Re: scribe win

[Heather Swann <swannh@psi.com>]

Poster: Heather Swann <swannh@psi.com>

At 07:22 AM 10/24/97 PDT, Terry L. Neill wrote:
>
>Poster: "Terry L. Neill" <longshipco@hotmail.com>
>
>Karen wrote:
>
>>1. There comes to be a dual process for whether or not name and 
>>device have been registered, causing in some cases the (however 
>>mistaken) impression that one must get one's name and device 
>>registered before one can be considered for an AoA.
>
>No, no, no.  What I meant was to give hand-calligraphed original scrolls 
>with _blanks_ where the name, blazon and emblazon go.  All that entails 
>is to check with an Ordinary and Armorial (a task that could be given to 
>one of the Royal Retinue) to see if the subject has a registered device 
>and name.

I'd rather do promissories than this....
>
>Pick a nice, appropriate *blank* scroll from the stack provided by the 
>scribes for that purpose.  *If* the person has a registered name, 
>calligraph that name on the scroll.  Leave the blazon and emblazon blank 
>if you want; or fill them in if there are registered arms and time to do 
>so (a large majority of AoA recipient's don't have registered devices).

Bleh.  Bleh.  Bleh.  This makes it a mass-produced scroll.  Yucko.
>
>If the person has no registered name, you pencil in the use-name and 
>they can erase it and get someone to finish the scroll properly when the 
>time comes.
>
>>2. Instead of a backlog of scrolls to replace promissory scrolls, 
>>there gets to be a backlog before awards are given. 
>
>Not under the above system, hopefully now better explained.  Just pick a 
>nice scroll out of the stack of blanks and give it out.
>
>
>>Anything 
>>more "personalized" would have to wait until the promissory scroll 
>>-- knotwork, Gothic leaf patterns, portraiture, etc. would be 
>>difficult to choose or design without any more knowledge of the 
>>individual than name and device.
>
>Several different kinds of scrolls.  Some with cooking motifs, some with 
>archery, some 'generic'.  Give the most approriate one.  If the person 
>wants a more 'personalized' scroll, he or she can commission one from a 
>scribe.

Oh, yuck.  Talk about duplication of effort......
>
>The idea being to reduce the amount of double work for scrolls.
>
>Regards!
>
>      - Anarra
>
Um, with all due respect, I have a major problem with this idea.  I'm a
scribe.  Why, do you ask?  Because it's fun.  Would I enjoy turning out ten
'cooking scrolls'?  No.  By this I mean that what makes it fun for me is
the fact that I get to personalize each scroll- I get to use a lot of
different styles of calligraphy and illumination.  I get to do the whole
scroll, name, emblazon, and all.  If I'm gonna buy the materials out of my
own pocket (and they don't come cheap), I want to have fun.  If I wanted to
be in an efficient bureaucracy, I'd be in another group.  I don't want to
just 'turn out a bunch of 'cooking scrolls' or 'garb scrolls' or whatever
so we can all process these things faster.  The modern world is enough of
that FASTFASTFAST grind for me.  Here in the Society, I want to take a
little time and make a thing of beauty.  That's not a duplicate of fifty
other 'things of beauty'.  

I vote we have b/w xeroxed promissories, coloured in if someone gets the
time- perhaps the Kingdom could pass stacks of these out to local
scriptoriums so folks could practice illumination, thus we'd have a ready
supply.  When I was a Scrivener Royal, this is what we did.  I carried a
box of blanks that I had made and copied which I would colour in when I had
spare time some evenings, so that when needed, I could fill in the
necessary wording, but it wouldn't be too drab for presentation.  In fact,
I still have that box of them in my closet.....

Thus, when an Atlantian scribe gets the assignment to do the permanent
scroll, they can look the person up, get some personal info, and make a
scroll the recipient could really appreciate.  This is, in fact, to my
knowledge what most Atlantian scribes do.  Some time ago, I outlined about
how much time and money the typical scribe pours into a scroll.  If I can
find it, this might be the time to repost it.  Frankly, I enjoy putting in
the time and effort.  I want to.  It's a creative outlet.  That's why I
don't want to see cookie cutter scrolls.  If we started doing that, I'd
stop being a scribe- the fun would be gone.

I understand trying to avoid a backlog, and I think it would be great if
scribes could be assigned scrolls for awards not  yet given so they can be
given out in the first place and avoid promissories.  In fact, Atlantia
used to do that.  If someone local was getting an award, or perhaps that
person was a good friend, sometimes people got a heads-up so the scroll
could be done in time.  Perhaps if one of the people who sent in the award
recomendation could be alerted in time, they could see to it that a scribe
who would really want to do that scroll, perhaps a friend of the recipient,
could do it in time to be presented instead of a promissory.

Well, I'll just step off the old soapbox now.......

Miri
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