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abendgules Dance moot in Harplestane was once more a lovely occasion. For me, it was a hugely relaxing event: pusscat was in good hands, and I had three days to enjoy good company and do nothing more strenuous than invite people to join in the next dance in the hall.
I slept better than I have all week and felt light, almost buoyant, even as I prepared for the trip home.
Following sismith42's good advice from last year I'd joined every transport provider's mailing list going. For this trip, EastCoast Rail came through for me, with £8 single tickets from Thamesreach to Harplestane for group bookings. (Yes, these are the same rigid folks who suelet came across, unfortunately.)
Our original group was for six, but in the end there was myself, armillary and milady Sorcha who journeyed together on Friday, arriving midafternoon in the centre of the city. We were met at mine hosts' home by lady Leonor, a member of the Spanish shire, who had also trekked up to attend the dance moot so her lord Andres could play with Gaita.
We had a few hours before evening dance practice, so with tea and a map in hand, we set off to explore. armillary and Sorcha delighted in the very different feel of Edinburgh from London - spacious streets, distinctive Georgian look and feel, monuments on every corner. We trekked back towards the centre, with a pause to take in the view from the national gallery, and from the castle, a coffee and cake stop and a leisurely walk home. They went on to a Sunday-morning walking tour to get a more thorough orientation, but were happy to have made their first acquaintance on their own.
Back to Otto and Cait's home for dance practice, in their lovely high-ceilinged tenement for the evening, reviewing some dances planned for the next day as Andres worked his fingers back into shape on the assortment of instruments, followed by the traditional pizza and red wine.
The elderly Beastie, O&C's cat, even made a brief appearance round the door of the practice room. He seems to have gotten more friendly in his dotage - either that, or he's forgotten he's supposed to be shy and fearful.
On Saturday I had a happy reunion with friends from Polderslot who had flown in to attend - Lady Laura and Master Bertrik - who were full of news of the new site they'd found for their own events. Sitefinding is a chore no matter where you live, and this looks like a very handsome one, suitable for a kingdom event. It would be splendid to have Polderslot hosting a kingdom event again. We tramped en masse to catch the bus to Queensferry.
At this event I got to model my refurbished plum wool gown. The main changes were reshaping the neckline, adding fake sleeves (giving the impression of a full-sleeve gown under it), trimming the hem to floor-brushing length (vs previous puddle length) and adding a 5" deep rabbit fur border to the hem. I was hugely pleased with this last addition; I don't have a lot of fur-cutting and sewing experience, so being able to piece this onto the hem successfully was very gratifying.
The fur added more weight to the gown than I expected - not a huge mass, but it was noticeable that it was drawing the gown down where there had been no draw before. It swished very satisfyingly! Unfortunately the pics don't do it justice - it looks like any fake fur, whereas when you see it in person it's obvious it's real.
I also had a new headdress, one I'd tried out once before but this time I got right with thorough preparation.
I used two fake ponytails, braided and stitched into buns around their comb bases, then clipped to my linen headband. These in turn were draped with clingy cotton wimple and floaty silk veil and pinned to the headband, giving me the veiled triangular face shape so loved in the Luttrell Psalter. While I've worn braids of assorted types high on my temples for a long time, the bun shape was quite different, and gave a different look and feel.
For the ball itself I was once more the MC: Arnaut, as HRM's dance champion, started the ball, taking a partner and choosing the dance. His partner then chose a new partner, and a new dance, and so on. I announced dances, chased folks to find out what they wanted to dance, and pushed them to find partners.
I don't think I danced as much as last year, but I learned more new dances to Gaita's music - Otto is beginning to compose more pieces to fit existing (Gresley) choreography. Some of the dances were very sweet and charming, and I began to feel more charitable towards Gresley, even without all my favourite 16th c dances.
(Otto is not fond of 16th c music, though he may have to bend his neck a bit more to it to keep getting gigs in the coming years - he's conceded to change his hat for 16th c music playing, so he just looks like slightly unfashionable player - perhaps wearing his father's doublet. 'I like long and pointy and I will wear long and pointy!' says Otto. Caitlin has conceded as far as making a gown that works from 1490-15010, to cover such contingencies - a step along from v-necked gowns, but not yet into full 16th c Tudor-ish silliness.
Getting back to Edinburgh was on the last local bus, a cheery journey with Polderslotters and Thamesreachers both. I wasn't up for long afterward and was very glad to retire.
