Wildland trades of the Breelanders - a note for Taurinor

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Elleth
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Wildland trades of the Breelanders - a note for Taurinor

Post by Elleth »

So in the Yule thread, Taurinor mentioned:
I'm still deciding on an occupation - tailor fits my skill set best, but I'm hoping I can find something in the text to support something a little more outdoorsy/trekking-friendly.
John Seymour's excellent I-cannot-recommend-strongly-enough book "The Forgotten Crafts" actually has some great ideas here I think - both for Taurinor specifically, and all of us generally who want a better picture of life in the Shire and Breelands both. It's written by a near-contemporary of the Professor, also a deep lover of the English countryside, and is full of wonderful illustrations of that life:

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John Seymour's The Forgotten Arts and Crafts[/url]
(Sold as "The Forgotten Arts," "The Forgotten Crafts" and "The Forgotten Arts and Crafts" - as far as I can tell they're all the same book, just released at different times under different titles)

What immediately came to mind that Taurinor might be interested in was the trade of bodger. It's not trekking per-se, but nonetheless a trade that would get Ned out in the woods for a season at a time. Bodgers would go out into the woods with tools, set up camp and simple lathes, and just turn out chairs and such all season long:
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Other "done in the wildlands" crafts mentioned were coppicing, hurdle making (wattle fencing), rake and hayfork making,broom making, handle/haft making, ladder making, (corn) crib making, peg making, clog cutting, charcoal burning, and basketmaking.

I could easily imagine in the forests around the Breelands a bodger camp would have a couple of their younger, stouter lads patrol for trollsign now and again - where they'd surely occasionally come into contact with Rangers.

Anyhow, just a thought. And again, a strong recommendation for the book, especially as it can be found used on Amazon for a song.
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Re: Wildland trades of the Breelanders - a note for Taurinor

Post by Greg »

Love the book, and an excellent career recommendation.
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Re: Wildland trades of the Breelanders - a note for Taurinor

Post by Taurinor »

Wow, thank you for the recommendation! That looks like an excellent read. I'll definitely have to look into bodgers - I was actually watching "The Woodwright's Shop" earlier this evening and commented to my wife that I'd like to learn to build and learn to turn on a pole lathe like Mr. Underhill was using (although a bow lathe might be more appropriate for a Breelander).
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Re: Wildland trades of the Breelanders - a note for Taurinor

Post by Kortoso »

Seconding that! I love all of John Seymour's writings. Glad you found this one.
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Re: Wildland trades of the Breelanders - a note for Taurinor

Post by Udwin »

Taurinor wrote:Wow, thank you for the recommendation! That looks like an excellent read. I'll definitely have to look into bodgers - I was actually watching "The Woodwright's Shop" earlier this evening and commented to my wife that I'd like to learn to build and learn to turn on a pole lathe like Mr. Underhill was using (although a bow lathe might be more appropriate for a Breelander).
IIRC, I think Roy had an article in one of the more recent issues of Popular Woodworking with measured plans for a pole lathe...if you don't feel like tracking it down I may be able to dig mine out and shoot some pix to you.

In the same magazine (recent issue) there was also an article on bodgers! (I remembered that apparently they have a characteristic knock-down model of shaving horse they would use.
And (shameless plug) getting the basics of hurdling is easy and fun!
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