The weather was wonderfully cooperative for both the Central Illinois St. Andrews' Highland Games (http://www.central-illinois-standrewsociety.com/), and for Clayville's Spring Festival (http://www.clayville.org).
On Saturday I spent the morning at the Highland Games' Heritage Tent. They had an very nice set up, with banks of computers for individuals to research Ancestry.com. Along with this attraction, author, Wendy Wilson (http://wendywilsonbook.com/), was signing her book, A Touch of Irish, and there was a talk by Tara McClellan McAndrew (author of Stories of Springfield) on, "The Irish in Springfield, Il." She is at https://www.facebook.com/tara.mcclellanmcandrew. Ms. McAndrew's talk was very interesting, and Ms. Wilson's puppy, Zero, was quite the hit with everyone. The high point for me was when one young lady, and later her older brother, came to listen to tales. The young lady was probably about 13 or 14, and so for the first round I told, "Tam Lin," and later, when she and her brother came back, I told "The Selkie Bride," and "The Elderly Seal." It is always lovely when teenagers, and young adults, take a interesting in storytelling. Sunday saw me out at Clayville, and after finding a nice, shady, tree to place my chair I settled to tell tales (and occasionally have saltine crackers with homemade butter). The 114th Cavalry was in fine form with their western skirmishes, and there was a steady crowd. My tree was right by the main route so I was able to tell my stories to people passing by. I often invited them to come, "Share my shade, the breeze, and a tale." I wish I had had more time to explore as I could hear the drums of the Native dancers, and caught a glimpse of the array of vendors. But by the time I was through I was just warm enough to be ready to pack up and held for some dinner.
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To set the stage - I had a booth at the Pet Expo, which was held last Saturday to raise money for the Animal Protective League (http://www.apl-shelter.org/). This was a joint effort with the APL and Mid-West Family Broadcasting (http://www.alice.fm/). The Expo was held in the Exposition Building on the Illinois State Fairgrounds.
The whole thing was very well organized (if chilly), and hosted not only animal-oriented vendors, but a whole floor of adoptable pets. It was also an opportunity for whole families to come - this included their four-legged family members. As mentioned, the vendors were mainly animal-oriented, which led to a polite quip, made by one attendee, of, "I'm sure pets really enjoy stories." Which led to a nice discussion on the uses of storytelling; along with the fact that I was more than happy that the booth fee helped out the APL. More importantly it allowed me to gather several concepts together in my explanation. The main one being that storytelling helps build empathy - whether for animal or human. Of course there are many stories told from animals' point of view, and then there are others where animals are helpers. This later theme runs through many cultures' folklore, particularly with the hero or heroine proving their worth by their kindness to animals, or the elderly. A good example of this type of story is the Grimm's Fairy Tale, "The Queen Bee." (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2591/2591-h/2591-h.htm#link2H_4_0040). The basics of this story go along this line.... Once there was a king who had three sons, with the youngest being rather weakly, and the king sends out the elder two sons to seek their fortune. Finally he allows the youngest to go after them, which does not please the older two boys. Along the way the youngest is able to protect an ant hill, a bee hive, and a flock of ducks from his brothers. In turn the ants, the bees, and the ducks aid the youngest when he is given three tasks, which he must complete in order to keep from being turned to stone like his brothers. And thanks to the insects and ducks the youngest not only saves his brothers, but wins them all brides. Within the fluidity of the old tales animal, plant, and human flow between one another - with all being worthy of kindness. These stories were reminders to both the children and the adults in ages past, and still have validity today. Every once in a while life gives you some wonderful hints that you are doing something right. Though, I'll admit, the start of one program made me wonder how things were going to go.
