Becky will happily show you and discuss all things calligraphy and the slightly more impressive pyrography. Pyrography, as its name suggests is calligraphy with fire. She starts by placing into a fire, usually the forge, what looks like a medieval soldering iron. Once heated and glowing an impressive red she then scorches the wood or leather with the heated tip.
The pyrography dates all the way back to Ancient Greece, indeed this is where it gets its name from. Pyro meaning fire. Pyrographing your belongings is similar to labelling your things now and the reasons are very much the same. Sometimes it is for status and others, just so they don’t get lost. As a travelling band of craftsmen and women, following the armies of the Plantagenet kings, we travel as light as we can. In other words, if you only have one bowl to eat from, you don’t really want to get it lost.
We are often asked about the jobs of women and would they have written, let alone burnt words. Well, where there is a woman there is a way. I believe that women just haven’t been included in the texts about history the same way as the men have. Certainly, bones of ancient woman have been found to contain inks and semi-precious elements in the plaque of their teeth, suggesting that they chewed the quill or brush they used to write with. Becky is quite happy to talk to you about many things 15th century, some nice and some not so nice. She will demonstrate how pyrography works and the skills needed to burn wood smoothly and effectively. If the iron is too hot the marks will be blotchy, too cold and no mark is left. Even the same piece of wood needs different heats and attention as you find hard sections, knots and tough grain. All of these are posed to leave large burnt holes should you not expect them. There are many examples of pyrographed pieces on the camp, included the children’s game box.
