On the right is a Roundhouse, a housing design that has actually been used in many cultures and times (including currently in parts of Africa, I believe). This one is a Celtic one, on display in the U.K.
I've always been fascinated by these dwellings, largely because my persona and my true heart is early period and tribal. From the time I was a kid, I've been studying ways to survive in the wild or at least without modern conveniences. As I've gotten older, I really appreciate those conveniences, let me add! The Roundhouse is a great design. It uses wattle and daub for the low walls, and the roof is thatch. There is no smoke hole in the roof, because modern reconstructionists have proven by trial and extreme error, that this would tend to draw a strong enough draft to set the whole roof on fire. Instead, the extremely high pitch of the roof allows smoke to collect away from the lower living area, and to dissipate through the thatch. Neat, huh?
The roof is very heavy, so there are fairly thick posts incorporated into the wall structure to support it. There is no central beam, but there is an inner ring of heavy timbers to help support the roof.
Many of these would be clustered together and surrounded by a periphery stockade, and there was usually one gigantic roundhouse in the complex that might have been the Chieftain's house or a meeting area. These stockades were usually situated on hills or sometimes on either natural or man-made islands in lakes.
On the left is a modern canvas tent, a modified Sibley design. It is sold in the U.S. out of Austin, TX, but the mother company is a U.K. company. There are other companies selling this same model, but they're more expensive. However, they also offer more accessories .
A pavilion is probably one of the two most expensive things that you will aspire to obtain as a Scadian, the other being for some people or families, a set of armor and a helm. There are factors beyond cost in considering a pavilion, and a big one is ease of set-up. True reconstructionists, and there are many in the SCA, will not be happy with anything less than the most authentic pavilion that they can afford to purchase or to make themselves.
Miach and I were going to go the "make it ourselves" option to replace our current Regent tent from Panther Primitives because the main reason we're replacing it was to get more space, and when we looked at the cost of buying a pre-fab for the size we wanted, the value just wasn't there. Making it ourselves would bring the cost down to where we could afford it; and of course it then would add another massive project to a growing list of projects that we are already way behind on. Plus, in this case, it involved depending in some way on assistance from others with experience of making tents, and while we have people who say they will do this they are unable to meet our timeline in getting it done and frankly -- when you're doing something out of the goodness of your heart, why should timelines even be in the picture?? But we were really hoping to have more space sometime this tournament season, which is about half over now.
So, after having researched the whole thing, purchased the ultimate sourcebook on it, shopped for various canvas types and treatments, pondered the requirements for "ripping" poles from lumber, and obtaining an old metal geared sewing machine for the job............I found this gorgeous tent while messing around on the Web. And my first thought was "Bingo! Celtic Roundhouse!" and my second thought was "Holy crap, they are asking for less $$ than we were going to spend making the pavilion. And we don't have to do anything. And it will be here by June Crown." At which point, I was sure Miach wouldn't approve, so I didn't say anything and I researched the new tent for a couple of days, finding alternate sources and other companies that made Sibley-styles and comparing them. I even plotted out the groundspace of the tent, and tried to visualize if it would be large enough. One would think that two people and two small dogs and their assorted stuff would fit into the Regency 12 x 12 that we currently have, but we are very crowded. Part of this is that we have to set up a small pen inside for the dogs, and Miach's armor bag is the size of another whole person. I ended up showing my findings to Miach, who surprised me by being very enthusiastic. At which point, really, it was a done deal for us. I gave it an additional 24 hours and also asked for some advice from the SCA Tentmaking group on whether this would be acceptably SCA-ish. I can tell you that for strict reconstructionists, none of which evidently monitor the SCA Tentmaking group, it will not be. A Sibley tent is a mid-1800's tent. Plus, this one has an aluminum center pole and A-frame on the door and it has synthetic ropes. I suspect that the stakes will be hard plastic, and we'll probably contract with a blacksmith for some iron stakes. But for ease of set-up and our budget, I'm willing to go with a collapsable aluminum center pole and door frame, both of which are nearly entirely hidden from view. I may live to regret this decision if the tent is not as durable as I would expect it to be, or if it is a lot more difficult to erect than everyone who has reviewed it says it is.
I am also looking into camp cots. We currently sleep on an air mattress on the ground, but I have been inside several "period" tents that have cots, entirely hidden by bedclothes. The alternative is a relatively simple platform bed which can be broken down and transported, but it is still going to be heavier and require tools that we do not have to make one. We aren't woodworkers, thank God. And it looks like we're not tent-makers, either, again thank God. We don't have enough time currently, despite having a lot of time, to do the things we enjoy and to complete projects we have bought materials for.
We still have a box of combat arrow components that we've had for over 4 years. I have a bow that needs to be strung and have a grip and ledge applied. I have armor that needs to be rigged.
A wonderful tapestry that needs to be backed and tabs placed on it for hanging. Silk that needs to be made into banners. Cloth that needs to be made into clothing. Wax tablets that need styli.
And inside my noggin, a plan for a map to be drawn on a piece of leather. And the neck coolers that I promised Their Highnesses I'd have done 2 weeks ago.
Painting the tent will be much easier than making it from scratch, so hopefully we will get it together enough to paint it so that it really is impressive for June Crown and looks as close to being Medieval as possible. I will write an update and post some actual pictures of the actual tent when I can.
