[Ansteorra] Original Scrolls

[mmarthe at suddenlink.net]

Thank you, Catrin.  The same comments can apply to any SCA endeavor.
For instance, holding children's activities is a thankless job.  Sometimes praise from the parents, criticizm from kingdom.  Very discouraging.
Mistress Marthe de Blenkinsop
---- Catrin ferch Maelgwn <ladycatrin at gmail.com> wrote: 
> I think it is very important to remember that a scribe's work is unique (a
> few other activities in the Society also come to mind) in that it is both an
> art AND a service.  This puts the scribe in the rather unenviable position
> of being vulnerable to artistic criticism for doing something altruistic.
> 
> Take time to consider the fact that someone, somewhere, spent many long,
> painstaking hours lovingly crafting each scroll that is handed out in
> court--completely original or otherwise.  Consider that they spent that time
> laboring over their project knowing that they were going to give it away for
> the sake of someone they may not even know, and then start the process
> anew--all out of love for their art and their kingdom.
> 
> Like everyone else who donates their time in service to the Society, they
> don't *have* to do this.  It's not their job.  For every one I've known,
> it's been a passion and a point of pride, but nobody is paying them to do
> it.  And yet I look at the scrolls on my wall and can plainly see that the
> work that went into each one was as careful as if it were a paid commission.
> 
> I hear a lot of people saying "they could do it *this* way if they *really*
> wanted to."  What that actually translates to is, "if they were willing to
> sacrifice even more of their time and effort."  The bottom line, though, is
> that no one has the right to insist that someone else should be willing to
> take on more work and responsibility--not when they're volunteering in the
> first place, and not when we are all supposed to be here to enjoy ourselves
> and have fun.
> 
> It would be a little bit like saying that the cooks who prepare our feasts
> are simply not cooking up to the standards of other kingdoms, and that we
> should require them all to redact their recipes from primary sources and
> cook using strictly period ingredients and equipment.  Someone is giving up
> their entire event to feed you.  The food is tasty and edible and prepared
> with all the skill the cook possesses.  If you want to march into the
> kitchen and demand better than that without offering to help, then I don't
> want to be in that kitchen to see the response.  If your scroll is neat and
> pretty and presentable enough to hang on your wall, then the scribe has done
> her job and if you want more than that, you'll need to find yourself an
> artist to commission.
> 
> There is nothing wrong, of course, with being a scribe yourself and saying
> that you personally would like to make more original scrolls, and that you
> would like to help others who are interested in doing the same.  This is a
> worthy and wonderful undertaking.  Pushing yourself and encouraging others
> to excel is always a wonderful thing.  But whether it's intended or not, to
> say that it would be better if everyone got an original scroll is to
> minimize the efforts of the people who have labored, out of the kindness of
> their hearts, to give their gifts to the kingdom in the form of innumerable,
> beautifully painted charters.
> 
> -Catrin ferch Maelgwn
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