The Armour Archive

Donal Mac Ruiseart

That was my read of it too, Baron Alcyoneus. I think the point was that it was better to risk lung damage, which can heal, than brain damage, which cannot. Her Grace, her family, and those who care for her are all in my prayers. In my area recently, we had a lady stricken with a similarly mysterious...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

The SS has a dark finish. The armourer told me that if I wanted a burnished look I should put it in a bucket with sawdust, not sand, and roll it around. This, he informed me, would produce a burnished look.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Egenbrauer wrote:He finally retired from the University of California back in July; but he's still fighting and going strong.

Hah, more power to 'im. He and I are of similar age. Good to see that other old-timers are thriving.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

A tumbler style washing machine just might work for that.

Next time I try to clean it I'll use a scrub brush.

I do not want to try to explain to my Lady Wife that the schmutz is part of the charm. . . .

As for why coated, it may have been in an attempt to make it not look like inox.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

I bought a SS aventail; it came with a sort of greasy powdery coating that stained anything it touched. I asked the armourer about it and he told me I could take it off with Simple Green, which I did. But it was weird to be washing maille in a pan of soapy water as if I were washing my sox. And then...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

I knew Flieg when he was in the East Kingdom, including when he was King of the East. The nickname means something like "Flying" and is short for the Flying Dutchman. His modern name is Frederick Hollander. And if that first pic is fairly recent, he must've drunk from the Fountain of Youth...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

I'm in favour of maintaining the uniqueness requirement, though I would like to see some sort of sunset provision releasing a name after a given period after the death of the holder.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

.

What Eff said.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

How applicable is this book to an SCA fighter? Would it be, to me, an interesting theoretical study; or could I apply some of what it teaches on an SCA list-field?

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Suzerain wrote:Watching pretty much any film, especially Hollywood films, for historical research is a bit like watching Nascar to pass your driving test....
(ie, you'll fail rather badly. especially if the instructor asks you to turn left. )

Don't you mean right?

Donal Mac Ruiseart

. . . Henry the VIII armor, (can't recall during which conflict...) and it was quite slim. I found it funny as he was always portrayed as quite a husky guy, perhaps he was thin when he was young. He was. In his youth he was slim and athletic. He started to put on weight in his thirties but was stil...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

JvR wrote:I like the LOTR and D&Dish names in the Armorial.

Don't get any ideas. Those names are from earlier days when the rules were less stringent. People who have such names can keep 'em but the rule allowing names from Tolkien and the like was rescinded years ago.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Hobby-horses are period!

Donal Mac Ruiseart

The full announcement's in the Merry Rose.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

This is from an announcement for an event in an Atlantian group: There will be a ZOMBIE TOURNEY!!!! What's a Zombie Tourney, you ask??? It's kinda a reverse warlord tourney, with a castle. We divide the fighters into 2 teams, usually by rank. One team is the Zombies (attackers); the other are the To...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

In my specific case, when I say "gold" I do indeed mean metallic gold.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Aaron wrote:That knocks the "must weigh a lot to be a KSCA" theory right on its hindquarters!

You never met Sir Hyram, did you?

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Why did your paint not stick to the under layer? Remember, this was 30+ years ago, and my first attempt at emblazoning. As I recall, the red peeled off the outer layer of the gold. So it was less a matter of the red not adhering to the gold as the gold not adhering to itself. So now, as I say, I us...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

In emblazoning my shields, I've always used metallic gold paint for the field and the anchors. The first time I tried it, I made the mistake of painting the whole shield gold and then stenciling the saltire over it. Heraldically correct but not practical, since the red paint would not adhere to the ...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Ladylisbet, I would indeed like to see that.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

I don't recall his name, but I do recall that in Tudor or Elizabethan time there was a rather well-known jester - the witty, professional type of jester - whose skill with a blade got him out of some situations from which his wit could not extricate him. I even recall one of his recorded quips. &quo...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

I am 6 ft tall, and weigh 220. I'm 57 years old. EDIT: When I started fighting, I was 6 feet tall and weighed about 175. I was 22. I fight rattan. The glaive is my favourite weapon for single combat, the spear my favourite in battles. I'm authorised in all forms and fight the non-shield forms with g...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

A friend of mine, a fellow fighter and a medical professional, maintains that a certain amount of aggression is hard-wired into mammalian males, which deprived of an outlet, causes a host of medical and mental problems. He maintains that playing aggressive sports is a good outlet for this, and that ...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

There was no Ivanhoe from the 70s. There's the one from the 52 with Robert Taylor and Elizabeth Taylor, and there's the one from 82 with Anthony Andrews and Sam Neill. The one from the 80s grabbed my imagination at the ripe old age of 3 and never let go. It's not up to living history standards, but...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Cian, if you recommend "The Lion in Winter," you probably were thinking of "Becket." There was a production of "Ivanhoe" done I think in the 70s that captures the spirit pretty well. "The Warlord" "Sword of Lancelot." I would not cite any of these as...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

None of those Latin phrases have any reference to the heart. The word ANIMUS refers to the soul or spirit. That motto, in French, was the motto of Jacques Coeur (whose name means heart), a 15th century Frenchman. Au Coeur vaillant riens impossible My grammar might be off, but my take on it would be ...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

The sizes of the charges are much more appropriate in Cian's rendition also.

And aye, the goat is much better looking.

Thanks, Cian.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Here is a rather crude depiction of the first design. For the second, just imagine the right side gold instead of white.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

All right then, since I have little ability with graphics . . . Per pale sable and argent a goat rampant contourny per pale Or and sable and in chief a crescent Or and a crescent sable. Is in plain English . . . the field divided vertically black and white/silver, the goat in the same position as yo...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Three words:

Ex Cell Ent.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

I think not, Isabella. Were it per pale they might, although the fact that the one side is uncharged may alleviate that. Actually, Attila; what you mentioned is very close to what I was about to recommend. My first impression would be to recommend Per pale sable and argent a goat rampant contourny p...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

I would emblazon it

Sable a goat rampant contourny and in chief two crescents Or, a tierce sinister argent.
That said, do you REALLY have to have that tierce? Customary heraldic usage prefers symmetry.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Grass, the sturdy sort used on football fields.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Where can I find information on how to mount it? I know I need to obtain vervelles and somehow attach some leather to the upper edge of the maille . . .

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Order sent

Telling this on myself

Preparations for the Zombie Invasion are Underway

Gold or Yellow?