This page documents the past activities of the Shire of Silver Rylle.

The most recent events will be at the top, with earlier activities farther down the page.

Silver Rylle Shield (BACK)

(Past Events)

Repeated Activities

Upcoming Events

Date Activity
Sept 27, 2008 Event: Boards and Fields. Lawn Fire Company, Lawn, PA.
Come to our fair shire for a day of gaming. There will be games to be played in a reclined position as well as outdoor sports. A game of Long ball -- a precursor to baseball -- is being planned. Taful, a Saxon board game will be among the board and card games that will be taught/offered. A tournament with prizes is also being planned. You are welcome to bring and share any period games to the event. If there is a particular game you are interested in teaching at the event please contact the autocrat. In addition to these activities, there will be a day board. In the evening, there will be the opportunity to participate in a potluck dinner. For those who wish to dine out, we will be able to provide a list of local restaurants.
Sept 20 14, 2008 Gathering: Event Prep Day PLUS Silk Painting Day. Location TBA. Gather to do any last-minute preparation for the Boards and Fields event in two weeks. In addition, learn to do silk banner painting.
July 13, 2008 Gathering: Paint Your Own Pottery Day. Getting together at a paint-your-own-pottery place in Lancaster, noon till 6PM, to, well, paint our own pottery. Directions to the site to be posted shortly on the Shire email list. Bring ideas of what would be cool to have on a plate, mug, goblet, mantelpiece ... we can bring in our own drinks and food, like the last time we did this. Contact Carowyn with any questions.
July 12, 2008 Event: Glass Day. Campbelltown VFW, Campbelltown, PA. Site Fee: free; potluck.
A day of learning advanced glass techniques: a couple different kinds of buttons, blowing glass in the small on a bead torch, making millifiore, and anything else we can think of. There are several glass bead torches coming, but if you have something glass-ish, bring it along! Note: we are indoors at this site.
May 9, 2008 Demo: Lititz Second Fridays. Aaron's Book Corner (directions), where we hold our business meetings, has invited us to do a several-hour demo about the time period we study. The theme this month is "Blooming". Anyone interested should contact the Seneschal.
Feb 29, 2008 Gathering: Leap Day Party. Celebrate the once-in-four-years Leap Year Day with a Winter Doldrums Potluck at Jayme and Isabel's. 6-ish to whenever it breaks up.
Feb 8, 2008 Demo: Lititz Second Fridays. Aaron's Book Corner (directions), where we hold our business meetings, has invited us to do a several-hour demo about the time period we study. Anyone interested should contact Angus.
Jan 19, 2008 Gathering: Newbie Kit Day. Gather at Jayme and Isabel's and try to put our collection of Gold Key (loaner clothing and feast gear) into some semblance of order. Isabel would like to create simple kits of a set of clothing of matching sizes and kits of a set of feast gear so we can easily grab a set of each for any new people who need them. We will also take an inventory of our stuff while it's out.
Dec 15, 2007 Event: Ceilidh -- a Gaelic name for a party with music, games and/or dancing. It will be held at the Pine Woods Lodge at Camp Pine Woods, on Old Forge Rd just North of Palmyra, PA. For directions, please contact Jayme. This ceilidh is designed to celebrate the time of the year, and to make plans for the upcoming year. Some food and drinks will be provided, but feel free to bring some as well; more music and games would also be appreciated. The lodge has a fireplace, so we will have a fire going. See you there!
Nov 15, 2007 Demo: Lancaster Rotary Club. The Rotary Club has asked us to do a short (30 min) demo about the time period we study. Anyone interested should contact Angus.
Nov 21, 2007 Gathering: Shire Craft Night. Gather at Angus & Brangwayna's house and bring whatever craft you're working on, or just come and chat!
Nov 7, 2006 Gathering: Shire Craft Night. Gather at Jayme & Isabel's house and bring whatever craft you're working on, or just come and chat!
... We need to fill in the events that happened in this period [editor]
Dec, 2006 Gathering: Dye Day. Learn to dye cloth. We will also probably do silk banner painting. Location and date TBA.
Nov 19, 2006 Gathering: Medieval Games. Learn to play some games played during the period we study. Planned: Astronomical Tables (Seven-Sided Backgammon), Grand Arcadex (Grand Chess).
