A while ago I ran across a reference to a kind of parlor game which used Tarot cards and was described in an Italian work of fiction dating from 1527. It involved passing out 5, or 6 of the trumps to each of four players. The challenge was then to compose a sonnet for each person into which was woven the names of the trumps dealt to that person. Being from a work of fiction with no other references, scholars have suggested this may have been a just literary invention, rather than an…

Something I wrote a while ago

New to wearing a kilt? -Start watching women in short skirts (-well more than you already do...) to study how they move while sitting down to avoid exposing themselves. You can learn some tips by following their example. That sweep of the hands underneath your rear as you sit can not only prevent embarassment, but protect you from surprises like cold/hot surfaces -not to mention splinters.

Planning on wearing a belted plaid, sometimes called a…

Just for fun, I have a collection of Dumb Patron Questions from all kinds of historical hobbiests. http://www.historicgames.com/dumbquest/DumbQindex.html

Archaeologists believe they have uncovered the remains of the earliest stringed instrument to be found so far in western Europe.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-17537147

While selling games from the past at Renaissance fairs and historial reenactment events I've often been asked why the traditional French suits of hearts, clubs, spades and diamonds have become the international standard. Recently I found a partial explanation...



During the 1400's Germany was a major producer of inexpensive playing cards. Although German printers experimented with a wide range of suit signs, cards using the primary traditional German suits of…