[Ravensfort] An Open Invitation....

Carolyn Pace bandb.ravensfort at gmail.com
Tue Apr 3 06:21:46 PDT 2012


Dear Mistress Shanahan, Again thank you so much for this and all the work you are doing for it. We are sure our Populace will heed the call to help and portray the town of Hugh's Town properly . Please,  all who support the Barony, come to Populace Thursday night as we will need to do much planning to support our hospitaler in this very important endeavor. We will also be taking up a collection to donate a tree to Dr. Nolan who was so instrumental in helping us get this very important demo. Last year it was fun and entertaining to say the least. See everyone Thursday night at 7pm.
YIS, 
On Apr 2, 2012, at 9:45 PM, Shanahan wrote:

>  
> Oyez!  Oyez!  Oyez!
>  
> Once again, the Board of the Sam Houston Folk Festival has requested that Raven’s Fort rebuild their rendition of Hugh’s Town! 
>  
> Last year, the Board Chairman, Dr. Patrick Nolan, did his own research to prove the 1160’s ancestry of General Houston and, despite the misgivings of several of his Board members, he contacted Raven’s Fort to introduce that facet of the Houston history To the Festival. We all know that his gamble paid off and the attendees were enchanted!
>           This year we, and the Museum, suffered a staggering blow.  Dr Nolan, our benefactor, suffered a massive heart attack and died.  But his plans for Hugh’s Town lived on.  We had made such a positive impression on the Board members that they were “overjoyed when you contacted us.”  That made my job much easier… in that respect.
>           First and foremost:  they have moved us.  We are no longer inside the white picket fence near the front on the Festival. A team of knowledgeable Raven’s Forter’s walked the Site before the 1st meeting, looking for the things necessary for safety of the fighters. Then, we met with Mrs. Ruth Samuell to see the Board’s suggested parcel.  As HE Brian and Don Charles discovered, the area was perfect -- all level, grassy land under a canopy of many, big trees.  Though it is all the way across the Festival site, there is a parking lot only yards away, in which we will have 3 spaces assigned to us for loading/unloading and shuttling use, and there will be port-a-potties fairly close.  The Board’s reason for the move was that we were such a popular attraction, that we formed a ‘road-block’ near the front of the Festival grounds.  With our new placement, they hope we will draw the attendees all the way through the Festival just to see us…. And on the way back, maybe they’ll spend some more money.
>           Second:  Hugh’s Town will be more of a true, historical re-enactment than we usually do when doing a ‘Demo’.  The village, itself, is a trading village built up around the castle fortifications Sir Hugh had made.  This year, it will focus more on what was done in 1160 AD in western Scotland.  And each of our people will have an 1160 Hugh’s Town personae to be for the Festival. 
>         This was the time of Richard the Lion-hearted, and Templars, and the Robin Hood mythos.  The garb was simple in lines:  t-tunics and leggings, tunics, & long robes for the lords; t-tunics, shifts, coathardies with or without sideless surcotes for the ladies. All women, outside, wore head coverings!  A coif, cap, wimple, a veil… they just did.  And NO kilts, not even the Great kilts… that was the Highlanders.  Hugh’s Town was in the Lowlands.  Of course, fighting garb is fighting garb.
>           I’m still brainstorming the kinds of things we can have under the A&S pavilion.  And will be talking more … via the Raven’s Fort list and on FaceBook.  Things like the kinds of foods they ate, the things they made for trade, their daily life, how they made cloth and much more.
>           Now, don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten the SCA part of the Demo.  No, there will be a pavilion with the Hospitaler’s table and the albums and handouts and always someone to man it, to talk of who we are and what we do.  We just won’t be doing that in Hugh’s Town proper… much. 
>           Third:  At the 1st meeting, there had been some talk of having a stage near Hugh’s Town with performing acts… acts, which we would need to tone our noise down to accommodate.  That, as you can imagine did not sit well with the fighters.  I explained our problems to the Director, and, at the 2nd meeting, she had an answer for us.  We were not to worry and to conduct our fights as usual.  Vivat!
>           Fourth:  Concerning the fighting, there was talk among the Marshals and their deputies of going to some form of regulated, timed fighting for this year and posting a sign with the times for all to see.  At the 2nd meeting of the Board, that is exactly what they decided they wanted from all performers (that’s how they have classified Hugh’s Town). Double Vivat!!!
>           The Festival runs the last weekend in April; Friday April 27, 9am to 4pm and Saturday April 28, 10am to 7pm.  So mark your calendars now.  Please come and join us.  If you have any questions, please email me at ms_shanahan at yahoo.com.
> That is all I have to report for the February and March meetings.  We have our land and the basic idea of what they want and a time frame.  So now we can see about making the miracles that we are so good at doing.  Hugh’s Town, here we come!
> _______________________________________________
> Ravensfort mailing list
> Ravensfort at lists.ansteorra.org
> http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/ravensfort-ansteorra.org

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.ansteorra.org/pipermail/ravensfort-ansteorra.org/attachments/20120403/58e73fb0/attachment-0005.htm>


More information about the Ravensfort mailing list