RE: On Courtesy Classes

[E L Wimett <SILVERDRAGON@Charleston.Net>]

Poster: E L Wimett <SILVERDRAGON@Charleston.Net>


Poster: Izofgold@aol.com

>> Now along with this, what ever happend to people being escorted into court?

This is peculiar to the South and NOT appreciated by many of us, particularly those who have moved from other kingdoms.  (There was a MAJOR discussion of this not so long ago.)

As for my view on the subject, I can do no better than quote the following anecdote from the recent Southern Twelfth Night:

I was serving as herald for the Baroness of Hidden Mountain and my old friend Partha was right behind me as part of her escort.  At one point during the courts, there was a major confusion with people literally tripping over themselves to escort some ladies which caused a brief and rather humourous delay in proceedings.  On the spur of the moment, I turned to Partha and whispered something to the effect of "You know my feelings on escort into Court, don't you?  I know where the front of court is and, being a proper lady, I carry a knife."  Turned out this was a useful warning: when I was called into court for my Dolphin, Partha had the sense to step back three paces and keep anyone else from making a fool of themselves.

>> Or how about the dropping of weapons before approaching the thrones, etc...these mannerisms too have gone astray.

Yes, mannerism is what it is, not courtesy.  And, from what some of my old-timer friends have told me (I've only been in a little over 20 years), it is one of the many things for which Bob Asprin (a.k.a Yang the Nauseating) may be held responsible.  Yang, as an eccentricity of his Mongol persona and lack of fealty to the Middle, used to elaborately disarm himself of (sometimes literally) dozens of weapons before entering court.  This not only made his point, but (Yang being Yang) served to focus attention on him rather than the Crown or anything else for an appreciable period of time. 

The disarming ritual --- except when done as part of a very rare and well-done piece of schtick --- is actually rude since it upstages the royalty and the business of court and makes (frequently) overlong courts even longer.

Alisoun who feels strongly that true courtesy is from the heart and not merely a matter of manners or mannerisms
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