Attention!!
Party steps back into history
Two Saturdays ago, I the revel were dressed in
attended a Society for Creative clothes from various times in
Anachronism party. I went to medieval society. I was amazed
the party wanting to experience at the detail of the' ‘ garb ’ —
something new, which I did. It each person seemed to have
was so new that I was totally recreated his/her time period
unprepared for it. costume with immense care. I
Before I arrived at the party, saw low necklines, long skirts,
or “revel, ” I didn’t know much veils, pearls, gaudy jewlery and
about the SCA except for its tight bodices on the ladies; the
name. I did know that an men wore shirts with no collars,
anachronism, as one member lace-up leather boots and open
of the SCA told me, is sleeves. I even saw three-
something out of place in time, musketeer-type outfits,
like a chimney on an ancient Noticing my inappropriate
Egyptian pyramid. I also knew dress (striped shirt, jeans and
that the SCA had something to tennis shoes), a few of the
do with medieval times. That, nearby medieval ladies
however, was about as far as dragged me off to the women’s
my knowledge went. restroom to fix my attire. I was
I got to the revel by car, a given a simple black gown with
seemingly unorthodox way of a wide necHine and a colored
arriving into medieval times, rope belt to wrap around my
yet my only way of doing so. waist. I still wore my tennis
Then, when I entered the party shoes, but that couldn’t be
room, I stopped dead in my helped. Now more suitably
tracks to stare impolitely at dressed, I was allowed to make
everyone. a second entrance to the revel.
All the men and women at People were standing
Photo by Lawson Reilly
This week’s Attention!!column was written by Jacque
line Catala, a sophomore psychology major.
Page 2/At Ease/Thursday, Oct. 13,1988
around in groups, talking and
laughing. 1 was introduced to a
few, but I cannot recall many of
their names because they were
all of the medieval sort. It
seems that each person has a
medieval name, time period
and personal history to go
along with the beautiful garb
they wear. I realized that this
society was more intricate and
historically accurate than 1
thought.
I learned that the United
States (since this is a nation
wide organization) had been
re-divided into medieval shires
and kingdoms, with names to
match. Bryan-College Station
was named the shire of the
“Shadowlands,” and it belongs
to the kingdom of “Ansteorra. ”
I also found out that within the
Shadowlands there are
members of rank such as the
senechal (head of the shire). I
was impressed to find out that
some members of the shire
practice medieval arts such as
pottery, embroidery, juggling,
sewing, swashing (light sword
fighting) and heavy sword
fighting. I was told that
somewhere in the kingdom
(Texas and Oklahoma) there
are jousting matches, but I
don’t recall where.
The food at the revel was as
“period” as everything else.
They had several meats,
including sausage, along with
almonds, raisins, homemade
bread, homemade butter and
various sliced cheeses. I
enjoyed wandering over to the
dinner table periodically,
whenever I felt the need. The
shire members all had period
dinnerware, too. I don’t know
where they found all those
wooden and brass plates and
goblets.
Soon the dancing began.
Medieval music came floating
around the room, delivered by
a tape recorder that sounded
just as good as the real thing.
The shire members began to
teach the newcomers the old
courtroom dances; these
consist of repeated sequences
of steps and lots of flirting with
your partners. You kept eye
contact most of the time, an
enjoyable aspect of dancing
that has been lost in modem
styles, and did lots of bowing
and curtsying. After stumbling
through a few practice sessions,
Julia Jones, a junior journalism major, took this
week’s Attention!!photo.
we newcomers got the hang of
things and began to enjoy
ourselves. Then, in our
borrowed garb with modem
touches (the guy across from
me was wearing jeans and
ropers under his Medieval
shirt), we danced.
Along with having a great
time that night, I left the revel
with a gift from the duchess: a
brass linked headpiece to be
worn over a veil. Carrying my
new treasure to the car, I
thought about all the times
when, as one of th^ kids on the
block, I had dressed up and
pretended to be someone else.
My friends and I had always
enjoyed this type of game. It
seemed that the SCA was also
a place where one could dress
up and be someone else. I
could have just as much fun
with the SCA as I had with the
other kids in my neighborhood.
And it was something different
to do on a Friday night — I was
tired of going to the dollar
movies.
Editor’s Note; This
Attention!!page will be used
each week as a forum for
you, our readers. We
encourage you to submit any
original work that would be
suitable for publication in At
Ease.
Opinions expressed on the
Attention!! page are those of
the author, and do not
necessarily represent the
opinions of The Battalion,
Texas A&M administrators,
faculty or the Board of
Regents.
Pictures for the Attention!!
page should be black-and-
white shots that are unique
either in content, angle or
technique. Columns, essays
or poems should be no longer
than 50G words and should
be either printed or typed.
Don’t forget to put your
name and phone number on
anything you send us. Then
drop it oft at The Ba ttalion,
Room 216 of the Reed
McDonald Building. Be sure
to specify that it is for At Ease.