Friday saw me at the site for one of Compass's after-school programs (http://www.service2families.com/after-school-program). Compass is a great program that Springfield District 186 has for children in challenging situations, and I've been delighted to be able to work with them. On Friday I was doing a program for 2nd graders, and it had been set up for there to be eight children attending; plus volunteers. Slightly warmer weather and it being Friday had combined to get the youngsters pretty charged up, and so the idea of sitting for stories just didn't sound fun. Matter-of-fact, one little girl expressed it quite clearly, "STORY TIME! That's for babies - she's going to read to us!!!!!" I smiled and asked if she saw any books around, and was informed that I was hiding it in my coat. It was obvious that I wasn't going to win this group over with stories like, "The King's Rice Pudding," or any of my other tales for 2nd graders. So I plunged into "Tam Lin." Afterwards the young doubter looked at her classmates, and informed them, "Quiet! I want to hear more stories!!!!" Once it was obvious I wasn't going to sneak out any books we were good. Yesterday I was at the Springfield Art Association's Family Day (http://www.springfieldart.org/). This is a fun day of art projects for the family. So I had worked on such stories as "The Man Who Loved Dragons," "The Magic Brocade," and "Anait." I was set up in the main room/library, with chairs circled around, and a nice large sign. About every half hour they would announce storytelling, and those who'd finished projects would take a break and come hear some stories. One family who had brought their two little girls was a family from China; a group that included not only parents and children, but grandparents. The family split up so that some adults could help each child, and the father, plus grandmother remained in the library. After a few sets of stories the father explained that while he is still struggling with English, and that they had only come to Illinois in July of last year, that by watching my hands, and by listening carefully, he was really getting the idea of the stories. And was really enjoying them. Compliments are always nice, but to know that you are able to cross a language barrier, even marginally, is a wonderful feeling. Later the whole family came into hear some of the stories. And then there were two youngsters, about 4 years of age each, and from different families that kept coming back and asking for stories. Didn't matter what I was telling they sat and eagerly listened. The only disappointment for the little boy was that I didn't know, "Jack and the Snow Man." I guess that is a popular story as someone else piped up, "I know that book!" Definitely a grand three hours! There are a lot of themes wandering through this Story Musing. Over the last couple of weeks I have walked through historical exhibits, and have spoken with individuals about slavery in the 21st century. And across it all runs the theme of stories.
A few weeks back I attended, with some friends, the opening of At Home In the Heartland exhibit (http://www.museum.state.il.us/exhibitions/) at the Illinois State Museum. It is a beautiful exhibit of quilts and clothing, artifacts, and letters from the Civil War era. The note cards for each item tell snippets about the women who sought to support their loved ones, and a greater war effort. Taken all together they form a tapestry, or a quilt, in their own right. This was followed by a tour of the Illinois Military Museum (http://www.il.ngb.army.mil/museum/)by the Sangamon Historical Society (http://sangamonhistory.org/). We were privileged to have a private, evening, tour. The Military Museum is one of Springfield's rare gems of a museum, which not only recognizes the sacrifices of past warriors, but of those who have given their lives in current conflicts. On the first floor is a tribute to Illinois soldiers, and a very personal one for local Guards men and women. The director asked us to remember that, "Everything in the museum once belonged to a living soldier." This week offered the Illinois Historical Society's (http://www.historyillinois.org/) symposium on the Emancipation Proclamation out at the University of Illinois - Springfield. Many of the panels were interesting, but the most powerful was the one entitled, "Historians Against Slavery." I was able to attend the first part of this, and was able to learn of a student organization, named, "Western Against Slavery." (http://www.wiu.edu/news/newsrelease.php?release_id=10060). This is a multi-disciplinary group that is endeavoring to educate the public about the very real issue of human trafficking, which is a global problem. I ended the week with a meeting with the director of Unity 4 Christ, which is a organization focused on helping unwed mothers. The stories I heard that afternoon were both sad and hopeful. Both the director, and her young charges, are all working toward shaping something better. And while the director was happy to have me offer storytelling there was the unspoken question, "Why do you want to? What is your reason for volunteering this?" She had offered me honesty, and honesty is something I returned. Storytelling is a talent that was gifted to me; along with a secure and loving childhood. I had parents that not only gave me that safe life, but also helped mentor others. And who listened to those who came with troubles. If I can return a little of those blessings to others than it is definitely a life worth lived. Storytelling may be a business that I want to be in, but that doesn't mean that if I can't offer it as a gift when needed. Recently I had to wander into the realm of scrapbooking, though not because I was going to learn the art form. I had decided that I need a handsome portfolio to display if I was going to be doing various expos. An idea helped along by the fact that the Spfld Art Association was having a sale of scrapbook materials. Amongst these was a little book on how to improve your handwriting. Now _that_ I needed! For in truth my handwriting has been compared to bad hieroglyphics!
