[Bryn-gwlad] Demographics (was: championships)

[Patrick R]

  Not fair, not fair I say. You are making me regret not being around for what is starting to look like the good old days. 
   
  And as for our friend Clair, I recall you having a bed that the two of you bring with you (sorry I could not resist). 
   
  Dante
   

Chris Zakes <dontivar at gmail.com> wrote:  At 05:39 PM 8/1/2007, Eule wrote:
>Saundra mentioned:
>"But when we started playing, heavy was on Saturday and light was on 
>Sunday. That was just the way it was. As the rapier community 
>grew, this was a problem."

I think it was longer ago than that (depending on where you were.)

>
>To which Eule recalls:
>About 15-20 years ago (or so), when this first started to change I 
>remember having a conversation with Galen Nicole (Kingdom Rapier 
>Marshall at the time) and he told me an interesting 
>statistic....back then we had over 400 card carrying rapier fighters 
>in the kingdom (he mentioned something like 465 as I 
>recall). Mainly because there was so much crossover between 
>chivalric and rapier at the time.

How do those numbers compare with the overall population of the 
kingdom then and now? I'd be surprised if the percentages weren't 
about the same.


> My understanding is that those numbers have continued to decline 
> over the years.
>
>Now that I think about it, you may have something there Saundra.

*My* perception is that there are several things that have lead to 
the shortening of events.

1. Many of us are getting older. As Clare said, the ground keeps 
getting harder and rockier, so sleeping at home (or in a motel) is 
more attractive than camping on-site. This can be avoided if you have 
a good camping bed, but not everyone has that luxury.

2. Many of us have more disposable income now. That makes staying in 
a motel more feasible. In the old days if it wasn't a camping event, 
you stayed with friends in the area, or one member of the event staff 
was in charge of finding crash space for out-of-town folks. I can 
recall having a dozen or more people sleeping on our living room 
floor for a Queen's or Candlemas. Doing that meant that the "event" 
kept happening even if you weren't on site; having people scattered 
over half a dozen motels means such post-revels are *much* less common now.

3. Holding court after the feast is over. It seems that all too often 
it's feast, then court, then "Vivat Ansteorra", the lights come up 
and everybody packs up to leave. A feast which segues into singing or 
storytelling or just visiting with friends is a much gentler way to 
end the evening.

4. Fewer informal bardic circles. Again, back in the early days, it 
was rare *not* to find folks sitting around a campfire singing songs 
or telling stories. Granted, many of the songs were filks or things 
from Steeleye Span or Rudyard Kipling, but they *sounded* period 
(mostly. ) If you're camped on-site then there's nothing to stop 
you from staying up half the night singing (and drinking) because you 
*don't* have to drive anywhwere.
I can recall a certain Prominent Lady breaking up one of these 
circles at an event out at the RenFair site (which will give you an 
idea of how long ago it was) because she was offended that we weren't 
singing period stuff. She didn't offer to do anything more period 
herself, she just wanted us to stop because we weren't meeting *her* 
expectations.
I don't want to offend the Middle Eastern Dance folks, but it seems 
to me that all-night drumming was another contributing factor to the 
decrease of informal bardic circles. It's hard to concentrate on the 
rhythm of your song when somebody in the next camp over is going 
"boom-thwacka-boom" over and over again as loudly as possible.

-Tivar Moondragon
fossil-in-residence 

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