Jack Ketch Death, Satan or the Executioner? The name Jack Ketch has been synonymous with death and execution since the mid-1600s when the real Jack Ketch was hired as an executioner by King Charles II.  You would think with his name being tied to executions that he was very good at his job,...

Jolly Roger A Pirate Calling Card The Jolly Roger has long been connected to the piratical brotherhood.  Since it was first used in print by Charles Johnson in his A General History of Pirates, the term Jolly Roger is as connected to the pirate as the cutlass and the eye-patch.  There are...

Mad Hatter Or Mercury Poisoning Post Renaissance but certainly during the Victorian era, the term Mad Hatter came into being.  And certainly at each and every faire you will probably see some shop named the Mad Hatter.  Now, the term is certainly tied to the Mad Hatter of Alice in Wonderland...

Bumboo A Pirate Cocktail During the height of piracy, in the Caribbean, there was a lot of drinking going on.  Pirates are notorious for their ability to consume vast amounts of rum.  Pirates that made their change from the Royal Navy to “going on account” had gotten use to...

Of Privies and the Privy Monster Where to go when you need to go! If you are planning on making your first visit to a Renaissance Festival you need to understand the subject of privies and the privy monster. The Privy There are very few faires that have contemporary facilities.  Yes, Rennies...

Bodice Burns A sure fire way to spot a Rennie! If you have attended many Renaissance Festivals, you have either seen or experienced the bodice burn.  The bodice burn is the sunburn that happens on the chest of a woman where the bodice she is wearing does not cover as much skin as she is used...

Frog One of the best ways to carry a sword. In my hope to widen your vocabulary further, here is a word that you may hear used at the faire or on a website:  frog.  Now, I am not speaking of small greenish amphibians, nor am I using a derogatory term for the French.  I am speaking of the...

Corset First, a bit of history… The corset may have first been seen in the light of day in Crete, in the Bronze Age of those people.  But the corset as we know it, was developed in the mid 1500s by the French (big surprise).  The idea was to give the figure a certain, hourglass shape....

Playtron Urban Dictionary defines a Playtron as: Patrons of renaissance faires who dress in costume, or garb, and play a character even though they aren’t a cast member of the faire. The Playtron is a vital part of the Ren Faire circuit.  These are the people that attend in costume for...

All Things Celtic To kick off our week dedicated to Highland Games and Celtic Festivals, I thought we would look at the word Celtic and everything surrounding that term.  First things first, it is Celtic (pronounced Celtic with a ‘ka’ sound.  You are talking about a group of...

Analytical Engine Steampunk Terminology You all know how I feel about words and language, so it seems only right that I throw a little Steampunk Terminology your way. An analytical engine is the computer of the Steampunk genre.  This device moves purely through mechanical means (steam,...

“Do not be afraid of the Flemish Painter good fellows, tis only a camera.” Your vocab word for the day is the Flemish Painter.  You will usually hear this word used to speak of a camera that a patron has at a Ren Faire.  Being set back in the Renaissance time period or even  the...

So I have a bit of a crossover topic for you today. Firstly, the word tankard and then the same item as part of your costume. Tankard:  A roughly cylindrical drinking vessel with one handle. The tankard is an old creation due tot he fact that drinking from a gourd or from your hand got old....

As an addendum to the Long Bow story from a few days ago, I thought I would lay a little history, or at least a really good story down for you. We have all probably seen the English version of the finger, known as the two fingered salute (seen below). Now, historians say that Churchill...