a collection of instructions on medieval arts and sciences
A Lace Goutty
| This is one of a
set of four braids that I developed in honor of
Mistress Rhiannon y Bwa's elevation to the Order of the Pelican. The
instructions for the braids (written in Middle English) along with
samples of the braids were included in a hand-bound booklet
that was the award scroll. The
braids are meant to evoke various aspects of the emblem of the Order of
the Pelican, a pelican “in its piety,” that is, seated
in a nest, surrounded by her young, piercing her own breast with her
beak in order to nourish her offspring with droplets of her blood. In
keeping with the naming conventions of the 15th-century braid recipes,
I used heraldic terms to name my four new braid variations. The Lace Goutty a six loop braid based on the Grene Dorge (“Barleycorn”) braid found in both the Harley and Tollemache Mss. It is structurally identical to the Grene Dorge, but is a color variant. In the Grene Dorge, three colors are used and the result is a braid with matching solid edges with alternating colored “grains” down the center. The Lace Goutty uses white for the outside edges and for one of the central colors, the other central color being red. This results in a series of red “drops” down the center of the braid, and is meant to evoke the white breast of the Pelican with its drops of blood. Goutty is the heraldic term meaning strewn with droplets. Instructions The instructions include the Middle English text as it appeared in the Pelican scroll (with abbreviations expanded in italics) and the modernized steps, following the format used in Elizabeth Benns and Gina Barrett’s Take V Bowes Departed.(SoperLane, 2006). The diagrams are adapted from those in Benns & Barrett. Scroll Text A lace gouty of vj bowes: set v bowes of whyte on B, C & D ry3t and B, C lyft, and one bowe gules on A lyft. þen take wt A ri3t þorow B, C ry3t þe bowe of C lyft reuerced. þen lowe þy bowe of B lift vnto C. þen schal B lyft take þorw C lyft þe bowe C ry3t reuerced. þen lowe þy ry3t bowes. þen schal A lyft change wt D ry3t, &c(et)er(a). Note: a subscript number 3 has been used to represent the Middle English letter "yogh." Modern instructions A. Put a loop of white onto B, C & D right and B & C left. B. Put a loop of red onto A left. 1. A right goes through B & C right to take C left REVERSED. 2. Lower B left to C left. 3. B left goes through C left to take C right REVERSED. 4. Lower the right loops. (B to C and A to B). 5. A left exchanges with D right. Begin again.  Back to Alheydis's main Fingerloop Braiding Page |
 A pelican in its piety  A shield "goutty"  A close-up of the Lace Goutty |
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THLady Alheydis von Körckhingen
(c) 2005-7 Kimberly Frodelius
may be freely distributed at no cost with this notice included
THLady Alheydis von Körckhingen
(c) 2005-7 Kimberly Frodelius
may be freely distributed at no cost with this notice included