Beating Apprentices, especially Rhian (was: Made to Swear Fealty)

[Mjccmc01 at aol.com]

Why on earth would I wish to beat my apprentices?  That would be almost as
useless as forcing them to swear something against their will.  Besides, it
would only impair Rhian's ability to wash my dishes quickly (wink).

On a more serious note, if my apprentices wish to swear fealty, fine.  If
they do not wish to, fine.  But if I had an apprentice who had a serious
reluctance to swear fealty, yet did so because of some requirement of mine, I
would have serious qualms about that apprentice.   I tend to think courage of
conviction and backbone is more necessary in a peer than compliance for the
sake of expedience.  Besides, if someone is willing to swear an oath they
don't mean, what credence can I give their ordinary statements?

Now, the precise and elegant wording of oaths is a completely different
matter, and is an art form devoutly to be pursued :-).  Can you tell I've
been spending too much time around Italians?

Fondly,

Siobhan