SCRIBE NOTES 5




UNTO; All scribes in Lochac
FROM: Mistress Rowan Perigrynne, Lochac Provost of Scribes

Greetings and salutations!
Thank you to all o those people who have written to me of late. If you haven t heard from me yet, your reply is probably below in MAILBOX. Scribing is going well in Row any and in Riverhaven, but I've heard little from other groups n general, although there are active scribes now all over Lochac.



ASSIGNMENTS

BRYONY - By College regs I will need to take back your assignment and give it to someone else soon if I don't hear from you, as it has been with you over a year. I don't even know what your assignment is- Dermod can't remember and I have no record of it!
MARIT - still awaiting the rough for your latest assignment.Congratulations on becoming warranted!
FRAE - Thankyou for the calligraphed scroll. I will illuminate it as soon as I've finished my own current assignment. Congratulations on becoming warranted! THORFINN - How is Richard's scroll going? More info with this mailing.
CAITLIN - has recently been organising calligraphy days in Rowany . Your scroll is currently being illuminated. Congratulations on becoming warranted!
DERMOD - All the assignments we discussed enclosed. I think. There is a hold up with a few scroll wordings.

Many others of you will receive an assignment in this mail- Surprise! If you do not feel competent about layout or any other detail either

1. - post it back to me
2.- ring me and we'll talk
3. - ring/write and I'll do a design which I can/you can colour.

The assignments are now coming to you on a sheet with the text all filled in and details about size, recipient detail, etc on the sheet. They are stapled to a copy of the devise if the scroll is to show the device. I need to get these back, so either get them to me with the completed scroll very shortly or- good scribes, but now many of your are doing exceedingly well. At the moment I have three completed scrolls for Kingdom, two I am working on, five others are working on, another four about to go out, and tere are a lot 'ore left. I will be assigning the rest of them shortly, as any unassigned may have to be returned to Kingdom!

I am sending all scribes (if you are a Mof Arts/Sciences please see attached note) a copy of 'HERALDRY FOR SCRIBES and other useful information'. I've just completed this, and it will form part of the revised Lochac Scribes Handbook. It contains much information about how to complete the scrolls- don't start without reading it! Also enclosed is a copy of Gerhard Kendal's guide to producing scrolls.

WARRANTING

The following people have just been warranted: Frae, Marit the Wanderer, Caitlin, Dermod ui Niall. Anyone returning an assignment of adequate quality will be warranted. You need to complete one scroll a year to keep your warrant.

COMPETITION

Frae won the Twelfth night competition for the illuminated capitol. Congratulations! What would you like as your prize? Dermod won the calligraphy competition for the poem. Thank you for those who entered! Ditto re prize.

ROWANY FESTIVAL!!!

I hope to organise a scribes showing if not a competition for the Rowany Festival: a chance to meet other scribes and see their work, so bring along some examples of what you do, please, even if it is not fantastic. Bring your pens etc too. If possible, we will try to have a get-together. I will bring for display any scrolls not sent to kingdom by that stage. I had thought also to perhaps have a scribes vellum bookmarks, etc and/or provide a scribe service (writing letters etc for others) to raise money for the college. What do you think? Would you be willing to devote some time and ink or paint to help out?

ILLUMINATION

Well several of you got an extra fat letter last time with the first illumination letter in it also. Thanks to all those people who commented on the first and to all those who indicated they d also like to get it. If you would also like to receive this, please tell me in writing. I hope to produce many more illuminators. I used to be able to keep up, but I am currently working with 5 scribes and the workload is getting a bit heavy. I m sorry that the next installment is not included- it will have to wait until after the Festival, if you are to receive it beforehand.

MATERIALS AND TOOLS

I recently came across a new type of ink calIed CALLIG which is nice and dense. Please do use a dense black ink - you dont want the words to fade of the page after a few years. I still have some paper left, though the supply is diminished. I recalculated the costs and have been selling it for 75c a sheet. If any of you ever get onto a good deal or quality supply of pans, paints, inks, paper etc, please write and I'll put it in here so that others can get hold of them too.

CALLIGRAPHY CLASSES

Caitlin is now conducting weekly classes in Rowany. At the moment they are on Wednesday nights, but this may possibly change to alternate Tuesdays and Wednesdays. If you are interested, please contact her: her mundane name is Barbara Webb, ph 4671236.



NEW STUFF!!

Prompted by a recent letter from Frae, I thought I d write some ideas on mistakes so here we have...


