Hello all.
Well, our family had recently lost a loved one; my wife's father had died just a few weeks ago. W/o going into unnecessary detail, it was most certainly unexpected. We almost cancelled our next fair trip; however, remembering he had liked the faire we thought it appropriate to still go. None the less, he was and will always be a great man! He had never gone w/ us to faire in garb, although he joked (and probably just as serious) about wearing a kilt one day. I suggested to my wife that it might be suitable for our family to wear something w/ our garb to in remembrance of, and to honor his life.
I figured (or hoped) there is some type of tradition of what faire folks (and maybe even medieval folks) may do or have done in this particular instance. I was thinking of making or purchasing some type of faire favor, or ribbon, what that would be proper?. I know its ultimately up to us, however, I wanted to start here first. Either way, tradition or not, we'd like to display something.
Many Thanks,
James
What about some kind of pewter pin or perhaps a rose made from a tartan that he would have chosen?
None of my faire friends knew my father. He was a gregarious, friendly, drinking man. After he passed, I "took him to faire" to meet my friends. I made favors. and at each stop at the tavern I would buy friends an ale and "introduce" to my dad, sometimes sharing one of his awful jokes. I still wear the favor on my sash.
Perhaps not an answer to your question, but thank you for reminding me.
Quote from: Celtic Lady on September 13, 2010, 09:54:57 PM
What about some kind of pewter pin or perhaps a rose made from a tartan that he would have chosen?
This is an awesome idea. Right away I was trying to think of something that could be done with a piece of his family tartan, then I read Celtic Lady's idea and got goose bumps. Another would be a pewter Celtic Cross on a recangle of his tartan, or a small piece of tartan which a black band across it.
Do you carry weapons to Faire? Did he gravitate to a weapon? You could obtain a weapon that he favoured, give it a name with an honorable variation of his name (perhaps his name in Celtic or Gaelic, or whatever mother tongue his liniage comes from) or something else that lends itself to something that defined him, then wear the weapon in his honor. When people ask about the weapon, you can tell them the name and why you are wearing it, thereby honoring him and passing his story along.
A very dear friend of mine passed about 6 weeks or so ago. He was teaching me leather working- he was very active with Vikings Vinland, and an expert in dark ages leather craft, and he was also a lover of dragons. So in his honor, I made these:
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs228.snc4/38761_1572198908602_1344395918_1500898_6499779_n.jpg)
The are dragon scale bracers made from an idea that he had shared with me just a few days previous to his death. He had gotten that leather, thinking that it looked like dragon scales, with the idea of making dragon scale bracers. He died before he could do it, so I did it for him, and I will wear them proudly at every faire and festival I go to. (And as a small point, the lace used to tie them were laces that he had cut for a pair of moccasins that he never finished. So there's yet another reminder of him!) So to answer your question, I say find something festival related that he favored and wear or use it- regularly. I have put my friend's initials on one of the bracers:
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs094.ash2/38023_1572199308612_1344395918_1500900_7133896_n.jpg)
That way when people asked me about them, the name Rick Farman Rombo gets remembered. So I say you should do what feels right to honor him.
Wow, thank you so much for the suggestions!
"What about some kind of pewter pin or perhaps a rose made from a tartan that he would have chosen?" – Celtic Lady, that is an excellent idea!!. And seems like a very simply one too!.
Robert of Armstrong.... No I do not carry a weapon, but I have certainly plan to add one by next year and I like the concept of "...wearing a weapon in his honor.".
Nighthawk, that is a very cool thing you did! And we might have something of his that we could contribute to the project! He was and is a very honorable man.
Mehan... I sounds like the "reminder" was in a positive one, I hope ?!, and I find it great you do such a thing, my father-in-law was a type of friendly drinking man himself ?, he will be missed.
Quote from: JJames on September 15, 2010, 08:37:51 AM
my father-in-law was a type of friendly drinking man himself, he will be missed.
Perhaps a drinking vessel or a flask of some type instead of a weapon? griffinworksleather.com (http://griffinworksleather.com) does pewter tankards wrapped in leather that could be tooled to represent, or a lot of Faires have a vendor that sells drinking horns that can be personalized later.
Wooden mugs are another option. As my thanks to my groomsmen, I bought several six-sided wooden tankards and glued the kilt pin from their clan to the side of their tankard.