Titles

[Dave & Laura McKinstry]

We've had some discussion here about what you shouldn't call yourself, 
if you want to be accurate, but I'm curious about what I SHOULD call 
myself, and I'd like to hear what the rest of you think.

My persona is Irish, 1649, female.  I'm a novice harper, I play guitar 
and in the future I'll add a viola (I'd love to have an authentic viol, 
but they're a bit scarce.)  I do instrumentals, I sing, I write songs 
that record the history of the current middle ages as it happens (ie, 
epic ballads) and I plan to teach medieval history and current middle 
ages history via song and storytelling.  I plan to perform at feasts, 
busk, and develop patrons - ie, enter a contract between myself and a 
given household whereby I dwell in their camp through the next X events, 
entertain them and write epic ballads that record their heroic deeds in 
the best light possible, in exchange for food and beverages, or 
whatever.  I also want to be part of a dance consort, if I can find one 
that needs a viol or harp.  I'm also a storyteller and poet, and will 
tell tales about the present, the past, mythology, and the 
constellations (from the viewpoint of several cultures.)

Thus, I'm a performer, singer, songsmith/poet, and educator/storyteller. 
I believe this would have fallen under the category "harper" in Ireland 
at roughly or before the era I'm from, but these days, harper simply 
means a person who plays a folk harp, so the current definition might 
interfere with the ancient one.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but a bard limits himself to learning and 
composing verse that records history, and I've heard conflicting stories 
on whether there was ever any music involved, though if there was it was 
only for memory aid and wasn't supposed to be particularly noticable - 
also, confilcting stories over whether bards were only in the houses of 
great nobles, or down with the common folk (the verse that survives, I 
believe, is written in the commoners tongue, arguing the less popular 
side of that debate.).  A troubador or trouvere is a noble who writes 
lyrical poetry to monophonic music, then gets a jongleur to perform it 
because performing is too base a thing for a troubador or trouvere to 
do.  A jongleur is one who is an all-around freelance entertainer, doing 
acrobatics and juggling as well as singing, though there were jongleurs 
who focused pretty strictly on creating and performing music, who came 
to be called minstrels.  The troubador/trouvere tradition moved into 
Germany, where they bacame known as minnesingers.  When Minnesingers 
passed out of popularity (their music, like the troubador/trouveres, was 
not particularly enjoyable, as they focused on verse, which was 
unsurpassed) the Meistersingers took over the movement, meistersigers 
being the bourgeois version of the minnesinger.  Meistersingers didn't 
get far, because by then, people were tired of gorgous lyrics coupled 
with dull music.

So, if you were me, and you had three seconds to explain to a lord whom 
you wished to have as a patron what it was that you did, what would you 
say?  Harper, and risk your creative talents to go unknown? Balladeer, 
and hope that gets the picture across as well as possible? Or would you 
go for a less pretty term like creative musician/teacher/storyteller? 
(ick!)

I've been using the term "bard" not for its historical accuracy, but 
because of how it is recognized in the SCA.  A bardic circle is a place 
where people sing, tell stories, recite poetry, or whatever else it is 
they wish to do, which covers a great deal of what I wish to be known 
for (and making a name for yourself can be an awfully slow process, 
so any speed you can give it is a good thing - especially since we're 
moving soon, I think, and I'll have to start all over.)

The kingdom of Trimaris (and others for all I know) has a title 
"troubador laureate" for whomever wins the semiannual competition of 
songwriting, and the troubador sings it himself, which goes against the 
ancient troubador dictum, of course.  It seems to me that as time has 
gone by, the meanings of these words has altered to the point where we 
simply aren't in tune with what used to be, and I don't think this is a 
thing we can change, really.  We of the bardic mailing list can lay down 
rules if we want (which I don't think we do) that certain words mean 
certain things, sticking to the ancient definitions or otherwise, but 
that won't change what a peer thinks when you say that you're a 
troubador, or what have you.

Pardon if this all seems inconsequential, but it's really driving me 
right up my harpstrings.  There is no word for what I do!  And I swear 
there is historical precedence for what I do - in the country of my 
persona's origin.  Am I missing something?  I am rather new to this, 
after all.

Any thoughts are welcome.

-Lark