Sunday started off with croissants and coffee, and a walk to the Scottish national gallery to see the 'January Turners' - a donor gave some of his Turner collection to the gallery, on condition that they were displayed every January for free, and then were kept under wraps for the rest of the year, to keep them as pristine as possible.
I'm not big on 19th c watercolour - everything I know I've learned from Antiques Roadshow! - but after my short drawing course this autumn, I could see more technical knowhow in the pieces than I could before: I could see layers of paint, patches scraped bare to provide sparkle or contrast or emphasis; layers of different mediums (ink, chalk, paint). I loved the beautifully precise picked-out branches in two studies of a garden belonging to Sir Walter Scott's daughter - suggesting that the author sat and wrote from this little naturalistic retreat. No postcards of it available, though, just of the big familiar pieces.
I still am no conaisseur of 'Scottish painters' or of 'the light of the Highlands' but I spent a very happy couple of hours, eyes wide and grinning like an idiot - I could see the magician behind the media! I could see what he'd done! and felt much cleverer for it. Even from a technical standpoint, I got more out of the exhibit than I would have six months ago.
Hurrah, my brain is getting bigger! :-)
The 'Early Vermeer' exhibit, OTOH, was a disappointment - three paintings made up the whole exhibit. They're big, I grant you, and they fill the space, and are different from the classic, 'captured stillness' of the well-known Vermeers - but bigging up three paintings to make an exhibit was a bit cheeky.
I met up again with Arnaut and Sorcha, with just minutes to spare on the platform, and we had a pleasant return trip, dozing, reading and talking over the event. Home by 7ish, to a skinny but purry welcome from Harley.
If you ever get a chance to attend this little gem of an event, do so - it's worth the trip to Edinburgh, to see how a small group can make the most of an elegant site and the remarkable depth of musical talent in their shire.
Pics are courtesy of Harplestane's flickr site, mostly taken by the Torkillsons
Action shot, full length of yours truly
Panormamic view of the hall - Medieval priory church, refurbished and available for both sacred and secular use
Another full length view, concentrating like mad on a new dance called 'if men don't sleep, women listen' - wonderful dance but not intuitive, and would take a lot more practicing! That's why I'm looking down
Honorata instructing dancers - lovely Polish reenactor who instructs dance very well - loud and clear
I slept better than I have all week and felt light, almost buoyant, even as I prepared for the trip home.
Following sismith42's good advice from last year I'd joined every transport provider's mailing list going. For this trip, EastCoast Rail came through for me, with £8 single tickets from Thamesreach to Harplestane for group bookings. (Yes, these are the same rigid folks who suelet came across, unfortunately.)
Our original group was for six, but in the end there was myself, armillary and milady Sorcha who journeyed together on Friday, arriving midafternoon in the centre of the city. We were met at mine hosts' home by lady Leonor, a member of the Spanish shire, who had also trekked up to attend the dance moot so her lord Andres could play with Gaita.
We had a few hours before evening dance practice, so with tea and a map in hand, we set off to explore. armillary and Sorcha delighted in the very different feel of Edinburgh from London - spacious streets, distinctive Georgian look and feel, monuments on every corner. We trekked back towards the centre, with a pause to take in the view from the national gallery, and from the castle, a coffee and cake stop and a leisurely walk home. They went on to a Sunday-morning walking tour to get a more thorough orientation, but were happy to have made their first acquaintance on their own.
Back to Otto and Cait's home for dance practice, in their lovely high-ceilinged tenement for the evening, reviewing some dances planned for the next day as Andres worked his fingers back into shape on the assortment of instruments, followed by the traditional pizza and red wine.
The elderly Beastie, O&C's cat, even made a brief appearance round the door of the practice room. He seems to have gotten more friendly in his dotage - either that, or he's forgotten he's supposed to be shy and fearful.
On Saturday I had a happy reunion with friends from Polderslot who had flown in to attend - Lady Laura and Master Bertrik - who were full of news of the new site they'd found for their own events. Sitefinding is a chore no matter where you live, and this looks like a very handsome one, suitable for a kingdom event. It would be splendid to have Polderslot hosting a kingdom event again. We tramped en masse to catch the bus to Queensferry.
