minstrel: I like Calontir's Bardic tradition (LONG)

[Ricky Becker]

Astridhr wrote:

>We know what has been happening in Calontir, I posted how
>things work in Caid.  How do your bardic groups work, do
>you have a bardic guild/college/circle....

And here is my long response, some of it addressing points
made elsewhere on this list. Sorry if it's a little disjointed.

	I have been doing bardic for 6 years in
Calontir, and some of what I have seen posted on this list
has little to do with what I've experienced as Bardic in
Calontir :)

	Note that what I am saying is a far cry from everything
that happens in Calontir with regards to the bardic arts.
There are madrigal groups, instrumental groups, and solo
performers who I don't know enough about to comment on.
I am also not saying that what has been said here is not
true, it just isn't my experience. I just want to point out some
of what I see to be good points :)

	By focusing on the bardic college, I think a large
part of the bardic tradition in Calontir has been left out, and the
kingdom has many areas it excels in. I just want to share one,
and that is Bardic in the army.

	At a recent Midrealm-Calontir border skirmish (Thunder),
the Calontir army was singing between almost every fight. (By that
I don't mean one person in the army, I mean about half of the
army there). I didn't think anything unusual about it, it's pretty
normal. I came back to my new group in the midrealm, and one of the
fighters there, who had never seen the calon army before was
perplexed. Not only at the singing, but that _everyone_ knew the
words to the songs (and if the didn't they new the choruses).
Now, while these are not "art pieces", they are part of the SCA
bardic tradition in Calontir (and other places too I imagine).
(Song of the Shield Wall, Raven Banner, No Nobis (with descant),
Steel Shod Dance, Rollin' back to old Caid, Requiem for a Huscarl etc.
- whoever was looking for representative war songs from the kingdoms,
those are a good start from Calontir)

	Most of the bardic does not happen during the day, in a room
set aside for it, because many of the people who would participate
are on the fighting field. If you were to "schedule" a bardic
opposite fighting, it would have a much smaller draw, because many
of the people would say "we can sing later", and they do. Much
of the bardic is done at fires during camping events, or at post
revels.

	One of the problems with identifying the "bardic arts" in
Calontir, as that they are not isolated to a college or group off to
one side, but they are a part of the culture of Calontir, not
preserved by a few, like a monastery preserving information,
but enjoyed by many. Go to Calontir's camp in the evening at any
war they are at, and you will find singing. Watch the army march,
singing.

	And, to answer one of Astridhr's questions about how
bardic is done in my group:

 	Here's some of what my group there was doing (and I am
pretty sure is still doing) when I left to take a new job...

	In 3 Rivers (St. Louis), there is a bardic session
about once a month, open to anyone, (in the past there were 2 a
month, but it was putting a little too much drain on the hosts, who
have lots of other commitments). Usually about ten people show up
through the evening. Sometimes a lot more, sometimes a few less.
It is either pick-pass-play degenerating into mayhem. At Lilies,
around our Baron's pavilion, we had around a hundred people
at a circle (well, oval), with at least 10-15 people performing
till about 3 in the am (Mikail was even one of them). This where
there were a fair number of other parties going on at the same
time. Even at a fairly small local event in (mammoth)
there were probably 50 people at the bardic. This picture
doesn't seem to match the "no great bardics anymore" picture.

(Really Long Aside: So I guess part of what confuses me about
Gunnar's postings is that last I knew, he also lived in 3R, and
was at some of the monthly bardics I talked about, and has met
many of the people who have been performing there for many years.
There also was a madrigals group and many talented instrumentalists
who also would perform at events during the day, or at feast,
and just across the river in Shattered Crystal, at Crystal Ball
the dance music for at least one full set is played by a group
from that barony. I'm really surprised he needed help finding the
bards of Calontir, since he is in a group with many: Syr Erich,
Mistress Morganna (who founded Calontir's bardic college many years
ago), Dahrien Cordell, Syr Fernando (the Baron, kind of hard to miss),
Countess Arwyn, Brom Blackhand, I was living down there then,
I believe Twcs was still there then  too, and I could probably
find 20 more people who perform in that group... and it only takes
going to a revel to find many more. End of Long Aside)

	Enough rambling from me :)

Sivrid

For those who have made it this far, a little personal history
to give a perspective on the above:

	 Up until 6 months ago,
I lived in the Barony of 3 Rivers (St. Louis, MO), but a
new job recently took me to the Middle Kingdom... I play
a couple instruments - guitar, harp, irish flute and whistle,
and I sing. I perform other peoples material, and some of
my own arrangements, and am often guilty of playing traditional
music (rather than period) at revels :) - though I'm getting more
period pieces in my repertoire (anyone else trying to decipher the
ap hew text, let me know how you do it...) A lot of my bardic
influence has come from Syr Erich Hlodowecsun - since I tend to
jam with him when I'm back in St. Louis, and I am a squire of his...





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