Sunday, June 22, 2003

Music and Living History

Something I do a lot these days is to write, learn, listen to and perform music. I’ve been playing harp (the stringed variety) for nearly 5 years now. I’ve built several kit harps and would love to build a big one from scratch someday.

I sometimes play at weddings and parties, but I most often play at events of the “Society for Creative Anachronism", a medieval and renaissance “living history” group. Here we take on a “persona” - we become someone who could have lived in the past somewhere before about 1650 AD, in a culture that was part of or at least in contact with Europe during that era. My wife Sam and I have belonged to this group for nearly 20 years.

My persona is that of Conchobar Clarsair, a master bard from Ireland 900 years ago. I now live in the “Kingdom of An Tir", which consists of the modern-day states of Oregon and Washington, part of Idaho and much of western Canada. We travel a fair amount to events around the northwest, and do a lot of medieval-style camping. It’s lots of fun, with sometimes over 2000 people showing up at an event like a Crown Tourney, where the winner goes on to become the next King. Lots of medieval tents, period cooking, parties and always a chance to learn something from those who can teach.

It’s kind of funny how many of the members of this group work in high-tech, like I do. It must be an antidote of some sort to all the digital stuff in some way. And it seems to ground me, to live a little as our ancestors did, even if it’s only for the weekend…

Now, Conchobar is not too different from my everyday self, you won’t see him as angry and frustrated by the current state of the world as you read in these postings, but he has the same sense of right and wrong, and will do “the right thing” as I will. This is why I have the disclaimer about my views not reflecting on any organization I belong to. The SCA’s members go all the way across the political spectrum, and I feel that modern-day politics should have as little as possible to do with what is, after all, a hobby. Please don’t judge the organization by my modern writings, and conversely, those of you who know (and hopefully love) Conchobar, please accept my apologies if you see a less likeable side of me here.

We all bring our 21st-century attitudes and expectations into the medieval realm, though we try to keep it to a minimum. Not that I don’t use a lot of modern technology in support of what I do, from running this server to some of my camping gear, to my musical stuff. It’s the practical application of Arthur C. Clarke’s Third Law - “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

My SCA persona page
The local SCA group
The folks I camp with