This, in turn, led to an interesting discussion with a friend about how little of the the written word, from letters and business transactions, was going to be saved for future generations. He feared, and rightly so, that huge portions of culture and history was going to lost into the electronic ether. Much of what we know of the past comes from the happenstance survivals of memoirs, records, ledgers and letters. And how many of us have marveled, even briefly, at seeing the handwriting from a hundred or more years ago? This is probably going to be a lost feeling in a hundred years or so. And yet, the ones who may be creating written heirlooms are the scrapbook afficionaidos. As is evidenced by that little instruction manual on improving your handwriting there is a desire to personalize through writing. To show snippets of lives, not only in the form of photos and art, but by handwriting the contents. Lets hope that the families of these scrapbookers recognize the cultural value for future generations. And I wonder if scrapbooking, and similar artistic efforts, are not a means to hold back the full thrust of the electronic age just a little longer. Yesterday evening I was sitting at Barnes and Noble, and in my selection of books was Susan Cheever's Louisa May Alcott, and also the Autobiography of Mark Twain: Vol 1. And along side these is Twain's Innocents Abroad. I can't remember what prompted me to look up Twain, but those three books came home. The Alcott biography was prompted by another book, Mary Kelley's Learning to Stand and Speak: Women, Education, and Public Life in America's Republic.
I've been reading Learning to Stand and Speak at lunch, which is usually at Incredibly Delicious (whose home is a lovely Victorian mansion). Over the course of many lunches I have followed a time line across a hundred years - from when women of early America usually were taught little beyond reading, writing, and ciphering, since they were considered "too weak" to take on more serious learning - to the time past the Civil War when female academies were growing into colleges. And in all the time between women were proving that they could tackle the most thorny of sciences and philosophy. Yet, they also had to navigate between the shores of a well-educated mind, and of being useful to their families. This was the case so they would not risk the advances they had made in learning; they had to wrap their learning in the proper clothes of deference and usefulness. "Usefulness" was a powerful tool, though, as under that cloak they became writers, editors, missionaries, and educators. And began to have a much more visible impact on the world. Women like Louisa May Alcott and Harriet Beecher Stowe had to maintain not only household tasks, and later to write, but they also had to steal time to pursue their own continued learning. It was that love of learning and reading that comes through in the excerpts in Learning to Stand and Speak. These ladies valued their libraries (even if was just a few books), and strived to keep learning through out their lifetimes - seeking out a variety of topics to consider. Yet the continued learning came with a price in many cases. Martha Lauren Ramsay, three days before her death in 1811, told her husband about her diary, which she had kept for a number of years. It was in her diary that her brilliant intellect shown through, and where she recorded the struggle between her love of knowledge and the restraints of her daily life. Her husband was so proud of his late wife's learning that he published the diary as the Memoirs of the Life of Martha Lauren Ramsay. However, he was not only proud of her learning, but her efforts to properly put her family first. Also mentioned were two sisters, Eliza and Harriet Adams, who were both graduates of female academies. Harriet married, and struggled to continue her learning after she became a new mother and keeper of a house. She often begged her sister to come visit so that Eliza could read to her from various texts. Eliza was better off since she didn't marry till later, but she still had to help with the care of her parents' home, and had to do most of her studies in the early morning and evening. Her time spent with Harriet was precious as Harriet died not too many years after her marriage. And as I sat in Barnes and Noble last night, with information, both in book form and digital, all around me I realized how much I take it for granted. We barely have to think of a topic that we want to look at, and its at our finger tips. And yet, I also wonder if all of that ease actually buys us the time to truly consider the information we are reading? To think - to weigh the material, and to share it with our friends and family. And I also started thinking about the current popularity of Jane Austin and the fascination with the Edwardian and Victorian era that fills both fiction for the young, and for adults. All the mores of those times are recorded amongst that fiction, and yet I wonder if the readers realize that those stories are about time periods that really existed? That many young women, and young men, had to conform to those standards, and prejudices. That all those mores, and the stuggle against them, has shaped our lives today? So, in the end, all I can do is to give a humble salute to the ladies, and men, of the past that pursued knowledge; particularly to the ladies, though, as knowledge for them was a currency worth more than gold. I just had to throw in a nod to my first ever marketing effort at a bridal expo. My "launch" was at the July 13th Elegant Bridal Expo (http://elegantbridalstudio.com/), which was held at the Springfield Hilton.
It was a lovely venue, and pretty much non-stop from 12:00 to 3, and I was pleased that all of my brochures were handed out, and at least a 4th of the Pease's mints. This time I did manage to take a picture of my table. This evening I am considering a story from French Legends, Tales and Fairy Stories (Oxford Myths and Legends), by Barbara Leonie Picard; called, "The Prince of the Seven Golden Cows." I remember reading the story many years ago, and considering it a lovely one about loyalty. However, upon re-reading, the tale left a sour taste in my mouth - for it seemed to me to have another, less comfortable, level to it.
