ANST - Experiences as an apprentice

[Rollie W. Reid]

My experience as an apprentice is a little different than most.  I
spent some time as an apprentice in the medieval sense(at least
nearly).  I worked with Peter of the Golden Isles(Max) everyday for
over a year.  It started while I was unemployed and led to my own
armor business.  I worked in his shop and made armor which he sold.  I
thought of myself as an apprentice, but was careful never to call
myself one, because Peter was not a Laurel.  I never got the chance to
work daily with Master Peter, because he was elevated just before
leaving the kingdom, and by then I had my own shop.

Though I was not officially his apprentice, he was my master.  When I
would see him at Pennsic, he would critique my armor, and his comments
were always helpful to me.  One year at Pennsic I visited him one
evening at his booth, and he was stringing medallions on various
colors of cord.  I do not remember the conversation, but suddenly he
pulled out his roll of green cord, cut off a length, tied it around my
waist and said, "There, now you have a green belt to show that your an
apprentice."  So, I was an apprentice, even though I only saw my
Laurel once a year.

Most of what I learned from my Laurel, I learned before he was a
Laurel, and the improvement that I made from the time he was made a
Laurel and move out of kingdom to the time I was made a Laurel was
done on my own, building on the foundation he gave me.  I consider the
time I worked with him to be my apprenticeship, the years that
followed were my journeyman years, until I was made a Laurel, though
to misquote another Laurel armorer, "When I look at the period
armorers I have trouble using the words master and armorer next to
each other."

Conor
Laurel Armorer

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