At this event I got to model my refurbished plum wool gown. The main changes were reshaping the neckline, adding fake sleeves (giving the impression of a full-sleeve gown under it), trimming the hem to floor-brushing length (vs previous puddle length) and adding a 5" deep rabbit fur border to the hem. I was hugely pleased with this last addition; I don't have a lot of fur-cutting and sewing experience, so being able to piece this onto the hem successfully was very gratifying.
The fur added more weight to the gown than I expected - not a huge mass, but it was noticeable that it was drawing the gown down where there had been no draw before. It swished very satisfyingly! Unfortunately the pics don't do it justice - it looks like any fake fur, whereas when you see it in person it's obvious it's real.
I also had a new headdress, one I'd tried out once before but this time I got right with thorough preparation.
I used two fake ponytails, braided and stitched into buns around their comb bases, then clipped to my linen headband. These in turn were draped with clingy cotton wimple and floaty silk veil and pinned to the headband, giving me the veiled triangular face shape so loved in the Luttrell Psalter. While I've worn braids of assorted types high on my temples for a long time, the bun shape was quite different, and gave a different look and feel.
For the ball itself I was once more the MC: Arnaut, as HRM's dance champion, started the ball, taking a partner and choosing the dance. His partner then chose a new partner, and a new dance, and so on. I announced dances, chased folks to find out what they wanted to dance, and pushed them to find partners.
I don't think I danced as much as last year, but I learned more new dances to Gaita's music - Otto is beginning to compose more pieces to fit existing (Gresley) choreography. Some of the dances were very sweet and charming, and I began to feel more charitable towards Gresley, even without all my favourite 16th c dances.
(Otto is not fond of 16th c music, though he may have to bend his neck a bit more to it to keep getting gigs in the coming years - he's conceded to change his hat for 16th c music playing, so he just looks like slightly unfashionable player - perhaps wearing his father's doublet. 'I like long and pointy and I will wear long and pointy!' says Otto. Caitlin has conceded as far as making a gown that works from 1490-15010, to cover such contingencies - a step along from v-necked gowns, but not yet into full 16th c Tudor-ish silliness.
Getting back to Edinburgh was on the last local bus, a cheery journey with Polderslotters and Thamesreachers both. I wasn't up for long afterward and was very glad to retire.
Sunday started off with croissants and coffee, and a walk to the Scottish national gallery to see the 'January Turners' - a donor gave some of his Turner collection to the gallery, on condition that they were displayed every January for free, and then were kept under wraps for the rest of the year, to keep them as pristine as possible.
I'm not big on 19th c watercolour - everything I know I've learned from Antiques Roadshow! - but after my short drawing course this autumn, I could see more technical knowhow in the pieces than I could before: I could see layers of paint, patches scraped bare to provide sparkle or contrast or emphasis; layers of different mediums (ink, chalk, paint). I loved the beautifully precise picked-out branches in two studies of a garden belonging to Sir Walter Scott's daughter - suggesting that the author sat and wrote from this little naturalistic retreat. No postcards of it available, though, just of the big familiar pieces.
I still am no conaisseur of 'Scottish painters' or of 'the light of the Highlands' but I spent a very happy couple of hours, eyes wide and grinning like an idiot - I could see the magician behind the media! I could see what he'd done! and felt much cleverer for it. Even from a technical standpoint, I got more out of the exhibit than I would have six months ago.
Hurrah, my brain is getting bigger! :-)
The 'Early Vermeer' exhibit, OTOH, was a disappointment - three paintings made up the whole exhibit. They're big, I grant you, and they fill the space, and are different from the classic, 'captured stillness' of the well-known Vermeers - but bigging up three paintings to make an exhibit was a bit cheeky.
I met up again with Arnaut and Sorcha, with just minutes to spare on the platform, and we had a pleasant return trip, dozing, reading and talking over the event. Home by 7ish, to a skinny but purry welcome from Harley.
If you ever get a chance to attend this little gem of an event, do so - it's worth the trip to Edinburgh, to see how a small group can make the most of an elegant site and the remarkable depth of musical talent in their shire.
Pics are courtesy of Harplestane's flickr site, mostly taken by the Torkillsons
Action shot, full length of yours truly
Panormamic view of the hall - Medieval priory church, refurbished and available for both sacred and secular use
Another full length view, concentrating like mad on a new dance called 'if men don't sleep, women listen' - wonderful dance but not intuitive, and would take a lot more practicing! That's why I'm looking down
Honorata instructing dancers - lovely Polish reenactor who instructs dance very well - loud and clear