Normally I try not to judge a tale, since each is product of the time and culture in which it is collected. Granted there are some stories I would not choose to tell; not because they aren't interesting tales, but the mores and messages they reflect would not fit in with modern society. And the time taken to modify, or explain, them would be better used in picking out other stories. Yet, I wanted to understand what was bothering me about the tale, "The Prince of the Seven Golden Cows." The tale is of a fortunate prince; he has all he can ask in land and home, friends and regard. Nor is he proud or hard-hearted; he is generous to all the poor, and equally generous to his friends. No one in his realm wants, and his life is very pleasant. One day the prince sees a man weeping along side the road, and asks what his sorrow is. The man explains that he has nothing left - his wife has died; despite having spent every coin he had. Now he has nothing to bury her with. In an instant the prince gives him more than enough to bury the woman, and to keep the man comfortable. A few weeks later the prince sees the stranger again, and still the man is sad; he has no true will to live - only a desire to join a monastery, but he has no knowledge of Latin. He offers to work for the prince for no wages. Of course, the prince will not hear of not paying the man, and hires him. As time goes on the fellow proves adept at his work, and his made steward of the castle. He is called "The Black Steward," because he always dresses in mourning. At last he tells the Prince that the coffers are nearly empty from his generosity, and soon the prince's friends note the reduced fare and warn that the steward is stealing from the coffers. The steward admits to it, and accepts banishment, since the prince is more wounded than angry. Soon the prince is broke and his friends abandon him, and the poor turn on him; each group blaming the Prince for spending on the other. At this point the steward returns - driving the mob away. He tells the Prince that he only took the money so that the Prince would have something set aside, and takes the Prince to an estate that he has purchased in the Prince's name. There he serves the prince without pay. As the Prince ages he decides to show his friend where his wealth comes from - the secret of The Seven Golden Cows. He never truly was wanting - for his wealth was unlimited, but after learning how false his court was he only wanted to give the Steward the secret. Which he does. When the prince dies the steward buries him in state, and take the wealth to build a monastery; where he becomes a monk and offers prays daily for the Prince's soul. As I said, at first it seemed to be a story of deep loyalty. Yet, on reflection, I realized that the steward was in truth very selfish. Nearly obsessive. Here is the Prince, who is happy, and his realm is happy through his generosity. Into it comes a man who will not give up his mourning over the years, and who is the one to create the very involved circumstances so that he can reveal what he thinks is a necessary lesson in a dramatic fashion. He could have quietly told the Prince that the coffers were running low, which would have given the Prince a chance to make his own decisions. Yet that is not the method he takes, and the outcome of which means that he becomes the Prince's only friend, and they live in isolation and bitterness; not only does the Prince suffer, but so does the realm. As mentioned, I know that different mores shaped this story so I am not trying to judge it by modern standards. I am just endeavoring to understand my own reactions to it. Nor does it mean that I won't ever tell the tale should a good venue arise; it just would be a challenging story to work with. And considering the story has added to my knowledge; while doing some online research I came across a couple of fascinating references to the story. One is the "Laws of Silence" blog, which offers quite a write up on how this folktale ties into St. Fris. The other reference was to The Book of Stories for the Storyteller, by Fannie Coe, which has a vastly different story from France, "Teechny Duck," which offers a different view of "The Prince of the Seven Golden Cows." In this he is a miser, and the story is more of an animal story for younger children. I also learned that Fannie Coe was actually Fannie Fern Andrews, who was a remarkable woman in her own right. She endeavored to use education to bring understanding between cultures on a global scale. Just wanted to pass along a couple of interesting links that the Sangamon Historical Society (http://sangamonhistory.org/)have listed their "Bits 'O Links."
One is Roberta Volkmann's blog regarding Susan Lawrence and the Dana-Thomas House; http://susanandme.wordpress.com. And the other is the Genealogy Bank, http://www.genealogybank.com. Tuesday the Sangamon Historical Society had its meeting at the Abraham Lincoln National Museum of Surveying. Unfortunately, this was the last day the museum would be open; possibly the last time we will see NOAA's Science on a Sphere. (http://www.surveyingmuseum.org/)
The museum focused a spotlight on a vital, though little considered, science that has impacted not only how we view the world, but how the United States was built. Not only did surveyors risk their lives mapping the wilds, but they helped give form to our cities. And many influential people, such as Abraham Lincoln, began their careers as a surveyors. Of course, the museum also showed how surveyors use the most modern of technology, and the important role they continue to play. The Abraham Lincoln National Museum of Surveying has been influential in teaching the public about this fascinating, but little pondered, science. There may some hope that the museum might open, and here is a link to an article that discusses it, (http://interact.stltoday.com/pr/arts-entertainment/PR010313104311476). |
Cathy Mosley
I am a Springfield, IL based storyteller with a fascination for how folklore travels, and for history. Archives
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