hedgehogs-msg - 2/7/12
Hedgehogs in medieval Europe and in heraldry.
NOTE: See also the files: cats-msg, medieval-dogs-art, ferrets-msg, rabbits-msg, hunting-msg, bestiaries-msg, arms-humor-msg, Pest-Control-art.
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This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.
This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org
I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.
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Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s).
Thank you,
Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous
Stefan at florilegium.org
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Date: Sat, 27 Aug 2011 09:43:21 -0400 (EDT)
From: oldstormcrow at aol.com
To: chessler at usa.net, paintedwheel at hotmail.com,
atlantia at atlantia.sca.org
Subject: Re: [MR] hedgehogs?
Hedgehogs are native to Europe, although there is a long-eared variety that lives in southeast Asia. I had a couple as pets when I lived in Germany. The main problem is that they are such omnivores that they usually have the "trots".....and they are impossible to house-train. In medieval times and even later people kept them to eat bugs in their houses. When they managed to eat all the bugs in their owner's house, the owner would loan them to their neighbors for a bit. Hedgehogs will eat plants, bugs, small vermin, etc. They have even been observed snagging pheasants taking flight by the leg and dragging them down. Hedgehogs are also immune to most poison and venoms, natural or man-made. They are about the only animal (except for really twisted humans) who will, after killing another hedgehog in a territorial dispute, take the hide of their vanquished foe as a souvenir for their burrow. I could go on....for I have a plethora of trivia concerning my little spiny friends, but I will resist the urge.
Baron Arkein
Date: Sat, 27 Aug 2011 09:50:04 -0400
From: Dexter Guptill <3fgburner at gmail.com>
To: Merry Rose <atlantia at atlantia.sca.org>
Subject: Re: [MR] hedgehogs?
And, let us not forget the Middle English name for them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urchin
On Sat, Aug 27, 2011 at 9:43 AM, <oldstormcrow at aol.com> wrote:
<<< Hedgehogs are native to Europe, [snip] ....for I have a plethora of trivia concerning my little spiny friends, but I
?will resist the urge. Baron Arkein >>>
Erich, mka
--
Dex
Date: Sat, 27 Aug 2011 18:03:16 -0400
From: derweasel at webtv.net (W.S. Furie)
To: 3fgburner at gmail.com (Dexter Guptill)
Cc: Merry Rose <atlantia at atlantia.sca.org>, Stefan li Rous
<StefanliRous at austin.rr.com>
Subject: Re: [MR] hedgehogs?
The photos are listed as from Eli White, as he is mundanely known, but
to those of us in the Barony of Highland Foorde, and to many beyond our
borders, he is known as His Excellency Barun Siegfried Sebastian Faust.
Swannoc Beag
From: Stefan li Rous <StefanliRous at austin.rr.com>
To: Atlantia maillist <atlantia at atlantia.sca.org>
Sent: Sat, Aug 27, 2011 1:08 pm
Subject: Re: [MR] hedgehogs?
Baron Arkein said:
<<< Hedgehogs are native to Europe, although there is a long-eared
variety that lives in southeast Asia. I had a couple as pets when I
lived in Germany. The main problem is that they are such omnivores
that they usually have the "trots".....and they are impossible to
house-train. In medieval times and even later people kept them to eat
bugs in their houses. When they managed to eat all the bugs in their
owner's house, the owner would loan them to their neighbors for a bit.
Hedgehogs will eat plants, bugs, small vermin, etc. They have even
been observed snagging pheasants taking flight by the leg and dragging
them down. Hedgehogs are also immune to most poison and venoms,
natural or man-made. They are about the only animal (except for really
twisted humans) who will, after killing another hedgehog in a
territorial dispute, take the hide of their vanquished foe as a
souvenir for their burrow. I could go on....for I have a plethora of
trivia concerning my little spiny friends, but I
will resist the urge. >>>
Ohhh, Thank you. I (obviously) know little about hedgehogs and
definitely nothing about their uses in medieval Europe.
I would love to hear more about this.
I wonder if there is an SCA group which features a hedgehog in its
armory?
Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous Barony of Bryn Gwlad Kingdom of Ansteorra
From: Dexter Guptill <3fgburner at gmail.com>
Date: August 27, 2011 4:22:34 PM CDT
To: Stefan li Rous <StefanliRous at austin.rr.com>, Merry Rose <atlantia at atlantia.sca.org>
Subject: Re: [MR] hedgehogs?
House Hedgehog, in Northern Atlantia. Most of them live in Highland
Foorde. Badge / device is Argent, a hedgehog rampant voided, armed
sable, orbed and langued gules (if I remember the image right).
Here's a random pic from Highland river Melees a year ago. It's from a
gent by mundane name of Eli White:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1146/4723301190_754833a650.jpg
On Sat, Aug 27, 2011 at 5:05 PM, Stefan li Rous
<StefanliRous at austin.rr.com> wrote:
I wonder if there is an SCA group which features a hedgehog in its armory?
Stefan
Erich, mka
--
Dex
http://members.cox.net/dguptill
Date: Sat, 27 Aug 2011 15:53:08 -0700 (PDT)
From: Fen & Michelle <mobishob at yahoo.com>
To: "atlantia at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org"
<atlantia at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org>
Subject: Re: [MR] hedgehogs and porcupines (Needwood Archery)
<<< House Hedgehog, in Northern Atlantia. Most of them live in Highland
Foorde. Badge / device is Argent, a hedgehog rampant voided, armed
sable, orbed and langued gules (if I remember the image right).
Here's a random pic from Highland river Melees a year ago. It's from a
gent by mundane name of Eli White:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1146/4723301190_754833a650.jpg >>>
As for Porcupines...
"?The symbol of the Needwood Forest Company of Archers is a porcupine. The idea of adopting the porcupine as a symbol is older than the Company itself. Originally, ??elwine of Ealdgythesleage proposed (jokingly) that the local archery group should give out an Order of the Porcupine award for people that moved across the firing line to retrieve their arrows before the shooting was done. Later, when the idea of the Company was being bantered about, the porcupine idea rose again. After some Google research, we learned that the porcupine/porpentine idea was more appropriate than we first realized. Teresa de ?arago?a discovered that Louis XII used the porcupine in a badge (see below) with the motto "cominus et eminus" (from near and far), based on the porcupine's purported ability to be dangerous both far away and close up (it was believed at the time that porcupines could throw their quills)."
http://www.needwood.org/index_history.shtml
Our badge resembles the Saxon sceats pictured there. Also, on our banner: http://www.needwood.org/index_gallery.shtml
We have membership cross-baronial. Mostly Roxbury, Storvik and Highland Foorde. We're just a casual guild for those who love archery and love shooting at wacky novelty targets.
Cheers
Fen
Vinetar
Needwood Company
From: oldstormcrow at aol.com
Date: August 27, 2011 8:29:53 PM CDT
To: StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
Subject: Re: [MR] hedgehogs?
I do have a hedgehog on my device (Per pale sable and gules, a hedgehog statant or, within a ring engemmed or) but I am no group.....just a little schizophrenic. More hedgehog trivia....they are born white and fluffy, then their spines stiffen and darken as they mature. Mature hedgehogs can also survive a fall of at least 14 feet by balling up and bouncing on their spines. Predators (dogs, primarily) have discovered that about the only way to get one to unroll is to roll it into the water, causing it to unroll and swim. The Swiss pikemen used a round formation called "the hedgehog" that could move and attack in any direction.
Arky
<the end>