MISTAKES - HOW TO MAKE THEM - HOW TO CORRECT THEM

HOW TO MAKE THEM

Calligraphy - you can make mistakes in several aspects of your work. They can be in the content of what you write (due to wrong information or miscopied words, skipping a line, repeating a word or phrase, spelling mistakes); in your spacing on the page or on the line; inaccuracies in style the letter forms; spilt ink on the work, pen leaky or not working; consistency of your hand. No doubt you have discovered how to make many of these mistakes already. Just being tired increases mistakes, not to mention Titivilus (the patron demon of scribes, whose life work is to make scribes make mistakes - he was well known in the Middle Ages). I'll go through those mentioned above. Content- Avoid by double checking the text you are working from, making sure of the names of the King and Queen/Prince and Princess, the recipient, the dates, etc.

Spacing- Pencil the entire text in to see if it will fit and then carefully read over it. Copy straight from the text, rather than relying on your memory. Inaccuracies in style- minor ones can be corrected as described below. Lots of practice is really the only long-term answer. Spilt ink- Keep your ink well away from your work. Cover completed sections with paper. Cover entire text when its time to illuminate. Pen Problems- Check your pen thoroughly before you begin, and try a few lines out. Clean your pen regularly with water or weak ammonia solution. Thin your ink when necessary. Inconsistency- Again, practice is the answer. Well ruled spacing lines also help.

CORRECTING THEM

Major mistakes are hard to correct. I f you leave out a line or do anything which will alter the spacing, you are probably better of starting again. If the mistake is a small one, such as a spelling mistake, it is possible to correct it if you are careful and patient.

The technique is as follows: Wait until the ink has dried, then write the correct word/letter OVER THE TOP of the incorrect version, using as many of the lines and curves in the incorrect version as is possible. Wait until the ink is dry, overnight if necessary. Using a good plastic rubber, erase over the lines of the mistake. This will remove some of the ink and any loose pigment in the area. Now take a curved very sharp blade (disposable scalpel blades cost about 20c each) CAREFULLY scrape away the mistake, scraping in one direction and removing the waste paper fluff as you go. Continue until the ink is removed. You will have removed several layers of paper also. Sometimes you can erase the last few spots. Now take a round polished stone or tooth or other VERY smooth object and burnish the area you have just scraped. Do not do this overmuch, or it will go shiny. You can now make any small corrections or adjustments with a technical pen. Good Luck! WARNINGS: If you try to remove the mistake and then rewrite, the ink will tend to feather. This will also happen if you try to clean up with a pen without burnishing the area. If you scrape in all directions, the ink particles lodge in the paper and it goes grey.

MAILBOX

GWYNFOR LWYD- Thanks for the cheque- I hope you enjoy working on the paper. Illuminate 1 and assignment enclosed. Quink is not good enough, unfortunately, as it is an ink made from dyes which are not colourfast. You need a PIGMENT based ink, such as Pelican Special Black, Hunt-Speedball, Callig, etc. Paints are discussed in Illuminate 1.

RICHARD DE LA CROIX- I received your latest bundle of paper (how many times did you write that text?)- thanks! I'll do the illumination after the two I've got going now.

THORFINN HROLFSSON- More info re your assignment enclosed. Have a good time in the US! Thank you for the copy of the Scribe's Badge of Office- I'll see what I can do. I'd love to see the new books you have. No- I don't have a recipe for tanning Vellum, sorry! Maybe some other scribe does? See you at the Festival.

CAITLIN O'HLORRIGAN- Assignment enclosed. Many more available! I hope to talk to you at Festival, and get to those classes, if the Tuesday nights happen. I'd like you to scribe the next Oaths of Fealty for the Viceroy and Vicereine to be sent to the West. I'll give you the text and details if you are interested.

PHILLIPA DE LUSSIGNAN- As you had guessed, I didn't receive your package with the enclosed exemplars etc. Rats. If you will be at the Festival, perhaps you could bring some things along? I can also talk to you about your other numerous questions regarding the SCA in general. I'll also have paper for sale there. Good luck with your scribing!

RHIANNON OF STARFIRE RETREAT- Beginning notes etc enclosed. Thank you for your exemplar! With slight modifications to a more period style of decenders, you will have a very respectable hand.

In General... I hope to see more of you at the Festival. I have recently quit my mundane job, as it was starting to exceed 65 hrs per week ( now you know why you haven t heard from me). I have been doing a major reorganisation of the Scribes Office. It is pretty obvious that while letters work to keep in touch, nothing can beat a few hours of face-to-face. Maybe this year I can travel more and meet more of you, and conduct a few workshops.

Until next timeyours as ever, In service,

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