Wes of Bodhran Roll, Please! has a post of were heÂ’s been and whatÂ’s been going on in his life. It ends with some comments about changes heÂ’s made regarding re-enacting. These include, unfortunately due to some research of my own, to him deciding not to bring his Bodrhan to the events anymore and to shave his facial hair. Of course good friend and blogspawn Petey is not pleased with this decision to stop bringing the bodrhan. (As well as our friend Wil, but he hasnÂ’t commented yet).

I know that when I shaved my facial hair and decided to get rid of some of the items in my camp that are not period correct, I took some, okay a LOT of ridicule. The thing is that I think some people are missing the point. Now, I can only really speak for me, but after conversations with Wes, I think heÂ’ll agree with me on this. I didnÂ’t make these changes because someone else forced me to or because I didnÂ’t want. I made these decisions because they are what I wanted.

When I was younger I was brought up that if you are going to do something, do it right and take pride in your work. History has been a passion of mine for years. When I was younger I loved going to museums and ready about history. I loved going on vacations and taking tours of various historical locations. When we went on these tours I was always the kid fighting his way to the front so I wouldnÂ’t miss anything the tour guide said.

In 1997 when I had an opportunity to start doing some re-enacting, I jumped on it. I joined Clan Chattan and we did more of the Scottish Highland Game/Ren Faire style re-enacting. We had two events that were early American events, and those quickly became my favorites. In fact after a couple of years I started hating the Ren Faire and Highland Games gigs. There wasnÂ’t much history to them and the people that attended really didnÂ’t want to know about history, unless I was talking about the history of the sword. Occasionally I would find someone that wanted to talk Scottish history with me, but mainly they just wanted to see the sharp shiny objects. After leaving Clan Chattan, I havenÂ’t worked a Ren Faire or Highland game.

Now IÂ’m on my own doing what I want to do. Over the years IÂ’ve been slowly weeding out what is wrong in my camp and gear. I was reading more books and brushing up on more history. Becoming more and more knowledgeable about the history of the period and location IÂ’m portraying. I know what is wrong in my camp and what needs to be improved.

At the end of last season something finally snapped into place for me. I shook off the last of my Ren Faire mentality of “if they had it, they would have used it” and “If it looks period correct, that’s all that matters.” Now, I’m striving to get as historically accurate of a camp that I can get and still have my family with. (There is absolutely NO chance of my having a White wife and kid with me in 1756 in Northern Illinois/Southern Wisconsin) So I make exceptions, because this is first and foremost a FAMILY hobby for us, and its damn well going to stay that way. Yet I am going to make the changes I need to make for me, and my costuming and my equipment. Not the family’s stuff, but mine. Ktreva is behind me on this.

Things really didnÂ’t hit the fan until last month when I made the decision to shave my facial hair off, replace me capote and update the camp chairs. All of a sudden everyone was going nuts about my decision. HereÂ’s the thing. IÂ’m not doing this because someone told me to. Its not because I feel I have to. It isnÂ’t even something I didnÂ’t want to do. This was a decision I made in order to get it right. I did it because I knew these things are wrong for my persona and my camp.

I did this because I want to do my best to do it right. I am taking pride in what IÂ’m doing. This is something that I know is right and I want to do it. It doesnÂ’t bother me that people are making fun of my cleanly shaven face. When they laugh and tease me about my decisions, it rolls off of me. The fact is simple, it was a decision I made, it is something IÂ’m standing by and none of them can tell me that IÂ’m wrong.

IÂ’m not mad, irritated or even annoyed at any of them. Because IÂ’m doing what is right for me, and they are doing what is right for them. And that is what is most important.

That is what they donÂ’t understand.

Now of course if Wes wants to bring his Bodhran and play, I'd be all for that. The nights are going to get quiet.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:47 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 Will the beer need to be historically accurate as well? Just asking.......

Posted by: bx19 at May 20, 2008 11:34 AM (hPdsC)

2 I suspect you are wrong about the facial hair. It may have been uncommon among polite company but by the time of the French and Indian Wars white men had already started trapping in the Shining Mountains. By then some had reached the Pacific. Don't fall for the myth that Lewis and Clark were the first to go. Men started walking and riding west when we first got here. Most died of course. Then again, everyone else died, too. Now those frontiersmen didn't have nice neat goatees, one would be lucky to see a nose sticking out and I'm sure the surviors shaved as soon as they returned. There are too many legends of white men among the tribes to believe otherwise. Frontiersmen became Mountain Men and Voyageurs and by the mid 1800s had trapped out the Shining Mountains which became the Rocky Mountains. Trapped out by men with beards. No drums, though. When sneaking around among tribes that tortured people to see if they died brave, few men would carry a drum. Frontiersmen

Posted by: Peter at May 20, 2008 12:37 PM (AiJXe)

3 By the wauy, did Tammi ever give you that bullet lube I sent up for you?

Posted by: Peter at May 20, 2008 12:49 PM (AiJXe)

4 Actually there is a ton of documentation to support they didn't have facial hair. From journals to excavated razors to inventory lists. They have reports of men being found dead and they would check their belongings and find razors and shaving soap. They wouldn't shave every day, but they would shave. According to documentation even the frontiersmen would shave on on Sundays and before entering any type of civilized area or rendezvous. Having facial hair in the mid 1700's would be the equivalent to not wearing pants today. By the late 1700's and early 1800's facial hair became more socially acceptable. By the time of the Civil War it was the norm.

Posted by: Contagion at May 20, 2008 01:28 PM (Q5WxB)

5 You wear pants? Huh. I'm just glad I don't live closer to you because I bet you'd totally suck me into this hobby of yours. I know I'd love it, but I know I don't have cash (any) or time to do it! I just live vicariously through you. Hope you don't mind.

Posted by: Ogre at May 21, 2008 08:07 AM (oifEm)

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Okay, last weekend we got rained on pretty hard. This weekend, well it looks like the skies are going to open up and drain on us! In fact they are calling for some very severe storms today. Fortunately for me IÂ’m not out there yet, unfortunately for friends like Will and Petey they are already there. IÂ’m going to be keeping my eye on the weather and hope that everything goes well for them. Unfortunately I couldnÂ’t get the time off of work to head out last night, or IÂ’d be out there with them. Damn real-life responsibilities!

So letÂ’s start the running cap this year on events that I get rain. Not counting the two winter camps and counting this weekend, that makes three events. Fort Des Chartres I donÂ’t recall any rain in the time we had canvas set up, so IÂ’m calling that a dry camp. Gathering at Macktown, Thursday and Friday we had rain. This weekend is Bloody Lake, they are calling for rain. (This is as we watch the angry red finger of god on radar sweeping across Illinois poised to wipe canvas off the face of the earth). That makes me 1-2. Yea, thatÂ’s about par for the course. ItÂ’s not yet a valid sample size as usually itÂ’s 1 out of every four events I do is dry.

The funny thing is that I was talking to my mother on Monday about last weekend and she reminded me that my grandfather always said that whenever my father and I went camping, he knew the weather was going to bad. When I got hold enough to go camping without my father, Grandpa determined that the chance of bad weather on a weekend doubled. Grandpa was an avid camper too, although he did modern camping, or what I like to call portable civilization. You know, in trailers. One of these days IÂ’m going to have to tell some of those stories.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:38 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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