Oct 14, 2006 Class: Redaction Day. Learn to read Medieval recipes (which usually look like "Take a goodly amount of braun, hew him in gobbets, cast thereto good spices, and put him on the fire until it be enough") and translate them into something a modern chef could follow, with exact ingredients, quantities, and times. It's fun, even (especially?) if you don't consider yourself a good cook. Brangwayna will be leading us through the process, and it will be held at her house at noon-ish. Choose a recipe from the list of recipes on this page and contact her to let her know you're coming.
(NEED DATE) Gathering: Movie Day. Meet at Isabel and Jayme's house to watch medieval-themed movies.
Sept 1-4, 2006 Event: Tourno del Rio Plata ("Tournament of Silver Rylle"). This event returns to the theme of multicultural Spanish history (and to the emphasis on pageantry and on historical accuracy) that was much enjoyed during our prior event "Convivencia". To volunteer or to ask questions, please contact the Autocrat, Isabel Ximenez de Gaucin. For more information on the Arts & Sciences happening at the event, see this page.
Aug 26, 2006 Gathering: Event Final Prep Day. Gather to do final preparations for Convivencia 2.
Jul 15, 2006 Class: Silk Painting. A gathering to learn how to paint silk banners.
Jun 24, 2006 Demo: Newcomer's Faire. Another gathering to allow people who are new to the SCA an opportunity to see all the different activities available in the Society, so they can choose one ... or several ... to get involved with. Please contact Isabel Ximenez de Gaucin if you are either interested in attending, or willing to demonstrate something. This event will be held at the Lawn Fire Company in Lawn, PA: directions are available here.
Apr 12, 2006 Gathering: Herbal Garden (plant stuff in the dirt). Join us at Jayme & Isabel's house again to plant the garden we designed last month.
Mar 26th, 2006 Gathering: Herbal Garden (think, plan & design). Join us at Jayme & Isabel's house for a day of research into the design of period gardens. Think of what your persona would want fresh from a garden, whether it's herbs for cooking or medicinals, or dye plants, etc.
Jan 21, 2006 Demo: Winter Doldrums Craft Faire. An opportunity for new people to see what activities are available in the SCA, especially those that aren't ordinarily shown at an event. For example: though we may have seen a beautifully done scroll, how often does someone demonstrate doing calligraphy and illumination? We need everyone who is willing to demonstrate their skills and interests. Please contact Isabel Ximenez de Gaucin if you are willing to demonstrate something.
Dec 10, 2005 Class: Things On Your Head. A gathering to learn all about hats and other head-coverings: how to make them, as well as how they changed over time and between cultures. Mistress Danabren, Baroness Rhiannon, and Lady Isabel will each show examples of and speak about various hats they have made.
June 25-26, 2005 Event: Celtic Fling 3. Celtic Fling is a weekend event held on the grounds of the PA Renaissance Faire. Once again, our shire is planning to hold a demonstration there. For those who saw last year's Fling, this one looks to be even larger! Kestrel is the contact person for this event.
Apr 24, 2005 Class: Wax Seal Carving. For those interested in learning how to make a seal for use with sealing wax, or just wanting to get some tips on carving soapstone in general, contact Carowyn for information. The class will be held at Angus and Brangwayna's house.
Feb 4-5, 2005 Event: Fields of Gold. The focus of the event is a pair of competitions: first, "Golden Seamstress", in which teams of competitors stay awake overnight to create a set of clothing; and second, "Golden Quill", where artists have a few hours to produce an illuminated scroll.
Nov 12-14, 2004 Event: Metalsmiths' Symposium III. With the Shire of Montevale. This event is all about the arts and crafts of metalworking: the making of various kinds of jewelry, lampwork glass beads, forging and blacksmithing.
June 25-27, 2004 Demo: Celtic Fling 2. Celtic Fling is a weekend event held on the grounds of the PA Renaissance Faire. Our shire held a demonstration there, showing off our heavy-weapons fighting, as well as our arts and sciences.
Mar 30, 2004 Exhibit: Illuminated Manuscripts. A gallery at Lebanon Valley College is having an exhibit of several illuminated manuscripts from the period we study, as well as a collection of the tools used to create them. We are being given a special guided tour. If they wish, in exchange we have offered to do a demonstration of making pigments and of doing calligraphy and illumination.
Feb 21, 2004 Event: Convivencia. The convivencia (literally, "living with"), was the period of time during 13th Century Spain, in which the three religions that shaped Spanish culture (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) lived side by side in relative harmony. This event's theme was that time and place, culminating in a feast with one course from each culture.
