[Sca-cooks] Laurel Vs. Pelican

[Carper, Rachel]

Ok, now I have heard rumors about a secret list kept of people who may
make good Laurels and Pelicans. Can anyone nominate someone to be a
Pelican or Laurel? Or for someone to be put on the watch list? 

Elewyiss

-----Original Message-----
From: sca-cooks-bounces at ansteorra.org
[mailto:sca-cooks-bounces at ansteorra.org] On Behalf Of
kingstaste at mindspring.com
Sent: Saturday, April 17, 2004 12:34 AM
To: Cooks within the SCA
Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] Laurel Vs. Pelican


I've been giving this whole Laurel thing some thought, and it seems to
me that service is a large part of it. You need to be willing to teach,
and serve and so forth. So then, what is the difference between a
Pelican and a Laurel? Elewyiss

I've actually heard one Laurel say that she wouldn't worry about service
at all for a candidate, that service was for Pelicans.  I was appalled
at the time she said it (long ago and far away), but it stuck with me as
one of those things that would weigh less heavily for consideration.
Certainly the Laurel is service-oriented, especially in the way that is
implied in the language for the AoA scrolls "...you (insert name here)
through diverse great efforts have considerably enriched our Kingdom..."
meaning that any efforts you make, be it costuming, C&I, heraldric
display, cooking, getting the King a barber right before Court, etc.,
are all service and seen as enriching the overall experience. A Pelican
is more than just service, however.  It is a combination of Service and
Leadership.  It is the ability to motivate others to perform services as
well, not just knock yourself out doing everything.  There is a
semi-joke about the peerages as related to chess.  A Knight should know
all the moves, the strategies of play, the best defenses, etc.  A Laurel
should know the history of the game, the design of the pieces, be able
to construct the pieces out of various media, etc.  A Pelican should be
able to influence the outcome of the game without anyone knowing they
are doing it. :) (There have been times when I've had to tell my
associates to back off and practice the latter after they have been
beating their heads in trying to make something happen.)  It is also
knowing when to say no, how to delegate, when to offer hard-to-accept
counsel, and many other things besides. It is very difficult to define
all that an effective Pelican will influence.
	It might interest you to know that there were no Pelicans until
after the Laurels had been around a while (the Knights were there from
the begining). Many Laurels got their honors for work that was actually
Pelican related. When the Order of the Pelican was created in '74 I
believe, they were given the option of changing over to the new peerage
if they desired.  Some did, some didn't, we have one of each living in
Georgia right now.  (Mistress Margarethe the Dog changed hers over,
Mistress Signy didn't.)
	A good question, however, and one worth pondering.
	Mistress Christianna MacGrain, one of each

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