 Bardic Classes
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| Building Blocks of Old English Poetry |
Fiana of Clare |
This class will cover the basic poetics (meter and alliteration) and poetic techniques (such as
kennings and variations) of Old English poetry, with a goal of getting students to write such
poetry themselves.
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| Songwriting to Tell a Story |
Drake Oranwood |
Principles and guidelines for constructing tight, compelling, original, SCA-appropriate songs
that capture (and hold) an audience. The focus is on lyrics, song and story structure. How is
writing a good lyric different from writing a good poem? Create a singable story that is
entertaining, engaging, and will hold the attention of a SCAdian audience, who enjoy period
material, but still prefer a song that runs 5 minutes or under.
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| Writing Humorous Songs |
Cerian Cantwr |
Discussion of the elements of comedy and how to use them in writing humorous songs.
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| The Art of Performance (or How to Win Over an Audience and Leave Them Wanting More) |
Count William of Fairhaven, KSCA OP |
The hard stuff about ego, skills, audiences, etc. 30 years of solid performing and almost 20
with an Irish Pub band called FinTan plus sharing the stage with and learning from some of
truly skilled performers has given me a unique perspective on performance. You will hear some
things you might not want to hear in this class but the pathway to success as a performer
requires practice, attention and your eyes and ears open. Learn how to perform like the pros
do.
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| Contrafacta: Yes, Filking is Period |
Melanie de la Tour |
Musica Contrafacta means reworked or recycled music. In French, it is contrefait, which is the
root of our word counterfeit. In other words, you make new music by copying a popular tune, to
which you set new lyrics. A contrafactum (Latin singular; contrafacta is plural) is a period
filk.
Lady Melanie de la Tour will discuss the history and impact of contrafacta/filks, and give some
tips on how to write them. Active participation is encouraged.
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| Five Easy Ways to Get Your Performance to the Next Level |
Count William of Fairhaven, KSCA OP |
A one hour class to help you get your performance to the next level - better audience
interaction, better delivery and learning how to read queues from the audience and other
musicians. Tips and tricks from a professional performer learned over 30 years on the road.
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| Introduction to Guitar |
Count William of Fairhaven, KSCA OP |
Introduction class to everything guitar. You may bring your guitar or just come and join us to
get a better understanding of how this amazing, versatile instrument works. We will be covering
the guitar, how it works, how you play it, strings, tuning, cost and type, traveling with your
instrument and more. We will also cover some basics of playing, style, chords and developing
your skills including how to accompany your own vocals with a guitar. I've been playing for 30
years and hopefu
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| Irish Frame Drum: Introduction to the Bodhrán |
Líadan Liathán |
Care and feeding of the bodhrán, what makes a good tipper, two playing styles, proper session etiquette, four basic rhythms that will get you through 99% of all Irish tunes, performance tips, accompanying yourself and others on the drum. If you have a bodhrán, please bring it. A few loaner bodhráns will be available.
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| My Guitar's Persona Is a Lute |
Drake Oranwood |
How do you play authentic lute music if your instrument is a modern guitar? The good news is
the instruments are very closely related. Learn how to tune and play your guitar as if it were
a lute, how to interpret lute tablature, how to find authentic period composers, songs, and
arrangements. The skills are highly transferable, and, while lute music has a different feel
and sound, the rewards for your investment of time and effort are great. Suitable for all
experience levels.
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| Recreating an Anglo-Saxon Performance |
Isolde de la Ramee |
Using archeology, art history and literature, we can form a conjecture as to how early Anglo-
Saxons performed their poetry. This class will look at the Germanic lyre and Old English Poetry
and include a short performance.
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| String Theory, or, a Naturo-Philosophic investigation into the Properties of the Vibrating String. |
Brendan O Corraidhe |
How do vibrating-string instruments really work? For players (and aspiring players) of
plucked, strummed, and bowed string instruments, an understanding of the “what’s really going
on physically” can be very enlightening. Practical tips for technique and practice will also
be shared. Class will also include a discussion of the medieval understanding of what was going
on in the context of Aristotlian (as opposed to modern Newtonian) physics. Mathematical and
scientific concepts limit
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| Early Irish Myth and Legend |
Brendan O Corraidhe |
A lot happened in Ireland before Patrick arrived! You’ve likely heard the names: the Firbolgs,
Cuchullain, Finn MacCumhail, Niall of the Nine Hostages, The Tain Bo Culagne, Maeve, the De
Dannans…. But how do they all fit together? Come on a fast- paced ramble through a thousand
years of pagan Irish history, myth, and legend (they’re all intertwined!)
