it is not inconceivable to think it could be used in a Shrewsbury Cake. (Adamson, 2004) The most important part to getting the crisp and brittle texture to a Shrewsbury Cake is the flour to butter ratio.  Too much flour and the dough becomes too crumbly and falls apart.  Too much butter and the dough melts into a bubbly puddle in the oven.  I find that a 2-parts rice flour to 1-part butter ratio works best with the sugar being the same weight as the butter.  And yes, weighing will give you the most accurate measurements!  My personal flavour of choice is cinnamon; the recipe doesn’t need very much to give it a nice little kick without being overpowering.

Isolda’s Gluten-Free Shrewsbury Cakes:

• 1 lb finely ground rice flour
• 8 oz butter
• 8 oz caster sugar (known as superfine sugar or special fine sugar)
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 egg lightly beaten

Mix dry ingredients.  Cut in butter and rub through fingers until mixture resembles peas.  Add just enough egg to bring dough together (you need less than you think!).  Roll between two pieces of parchment paper VERY thin.  Cut into desired shape (the circle is the traditional shape).  Bake at 325 F for 5-8 minutes until crisp.  Yields approximately 150 biscuits.  (Shapes come out better if refrigerated for a time before baking.  It is also possible to freeze cut shapes ahead of time for easier prep.)

The samples I had available on display at EK Spring Crown went so fast I didn't have time to take a photo of them but here's a photo of what they looked like at "Fool's Paradise" as "fish" cakes:

References:

1)      Adamson, Melitta Weis.  Food In Medieval Times c2004, Greenwood Press, Westport, CT.

2)      Baking for Britain (blog) by AnnaW.  Shrewsbury Cakes from Shropshire, May 4 2007. http://bakingforbritain.blogspot.ca/2007/05/shrewsbury-cakes-from-shropshire.html Accessed online May 1, 2018.

3)      Carr, Judith.  Cinnamon and sugar cakes: The Historical Cookery Page. Page copyright James L. Matterer 2000.  Accessed online May 1 2018. http://www.godecookery.com/friends/frec13.htm

4)      Davidson, Alan.  The Oxford Companion to Food.  Copyright 2014, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.

5)      Eve, Nick Trustram.  Shrewsbury Cakes (17^th Century): The Copper Pot (blog). November 1, 2014.  Accessed online May 1, 2018.   https://www.thecopperpot.co.uk/single-post/2014/11/1/Shrewsbury-Cakes-17th-century.

6)      Hughes, Glyn.  The Foods of England Project:  Cakes.  Accessed online May 1 2018.  Copyright Glyn Huhges 2018.   http://www.foodsofengland.co.uk/shrewsburycakes.htm

7)      Markham, Gervase. Couentry Contentments, or The English Hous-wife Booke.  Copyright 1623.  Accessed online at LSE Digital Library on May 1, 2018.  https://digital.library.lse.ac.uk/objects/lse:heh898zor

8)      White, Joyce.  Shrewsbury Cakes:  The Best Way to Use Caraway!  A Taste of History with Joyce White (blog) , Sept 3, 2014.   Accessed online May 1, 2018.  http://atasteofhistorywithjoycewhite.blogspot.ca/2014/09/shrewsbury-cakes-best-way-to-use-caraway.html

Set of Six Reliquary Vessels: Beautiful and Practical Too!

Our 2017 Ruantallan Baronial Investiture event included an Arts and Sciences challenge for the populace to create something using our new populace badge.  Always up for a challenge, this is what I created:

Set of Six Reliquary Vessels:

Purpose:  To store modern useful items a lady would need on hand, disguised as reliquary vessels on an alter or lady’s dressing table.

Ruantallan Populace Badge:    The common design element appearing on each vessel to make a set of 6.

For reference, here is the Ruantallan populace badge:

And this is what I did!

Relics, being precious belongings or small body parts of Saints collected by pious individuals in the Middle Ages, were extremely valuable and therefore required enshrinement in the most beautiful and precious vessels themselves.  Reliquaries, the containers used to store and display relics, were  fashioned in gold and silver and  decorated with gems, ivory and enamel.  The shapes of reliquaries could be as elaborate as to take the form of the model of a church with a pitched roof, also known as chasses , mimic the shape of the contents therein, appear transparent in order to exhibit the contents or simply be a small canister or pendant.  Reliquaries were displayed upon personal alters but were also portable to be carried by or even worn by the owner.  I used objects from around my home or purchased for a small amount of money, then spray-painted in gold, decorated with “gems”, painted with different designs to mimic enamel, and  lined with fabric if necessary  The common design is the Ruantallan populace badge appearing on each container.  My plan is to use them at Pennsic to store modern items I would like close at hand but disguised as relics on my dressing table.

