[MR] A question of Protocol

[E L Wimett]

The reason I mentioned it was that the East rather firmly avoided sumptuary
laws and most old-timers had negative reactions when people tried to import
such novelties from the younger and less secure kingdoms.  
 
The most famous story that was commonly told to illustrate occurred when
someone approached Duke Vissevald and made some negative comment about his
not wearing a ducal coronet to show his rank, meaning a coronet with
strawberry leaves.  The good duke responded fairly simply that he was a
duke, it was his coronet, therefore it was a ducal coronet.  (By the way,
when he got that fine coronet which was appropriate for his persona and
period as the (really out of period) strawberry leaves would not have been,
many of his acquaintance referred to it as the "Six Million Dollar
Sweatband".)
 
Alisoun, who has had a LOT of experience with interkingdom anthropology on
danglies and pointed hats
 
  _____  

From: Kelly Tessena [mailto:kellylynne at gmail.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2006 2:44 PM
To: silverdragon at charleston.net
Subject: Re: [MR] A question of Protocol
 
If I recall correctly, it was one of those "unwritten rules."  I guess I
should've specified that it wasn't an actual sumptuary law. 

Adriana
On 5/16/06, E L Wimett <silverdragon at charleston.net> wrote:
Hmmm! Any restriction on a circlet in the East, even informally, must be a
fairly recent thing.  When I lived there, the only restrictions were those
imposed by the Society, i.e., on embattled coronets, coronets with 
strawberry leaves, white belts, etc.

Alisoun

-----Original Message-----
From: atlantia-bounces at atlantia.sca.org
[mailto: <mailto:atlantia-bounces at atlantia.sca.org>
atlantia-bounces at atlantia.sca.org] On Behalf Of Kelly Tessena
Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2006 2:37 PM
To: atlantia at atlantia.sca.org
Subject: [MR] A question of Protocol 

On 5/16/06, jbrmm266 at aol.com <jbrmm266 at aol.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> To my eyes, it would appear unseemly of a Royal or Baronial to take one to

> task for such things, but if one of the Guard or a herald or someone in an
> official capacity of that kind were to quietly remind the person . . .


I agree with you. When the person with the title makes the comment, it's far

too easy for it to seem like arrogance.  (How dare you not
bow/curtsey/recognize how important I am?)  Even if the correction is made
in the most courteous fashion imaginable, it could still appear unseemly.
If it comes from someone else, whether it's part of the entourage or someone
who knows the individual who made the protocol "goof," that softens it a
great deal.

I think the same thing holds through all the different levels of awards, 
right down to the AoA (from curtseying to His Majesty to calling someone
who's been awarded arms Lord or Lady).   The person pointing out the lapse
in protocol should be someone other than whoever was addressed improperly. 

A long (and probably rambling) story to illustrate what I mean:

When I lived in the East Kingdom, I was asked by a friend to tell another
friend that what she was  wearing was probably assuming a rank she didn't 
have.  (In the East, you're supposed to have an Award of Arms to wear a
circlet.)

I didn't really want to do this, so I asked the person who told me why she
didn't deal with this herself.  The answer was that, as she *had* her AoA 
(and was the only one of our group of friends who did at the time), she
didn't want to appear as though she had an attitude about the award she'd
been given.  The correction had a whole different (and better) tone coming 
from me than it would had it come from her.

Adriana Michaels
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