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 Brewing Classes
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| An Apple A Day - history of cider with focus on England |
Oswyn of Baðon |
A look at the history of cider with particular emphasis of ciders in England. Is beor cider? It
just may be.
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| Taming the wild yeast |
Helewyse de Birkestad |
I have successfully captured and purified two different wild yeast strains and used them in brewing (I also have
degrees in microbiology). In this class we will discuss how to set up to catch a wild yeast, how to isolate a single pure
culture and how to prepare a large volume of yeast starter for brewing. There will be 5 catch your own yeast kits
provided for participants. Kit will include sterile liquid media, sterile agar plates and sterile swabs. Techniques will be
demonstrated in cl
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| Euriol's Book of Secrets: A Beginner’s Guide to Redacting Medieval Recipes |
Euriol of Lothian |
Students will walk through the process of taking a translation of a period recipe and creating a
modernized recipe with measurements and detailed directions.
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| Euriol's Book of Secrets: Introduction to Recipe Translation |
Euriol of Lothian |
This class will walk students through a method of translating recipes from facsimiles or
transcriptions of recipes from period sources.
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 Cooking Classes
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| Four Pastries |
Willoc mac Muiredaig |
Do you know your pastries? We will discuss the four major classes of pastries; when and where to use each, and subtle
finishing
techniques (fluting, glazing, when to pre-bake) for each of them, as well as how to adapt for dietary restrictions. This is an
outdoors hands-on class: we will be preparing pastry shells for Sunday lunch. (See Outdoor Pies class.) Bring an apron!
In the first hour, you can try out one new pastry. Stay longer to try other types. Return for "midnight" pre-bake
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| How to Make Your Own Yeast |
HL Abbatissa |
Learn the different ways you can make your own yeast
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| Know your Ingredients: Quince |
Lucia de Moranza |
Quinces are often mentioned in recipes all over our period, and in a wide variety of locations, but yet are often
unfamiliar to the modern cook. Come and learn about the history of this fruit, and if the harvest gods are kind, we'll
cook some up to try.
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| Outdoor Pies |
Willoc mac Muiredaig |
Pies are a great way to serve a crowd! We will explore various types of pies, from sweet to savory, and advantages between
different
pie structures from traditional round to turnovers, as well as how to cook them outdoors in Dutch & Roman ovens. This is an
outdoors hands-on class: we will be baking pies for Sunday lunch. (See 4 Pastries class.) Bring an apron!
In the first hour, you can prepare one type of pie/filling. Stay longer to help bake them.
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| Sol's Sweet & Sour Tastery & Temptorium |
Sol |
This is a taste bud exploration of sweetening and souring ingredients used in medieval cuisines compared and contrasted with modern flavors our palates grow up with. Come try a variety of sugars, honeys, syrups, vinegars, sour juices, and similar condiments. This is a pass-through display, and you can stop by anytime while it is going. No maximum number of people or minimum age as long as children have parental accompaniment/permission to taste samples.
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| Sugary Subtleties |
Clara van den Broucke |
Working with Gum/ Sugar Paste, fondant, and marzipan to learn the pros and cons of the different types, manipulation of
each, and creation of tiny subtleties.
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| Vinegar 400- Vinegar Anti-Brewing, Mustards, and Shrubs |
Oswyn of Baðon |
A combination of my all my vinegar making and tasting classes. We will discuss how to make
vinegar, some thoughts on using the appropriate vinegar for a given recipe, taste some vinegars,
see how the vinegar chosen changes the flavor of a standard mustard, and then how to make shrubs
with vinegar.
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 Other Classes
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| The Peerage Process - Pulling Back the Curtain On This Mysterious Process |
Count William of Fairhaven, KSCA OP |
This class explains in all detail what peerage is and what the path looks like from a Middle
Kingdom perspective. There are no taboo topics and we will cover a lot of ground on things not
spoken of as they affect those trying to get on the path, what happens once you get there and
life after peerage. Being a dependent and taking dependents is also covered. Some hard
realities and not always nice topics are discussed and Q&A of course. Struggling on your path?
Trying to find the path? S
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