Welcome To Our Village...
This 16th century painting by Pieter Aertsen, illustrates our performance goals reasonably well..
We are
"The Hearth of Saint Brigid", a guild of players who portray the
artisans, peasants, farmers and other colorful characters of a late 16th
century village. Our name comes from more than our patron saint. It
is a time when home ovens were too impractical and expensive for the common
folk, so a central hearth was built for the entire village. Ours is - of
course - dedicated to Saint Brigid. The Hearth is a literal presence at
the center of our guild, a structure of brick and clay. But it is more than
a mere oven. It is the center of our village in all the ways that are
meaningful. The warm heart and soul of our shire. Here it is that
the common folk exchange gossip and there weary travelers are drawn by the
wholesome scent of baking bread.
At many faires, the villagers are the chorus, and that is a fair assessment of
our role. We are the color on the village green, the milkmaids and
scribes as well as the ne’erdowells and even the local sheriff. We are
the ragamuffins and loiterers, the dirty urchin in rags begging for scraps and
the upright farmer trying to make his way in a harsh world by honest sweat and
hard work.
It is so easy to get wrapped up in pretty dresses and finery, props and
costumes, sets and buildings (or tents) that we forget that a renaissance
village needs villagers. People who keep the kingdom fed and clothed, farmers
and seamstresses, and the people who make life interesting. We believe
that a village starts with the villagers. Everything else is gravy. Any
idea that simple must have some merit, right? Of course it does!
That is who we are! Villagers, Peasants, watever you want to call us, we're the
ones having all the fun. Those Nobles sure are pretty. They think they're in
charge too! Notice how hot they are in all those layers of velvet? Now
look around at who's having the most fun! We're the ones climbing trees,
rolling in the mud and breathing life and color into this faire of ours. Rags
are so much more comfortable than corsets! That's why we say "All
the COOL kids are PEASANTS!"
You can be too!
Join us around the fire at the Hearth of Saint Brigid. We'll tell some stories,
sing some songs, and have some fun! If you wish to join us, you will need
to contact our guild master at:
Our every effort is bent
in the direction of breathing life into our village and our characters.
There is room for the shy and the bold, the novice and the professional in our
guild. Though we make welcome our fair share of bold and brassy
characters, remember that shy milkmaids can have every bit as much of an impact
on our efforts to present a whole village. We encompass the complete
cross-section of late renaissance life from the lower middle class artisans
down to the lepers begging alms.
We hold monthly meetings hosted at our members’ homes, and it is required that
you attend as many as you possibly can. This allows us to get to know one
another socially, as well as plan the ‘through lines’ of our story, which is
key to presenting a cohesive show and the impression that we are folk who have
known one another our entire lives.
Click Here to Meet the 2007 Cast of Characters!
Do you have photos of us making merry at faire?
It never ceases to amaze me the number of cameras... er... um... painter's pallets (wink) that we see as we do our thing each season. If you have paintings of us doing our thing, send them to our guildmaster at the address above. We'd be happy to let the world know what a fine painter you are!
Here are a couple of sites by fine and true adepts of the photographic arts
featuring images of our villagers at play...
Creative Flashes Photography
by Byron Dazey