Feb 1, 2004 Class: Brass Etching for Kids. An opportunity for the children of our shire and of Owl's Reste (and some of the adults who are also interested) to learn how to etch patterns into brass. You can make any pattern that strikes your fancy and take it home, or alternatively you can make an award medallion (Silver Crescent, Maunche, etc.) to donate to the Kingdom coffers, for Their Majesties to give to people who earn that award.
Jan 10, 2004 Event: Intershire Twelfth Night. Sponsored by the Shire of Owl's Reste. A gathering of four Shires from the south-central Pennsylvania area, for a day of games, music, and merriment.
Nov 23, 2003 Class: Newcomer's Academy. "Fabric for Use in the SCA".
Nov 15, 2003 Gathering: Spanish Translation Day. A day for people interested in Spanish personas, to gather and translate some of the available research out of Spanish.
Summer 2003 Demo: Celtic Fling 1. Celtic Fling is a weekend event held on the grounds of the PA Renaissance Faire. Our shire held a demonstration there, showing off the arts and sciences that we study.
Spring 2003 Event: Death of an Apothecary. This event centered around a medieval-themed murder-mystery game, with shire members playing characters and giving out clues.
May 3-4, 2003 Demo: Cold Wars. The Historical Miniature Gaming Society (HMGS) invited us to their wargaming event to do a demonstration. We showed them some historical fighting styles, as well as teaching what a fighter would carry in his pack, plus some of the arts and crafts (some relevant to the battlefield, some not) that would have been practiced back in camp.
July 19, 2003 Gathering: Algo Espa�ola. A gathering at Isabel's house for a day of Spanish food, Spanish games, and helping her translate her Spanish research.
Mar 1, 2003 Event: Rock Day 2: String Thing & Gem Jam. This event had a dual theme: the fiber arts (from "rock" meaning "distaff") and the jewelry arts (from "rock" meaning "gemstone").
Feb 22, 2003 Class: Miniature Wargaming. A member of the Historical Miniature Gaming Society (HMGS) will be giving a demo of how they do miniature wargaming.
June 29, 2002 Event: Lady Day. This was a nice, general event, with a field trip to an herb shop, some merchants, and a heavy-weapons tournament. To give themselves a place to watch the fighting comfortably, several people set up day camps under their pavillions, with a strong attempt at an accurate medieval look.
Jan 12, 2002 Event: St. Distaff's Day / Rock Day Revel. The day after Twelfth Night is traditionally the day that women return to the spinning and weaving that they had put away for the Christmas season. This day is variously called Distaff Day, Rock Day ("rock" is an obscure synonym for "distaff"), or Saint Distaff's Day (as though Distaff were a person rather than a tool). This event therefore had the fiber arts as its theme: carding and combing wool; spinning wool with drop-spindles and spinning wheels; and weaving with everything from tiny card weaving and inkle looms to a seven foot tall warp-weighted loom.
Nov 9-11, 2001 Event: 3001 Arabian Minutes 2. This event was centered around the Arabian and Moorish cultures. In addition to classes on Middle-Eastern dancing, drumming, glass beads, and other skills known in that time and place, an effort was made to give the entire hall the look of a sultan's tent: draperies were hung on the walls, and pillows and rugs were scattered about the floor to add to the ambience of the event.
Jul 7, 2001 Event: Glass Bead Workshop / St. Martin's 2. This started out as a small workshop on learning how to use a lampwork glass bead torch. It blossomed into a full-scale event with five torches, four teachers, and people from three kingdoms.
Summer 2001 Class: Silk Painting. Mavi will teach a class on silk painting. The design is outlined using the resist, a thick water-soluble glue. The paint (ink, actually) is touched to the silk, and flows freely, stopping when it reaches the resist. Make yourself a banner! The materials we're using are modern, but the technique goes back to period in both India and China.
Sept 16, 2000 Event: A Walk in the Garden / St. Martin's 1. Saint Martin is the patron saint of unfinished projects, and so on St. Martin's Day you are supposed to pick up a project you've been meaning to get back to, and finish it. In keeping with that theme, this event consisted of dozens of classes centered around the herbal arts, plus lots of tables for working on whatever unfinished project you chose to bring along.
May 12-14, 2000 Event: 3001 Arabian Minutes 1. An event with a Middle-Eastern theme. Dancing, drumming, classes on middle eastern culture, good food!
... This document is very much a work in progress. If you know of an event or other activity that happened in Silver Rylle but is not on this list, please contact the Webminister at webminister (at) silverrylle (dot) eastkingdom (dot) org and I'll add it.