Reliquary #1:

Inspiration:  Flatimid Flask Reliquary, 11^th-14^th century.  The British Museum, London.

Mundane Object to Disguise:  Tube of lipstick.

  

My Personal Reliquary and "Relic" Inside:  Decorative Vial:  Said to contain the kiss of Saint Rose of Lima, known for her exceptional beauty.

Reliquary #2:

Inspiration:  Reliquary Pendant, French, 15^th century.  The Met.

Mundane Object to Disguise:  Pill box purchase from a dollar store.  Used to store pain relievers...or even breath mints!

My Personal Reliquary and "Relic" Inside:  Small Circular Canister/Pendant:  Said to contain the tears of Saint Lidwina, Patron Saint for those suffering chronic pain.

Reliquary #3:

Inspiration: Reliquary Pendant.  The British Museum, London.

Mundane Object to Disguise:  Empty clear cosmetic canister.  To display a special object, such as my first Pennsic site token.

My Personal Reliquary and "Relic" Inside:  Clear Bejewelled Tin:  Beholds a medallion, found on the ancient battlefields of Pennsic, which is said to have belonged to Saint Michael the Archangel, Patron Saint of the warrior.

Reliquary #4:

Inspiration:   Reliquary of Thomas Becket by Master Alpais, c. 1180-90.  V & Albert Museum.

Mundane Object to Disguise:  One of a set of 3 nesting gift boxes found at the thrift store.  This one is the large size.  It contains various first aid objects such as bandages, tape and scissors.

My Personal Reliquary and "Relic" Inside:  Large Decorative Chasse:  Relics include the healing instruments of Saint Hildegard of Bingen, known for her medicinal texts and as the founder of scientific natural history.

Reliquary #5:

Inspiration:  Limoges copper gilt over wood ca 1200-1210 

Mundane Object to Disguise:  The second of 3 nesting gift boxes in a small size.  The perfect size for a container of dental floss.

My Personal Reliquary and "Relic" Inside:  Small Decorative Chasse:  The relic housed in this box is the relic of Saint Apollonia, Patron Saint of dentistry and those suffering from toothache.

Reliquary #6:

Inspiration:   Reliquary of Saint Stephen.   Kunsthistorisches Museum, Schatzkammer, Vienna, Austria.

Mundane Object to Disguise:  The third of 3 nesting gift boxes in a small size.  Contains a sanitary napkin and a tea bag.

My Personal Reliquary and "Relic" Inside:  Small Bejewelled Chasse:  Feminine healing relics belonging to Saint Catherine of Sweden, known for her healing counsel and women who have suffered miscarriage.

Set on a beautiful "golden" tray lined with blue "velvet"...

No one would ever know the secrets they behold!

Information Source:

1.        Boehm, Barbara Drake. “Relics and Reliquaries in Medieval Christianity.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/relc/hd_relc.htm (originally published October 2001, last revised April 2011)

Photo Sources:

1.        Flatimid Flask Reliquary, 11^th-14^th century.  The British Museum, London.  Accessed online:  http://www.learn.columbia.edu/treasuresofheaven/relics/Fatimid-Flask-Reliquary.php

2.       Reliquary Pendant, French, 15^th century.  The Met.   Accessed online:  https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/464782?rpp=60&pg=41&ft=jewelry+1500+europe&when=A.D.+1400-1600&what=Metal&pos=2422

3.       Reliquary of Thomas Becket by Master Alpais, c. 1180-90.  Victoria and Alb ert Museum, accessed online: https://thirteenthcenturyengland.wordpress.com/2012/07/07/the-translation-of-thomas-becket/master-alpais-reliquary-of-thomas-becket-1/

4.       Reliquary of Thomas Becket by Master Alpais, c. 1180-90.  Victoria and Alb ert Museum, accessed online: https://thirteenthcenturyengland.wordpress.com/2012/07/07/the-translation-of-thomas-becket/master-alpais-reliquary-of-thomas-becket-1/

5.       Limoges copper gilt over wood ca 1200-1210  Accessed online:  http://www.learn.columbia.edu/treasuresofheaven/relics/Reliquary-Chasse-with-the-Holy-Women-at-the-Tomb.php

6.       Reliquary of Saint Stephen.   Kunsthistorisches Museum, Schatzkammer, Vienna, Austria.  Accessed online: http://www.lessingimages.com/viewimage.asp?cr=62&i=30010211+&d=3&p=1&a=d&hr=0