[Sca-cooks] Correction and apology

[Philip & Susan Troy]

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>In a message dated 2/5/2002 11:54:00 AM Eastern Standard Time,
>skud at infotrope.net writes:
>>  News to me.  It's not in corpora, and to the best of my knowledge is not
>>  reserved under Kingdom law of any Kingdom I know.  If someone chooses to
>>  call some people apprentices and some students, then fair enough, but
>>  don't confuse the matter by letting people think that it's an official
>>  title sanctioned SCA-wide.  Next thing you know, you'll be saying I
>  > can't wear this green belt!

And given the nature of this little misunderstanding, this reference
may go completely over Avraham's head in any case.

>Give him a break, Katherine, he's new to these things.  The Mistress in
>question DOES make a big deal of the difference between *her* apprentices and
>students, and forms formal contracts with her apprentices - my husband's was
>formalized in East Kingdom Court at Pennsic.  She is also probably the
>best-known Laurel in the East, and well-known in other kingdoms; an incorrect
>claim to be apprenticed to her would be a big deal to many people, and
>something that could well be taken as trying to make oneself appear
>important.

All true. Well, I don't know about the best-known-Laurel thing, but
certainly she's up there, and your point is well taken. In addition,
an aspect you don't mention is that somebody incorrectly or
dishonestly advertising him-or-herself as So-and-So's apprentice
tends to create a certain implicit responsibility: if, say, Avraham
does something particularly heinous while wearing fluorescent
lime-green trunk-hose with chasing LED's reading, "Apprentice of
Countess Isabella of York", it's likely that Isabella might look
askance at such a claim, particularly if it isn't true. I'm sure
Isabella has no trouble at all keeping her actual apprentices in
line, of course ;-). And I'm also sure that Avrham would never wear
flourescent lime-green trunk-hose. I'm sure I own the only pair in
Ostgardr.

>   Avraham didn't realize what he'd said or why it might be a
>problem.  While the term apprentice itself may have no particular worth, to
>be known as Isabella's apprentice definitely does make people look at you
>differently and more closely and you indirectly pick up a little of her
>immense reputation.

I've heard such sentiments before, I seem to recall. It's also
possible that Avraham simply misunderstood something Isabella said,
which might have run something like, "Well, in fact, it's not really
a protected title, but in a practical sense, it sort of is, or at
least it should be used with care...". As with many
relationship-specific terms, they don't always have very clear
definitions beyond certain parameters, and are easy to misunderstand
(e.g. terms such as "living together"). The simple fact that there's
no law against something does not, in itself, make it a good idea.

>Brangwayna Morgan
>who knows whereof she speaks; I am the lady of the "sole mail apprentice" to
>Isabella.

With respect to all concerned, I always have to suppress a chuckle at
the thought of the stress your lord husband must be under, stuck
between his sorta-kinda-early-Gothic lady wife and his Elizabethan
mistress...


Adamantius

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