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Carpal Tunnel
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The serfs in England wore brass collars, as described in the
first chapter of Scott's IVANHOE:
" One part of his dress only remains, but it is too remarkable to be suppressed; it was a brass ring, resembling a dog's collar, but without any opening, and soldered fast round his neck, so loose as to form no impediment to his breathing, yet so tight as to be incapable of being removed, excepting by the use of the file. On this singular gorget was engraved, in Saxon characters, an inscription of the following purport:---``Gurth, the son of Beowulph, is the born thrall of Cedric of Rotherwood.'' "
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old hand
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old hand
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The Celts typically wore brass necklaces (in the form of a ring). We see the style today in certain bracelets which are open and feature two balls at the ends. I'd draw you a picture, but......
Was this brass collar a mark of servitude?
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veteran
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veteran
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Some of the torques worn by the ancient Celts were made of gold and twisted.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Were they put on with a torque wrench?
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old hand
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old hand
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Were they ever accused of brass collar crimes???
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Carpal Tunnel
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Obviously if they misbehaved, the lord's reeve could easily
collar them. About the only crime that would be tempting to
them would be cutting wood they weren't supposed to, or snaring rabbits. In Ivanhoe, Gurth loved his lord enough that he was willing to give his life to help his lord,Cedric, escape captivity in Front de Boef's castle. So his thralldom can't have been bad.
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I don't know, but I'm a little hesitant to believe anything I read in a Scott novel qua history anywho. YMMV.
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Dear jheem: Of course Scott was writing long enough ago that he didn't have the sources or resources modern writers do. The idea of King Richard's helping capture of Front le Boef's castle is of course absurd. But Scott couldn't make a
good story without considerable fabrication. What was it
you objected to?
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I don't have a problem with Scott's stories. It's just that there's better sources for UK history. I'm not saying that brass collars were not worn by serfs in merrie olde England, just that I'd like to see a source that was not a WS novel.
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