cloven fruit

[Mark Harris]

Greetings,

H.L. Marcus stated:

>Ya all know this is kind of cute....  But i do believe the poster was
>serious, so if some one can answer the original post,  I would like to
>know also.  Or was it just another 20th century way to get kissed, and
>pass it off as period.

Yes, I believe the original poster was serious. And frankly, I believe
that anyone treating a properly presented cloved fruit as a hand-grenade
is being rude and obnoxious. 

When presented with a cloved fruit, it is
the presentee's choice as to how far to carry things. This could be a
hand-kiss or less on up. Usually you take out one of the cloves before
giving the return kiss. Whether you bite the clove or not is your choice.
Then you find another individual to present the cloved fruit to. This
can all be done in good taste. One of the hardest parts for me was
working up the nerve to approach someone else in the off chance it
was presented to me. For those like me, heaving the fruit away may
seem more like rejection than humourous.

Cloved fruit were used as pomanders in period and were presented as
rather expensive gifts. However, the cloved-fruit game as it is played
in the SCA is an SCA invention. The following two messages come from
the main inventor of the game. This is from my file:

cloved-fruit-msg  (14K)  3/ 7/96    Period cloved fruit. Origin of the SCA
game.

=======================
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Cloved Fruit
From: una at bregeuf.stonemarche.org (Honour Horne-Jaruk)
Date: Thu, 14 Dec 95 10:18:11 EST

gl8f at fermi.clas.Virginia.EDU (Greg Lindahl) writes:

> In article <1995Dec8.144138.17446 at atlas.tntech.edu>,
> Mary Spila <mms6824 at tntech.edu> wrote:
> 
> >Could/would someone PLEASE give me a brief history of how the game of
passin
> >cloved fruit was introduced to the SCA.  I am doing a brief class on the
gam
> >(emphasizing "Don't be a jerk") and would like some more information than
wh
> >I already know.
> 
> I've never heard anyone claim that they knew the origin of this game,
> other than vague rumblings that it originated 15+ years ago in
> Carolingia.  It does seem to have died out in Atlantia. There was one
> attempt to revive it last weekend, but I don't think it was very well
> received.  And my lady threw out this lovely pomander that the queen
> herself gave me, the nerve!
> 
> Gregory Blount

Respected friend:
I know the origins. It was invented out of whole cloth. I did it.*
I'm sorry.(check out the Feb. issue of Re-creating History magazine for an
article on more authentic kissing games.)  }:->
By the way, it started in Canton of the Towers, which is a canton of,
but is two days older than, Carolingia.
Sigh...

*(Lisa Goldenstar helped.)

                                Honour, known societally as
                                Alizaunde, Demoiselle de Bregeuf; or 
                                Una Wicca (That Pict)


Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Another use for cloved lemons :)
From: una at bregeuf.stonemarche.org (Honour Horne-Jaruk)
Date: Tue, 13 Feb 96 18:24:09 EST

szcannon at barney.ucdavis.edu (Carol Cannon) writes:

>          Only goes to show how early on in the life of the Society these 
> customs spread, eh?  <impish grin, since I don't know how early this 
> custom was created> -- Gra/inne
>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Cannon, Carol J. Bell       cjcannon at ucdavis.edu        Grannia [in the
SCA]

	Respected friend:
	February 1974. I'll make it up to you all yet, somehow...

                                (Friend) Honour Horne-Jaruk, R.S.F.
=======================================

Stefan li Rous
Barony of Bryn Gwlad
markh at risc.sps.mot.com