Robin Hood Festival
Aug. 3rd, 2005 11:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cosmolinguist"Feel free to fondle me danglies," the old man said to Amy.
I couldn't help grinning despite the certainty that this guy has used this joke 200 times today. And I stepped closer to examine the necklaces he had hanging on display as well.
Just after we got to the Major Oak ("that's bigger than my bedroom!" Elizabeth declared), we found ourselves a little haven of commercialism in the middle of our stroll around Sherwood Forest, where the three of us kept stopping to take pictures of trees every few minutes, reveling in the greenness and the way they smell and the interplay of light and shadow and the sheer nature-ness of it all.
And there in a clearing by this huge old tree there are a few people selling things, and the jewelry caught our attention. Elizabeth looked through a little box full of rings for one that she wanted to take with her. I turned a necklace over in my fingers and said "Oh, these are ... coins." Old ones. They said HALF PENNY on the back.
"That's an emblem of virginity, m'lady," the man said, and I laughed. He explained, "Grandmothers would give one to their granddaughters, and tell them to keep their hand on their ha'penny." That made me smile, and wish for the first time all day that I wasn't completely broke.
I touched another pendant, which he noticed me looking at and said, "That's a Cross of St. Benedict, which protects against the plague. If you catch the plague and die, you can bring it back and I'll refund your money. It also keeps the Welsh away."
I looked at rings with Elizabeth, and she found one she liked. "How much is this?" she asked.
"Today, a pound," he said, making me wonder what it'd be on other days. Elizabeth had only notes and asked Amy if she could borrow a pound. Amy said she could, and as she dug through her change she asked about the virginity emblems. "Three pound," he said. So she gave him four and I excitedly extracted one of the necklaces from the bunch and promised I'd pay her back when I got the money.
So while I didn't get one of the green felt Robin Hood hats with the feather in them (though I think there's a picture of me wearing one) from the gift shop, I still got something out of our trip. And that's not even counting the coloring-contest picture from the Nottinghman City Council people and the camera whose memory is completely filled with pictures of trees.
I couldn't help grinning despite the certainty that this guy has used this joke 200 times today. And I stepped closer to examine the necklaces he had hanging on display as well.
Just after we got to the Major Oak ("that's bigger than my bedroom!" Elizabeth declared), we found ourselves a little haven of commercialism in the middle of our stroll around Sherwood Forest, where the three of us kept stopping to take pictures of trees every few minutes, reveling in the greenness and the way they smell and the interplay of light and shadow and the sheer nature-ness of it all.
And there in a clearing by this huge old tree there are a few people selling things, and the jewelry caught our attention. Elizabeth looked through a little box full of rings for one that she wanted to take with her. I turned a necklace over in my fingers and said "Oh, these are ... coins." Old ones. They said HALF PENNY on the back.
"That's an emblem of virginity, m'lady," the man said, and I laughed. He explained, "Grandmothers would give one to their granddaughters, and tell them to keep their hand on their ha'penny." That made me smile, and wish for the first time all day that I wasn't completely broke.
I touched another pendant, which he noticed me looking at and said, "That's a Cross of St. Benedict, which protects against the plague. If you catch the plague and die, you can bring it back and I'll refund your money. It also keeps the Welsh away."
I looked at rings with Elizabeth, and she found one she liked. "How much is this?" she asked.
"Today, a pound," he said, making me wonder what it'd be on other days. Elizabeth had only notes and asked Amy if she could borrow a pound. Amy said she could, and as she dug through her change she asked about the virginity emblems. "Three pound," he said. So she gave him four and I excitedly extracted one of the necklaces from the bunch and promised I'd pay her back when I got the money.
So while I didn't get one of the green felt Robin Hood hats with the feather in them (though I think there's a picture of me wearing one) from the gift shop, I still got something out of our trip. And that's not even counting the coloring-contest picture from the Nottinghman City Council people and the camera whose memory is completely filled with pictures of trees.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-03 11:14 am (UTC)I actually think that may be the jewellery chap who had a stall at a re-enactment I was at a few months ago - exactly the same patter, and everything!
(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-03 01:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-03 11:16 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-03 01:14 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-03 01:46 pm (UTC)I'm completely jealous of you every day.
But in two weeks I'll be too busy drawing to be jealous of anyone, so...
(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-03 04:59 pm (UTC)Three things
Date: 2005-08-03 02:33 pm (UTC)Plus I am STILL sad about the pound coin. I visited London about a year after the switch, so no pound note for the X man.
AND, I love the use of money in jewelry.
Re: Three things
Date: 2005-08-03 05:02 pm (UTC)3) I hadn't really thought about it before, but it caught my eye before any of the shiny things. I think I like money in jewelry, too, or I at least like that there's a story about it.
In for a penny
Date: 2005-08-03 05:04 pm (UTC)I think I have some olde monnaie from flea markets still - sixpence, shillings, etc. Nice money.
Re: Three things
Date: 2005-08-03 07:20 pm (UTC)