Aildreda de Tamwurthe (Laurel)

Order of the Laurel
Dragonship Haven Investiture
Awarded February 21, 2015 (AS XLIX)

Front side of Dreda's Laurel piece.

Back side of Dreda's Laurel piece.

Details:
Calligraphy & Illumination by Isabel Chamberlaine. Over the course of correspondence with Maistre Lucien de Pontivy ( +Myra Hope Eskridge ) we came up with a plan for the type of thing that Dreda would like to receive. This piece is based on folio's and images found in The De Brailes Hours which I am told is one of her favourite manuscripts.

During the email correspondence I had with Lucien I remembered how I had enjoyed seeing the Hours of the Duc de Berry displayed unbound at The Met a number of years ago; I presented the idea of making this a double-sided piece so that it would look an feel as if it had been pulled from a binding for display. Lucien loved the idea.

My cheat-sheet for sizing.

The calligraphy blocks are true to the size of the original; 80 x 115mm. Although I also tried to match the number of lines, I ended up with two more; basically I should have moved up in nib size. For the actual page size I had to go with what I thought work visually and that would allow for framing; the original manuscript has at some point been drastically trimmed and the original size has been lost.

There are a number of marginal texts written in red ink. The idea for these came from Lucien who offered up the first one, I added in more which were adapted from those found in Marc Drogin's book Anathma! Off course I didn't write any of them down, hopefully Dreda is willing to let me know what I wrote so that I can add them to this post!

Now I'd like to tell you about my friend Dreda.

Dreda (and Lucien) were there at my very first event, War of the Roses; camping with the then Baron of Concordia of the Snows, Angus Kerr (now Pembridge). Our little blue ground-pimple was hidden out back so as not to ruin the aesthetic of the the canvas camp, but we were welcomed with open arms. This woman embraced us with her smile and helped to make us feel welcome.

I saw a lot of her (them) that first year, becoming more and more mesmerized by this couple that were always kind, that took the time to welcome me without being overwhelming, and showed me the beauty of their respective period arts. I watched from an ever shortening distance and learned the pride that could be taken in even the smallest of things and that dedicated period research is a thing of true beauty.

Most of my formative and transportive moments involve my voyeurism of this beautiful woman. I would not be where I am today without those early experiences and these days she is one of the first people I look to when doing my own research. It was my absolute pleasure to be involved in her elevation to the Order of the Laurel.

Surface: Goat parchment (double-side finish) from Pergamena.
Materials: Mitchel #4 nib for the calligraphy and a crow-quill nib for line work; Oak Gall Ink, Ruby Red Writing Ink from "Arte of the Booke" and Higgins (Blue) Pigmented Drawing Ink. Jerry Tressers Gesso overlaid with 23k gold leaf. Period pigments used - lapis lazuli, vermilion, lead white

Words by Maistre Lucien de Pontivy and Master Peregrine the Illuminator.

Main text:
O how fortunate are they, the succulents and blossoms on the farthest branches of the tree of knowledge, which are fed the strength of the green wood from the very roots. 

For lo: Aildreda de Tamworthe is the soul of memory and the society, the deepest roots and the greenest boughs, whose gifts of language, song, and learning fuel our growing spirits and inspire us to better ourselves for the good of all, and of the Society. She inspires us, with song and graceful eloquence and a rich store of language, to gentle our restless minds and to stir our sleepy souls. She guides us, in meet space and moment, to embark on voyages of discovery and learning. She leads us, by research and by learnéd example, to seek and strive to be exemplars of our own chosen times and places. 

Aildreda de Tamworthe willingly and freely, directly and casually, with attention to detail and fine subtleties, supplies her fellow scholars, artisans, and scientists with research material concerning any historical matter, from clothes to food to domestic life to music to habits of mind and speech, as naturally as if they were her very own, and with surpassing generosity of spirit. 

These are the green boughs which curl into the wreath of Laurel. 

For these and for her service to the Kingdom Arts and Sciences, and to the Society, Edward King and Thyra Queen do award Mistress Aildreda de Tamworthe Arms by Letters Patent and welcome her into our own Order of the Laurel. Done by our hand on February 21 A.S. 49 at the Baronial Investiture in Dragonship Haven.

Marginal texts:

• Dreda she is called, this Lady of Tamworthe, Aildreda by name after Aetheldreda her forbear.

Scroll ID: Isabel C 51
Time Invested: 26 hours
Completed February 20, 2015

Cited works:
DROGIN, Marc. Anathema! Medieval Scribes and the History of Book Curses. Totowa NJ: Allanheld, Osmun & Co. Publishers Inc., 1983. Print. ISBN 0-8390-0301-3

Alexandre Lerot d'Avignon (Tyger of the East)

Tyger of the East
Mudthaw and Baronial Investiture, Barony of Settmour Swamp
Awarded March 23, AS 47 (XLVII)

The Nature of Inks

Fig. 1 - Ink that bled due to capillary action.

During a collaborative scribal project we made the unfortunate discovery that not all writing inks are created equal. Why this had never occurred to me before is something of a mystery, especially since I had bought, experimented and discarded a number of modern inks before finding my preferred iron-gall ink. Thankfully our mini-disaster turned into a great learning experience.

Writing ink is essentially a coloured water which incorporates a glue so that it sticks to the page. Traditionally these inks were made from either a carbon-black pigment or from iron salts (ferrous sulfate) mixed with the tannin from gall nuts. The binder (glue) was usually gum arabic which also acted as a thickener. Most modern  inks are created to effortlessly flow through a pen which requires them to be much "thinner" in nature. Therein lies the problem.

Just as inks are different, so to are writing surfaces and they also need to be taken into consideration when paired with a writing ink. Parchment is not paper and vice-versa. Even among papers, some are more absorbent than others.

In our seed example (fig.1) we experienced the perfect meeting of an ink that is too thin being used on a ground, in this case goat parchment. You can see in the image how all of the letters are "fuzzy" when they should be crisp and clean, this is due to capillary action dragging the thin ink along the hairs of the parchment. Had the ink been more viscous it would have sat on top of the fibers and created the crisp sharp lines we expect.

As an on-going experiment I will be testing different inks with the various grounds I use during my scribal work. I intend to try thickening and thinning the various inks to see how this affects their behavior on the different grounds. I will update this post with my findings.

Sources:
"Ink." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc, n.d. Web. Oct 5, 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ink>

Ferall von Halstern (Kings Cypher)

Kings Cypher
Bergental Baronial Investiture
Awarded September 15, 2012 AS XLVII (47)