What is a Renaissance Fair?

**Geoff Withnell** · 26th July 11, 04:51 AM

I have seen RenFairs described as "the Middle Ages as they should have been!" My favorite example (and no, I don't have pics

) happened a couple of years ago. There I was, at the Boar's head Inn, in my Leatherneck kilt and "jacobite" shirt, beer in one hand and my free arm around a good looking blonde wench. I was listening to The Rogues playing "Steam Train". Down front, on the right side, was a fine looking lass with long red hair, in a green pleated skirt and ruffled blouse, doing more or less traditional celtic dancing. On the left side, was an equally fine looking lass with long black hair, dressed in what can only be described as harem pyjamas and a chain mail bikini, doing a belly dance to the same music. Good times, good times....

**Jimmy** · 26th July 11, 05:47 AM

Originally Posted by LeeAnne

I've been wanting to ask this for ages. I've seen it mentioned in a few threads but am none the wiser. Is it an American thing?

Sort of subsidiary question: what do kilts have to do with the Renaissance anyway? I mean, from what I recall in school the renaissance is more continental Europe (and perhaps southern England) than the Celtic nations.

I think at times that we Scots forget the momentous happenings and events centred in Edinburgh in the latter part of the eighteenth century, this was our own renaissance where our own Celtic nation was the envy of the then modern world. This '' enlightenement'' or '' renaissance'' still echoes through our lifes in the 21st century and indeed plays a prominent part in our daily lives, for example, Thatcherism, for good or for worse, (personally I think for worse) was learned from people like Smith and Hume and this has impacted on our daily lives probably more than we know it. but this was only part of the ''enlightenment'' or ''Celtic renaissance''

Robert Burns himself was one of the leading personalities invited to any gathering where society was meeting to discuss and celebrate the enlightenment

Hutton’s Contemporaries and The Scottish Enlightenment

The Scottish Enlightenment was a period of intense intellectual productivity centred mostly on Edinburgh in the latter part of the eighteenth century (1760-1790). It is remarkable that the seeds of much western European thinking on economics, philosophy, sociology and science were sown in one location over this short period of time. Of the fifty or so individuals involved in this maelstrom of thought and experiment, the most illustrious and influential were Adam Smith, David Hume, Joseph Black and of course, James Hutton.

These were all highly learned and knowledgeable individuals, whose common aim was improvement of human knowledge and the human environment. While the Enlightenment has its roots in the seventeenth century and the beginnings of the development of a Scottish culture, it flowered unfettered by politics and religion; the centre of politics at the time was in Westminster (London), and the establishment of the Church of Scotland liberalised religious

**O'Callaghan** · 26th July 11, 11:44 PM

Originally Posted by Jimmy

I think at times that we Scots forget the momentous happenings and events centred in Edinburgh in the latter part of the eighteenth century, this was our own renaissance where our own Celtic nation was the envy of the then modern world. This '' enlightenement'' or '' renaissance'' still echoes through our lifes in the 21st century and indeed plays a prominent part in our daily lives, for example, Thatcherism, for good or for worse, (personally I think for worse) was learned from people like Smith and Hume and this has impacted on our daily lives probably more than we know it. but this was only part of the ''enlightenment'' or ''Celtic renaissance''

Robert Burns himself was one of the leading personalities invited to any gathering where society was meeting to discuss and celebrate the enlightenment

Hutton’s Contemporaries and The Scottish Enlightenment

The Scottish Enlightenment was a period of intense intellectual productivity centred mostly on Edinburgh in the latter part of the eighteenth century (1760-1790). It is remarkable that the seeds of much western European thinking on economics, philosophy, sociology and science were sown in one location over this short period of time. Of the fifty or so individuals involved in this maelstrom of thought and experiment, the most illustrious and influential were Adam Smith, David Hume, Joseph Black and of course, James Hutton.

These were all highly learned and knowledgeable individuals, whose common aim was improvement of human knowledge and the human environment. While the Enlightenment has its roots in the seventeenth century and the beginnings of the development of a Scottish culture, it flowered unfettered by politics and religion; the centre of politics at the time was in Westminster (London), and the establishment of the Church of Scotland liberalised religious

I'm not a Scot of course, but, correct me if I'm wrong, I thought that no-one in that period would have been seen dead in a kilt in Edinburgh. Thirty years later, yes, but not right then.

**Jimmy** · 27th July 11, 03:10 AM

Originally Posted by O'Callaghan

I'm not a Scot of course, but, correct me if I'm wrong, I thought that no-one in that period would have been seen dead in a kilt in Edinburgh. Thirty years later, yes, but not right then.

You are probably correct in saying that, about 30 years later came the visit of George 1V which popularlised the modern kilt.
My point really was to stress that Scotland underwent its own ''renaissance''
and at this time our country was the leading intellectual light shining in the world. I think that so many Scots are unaware of what was happening in Scotland during that period and what Scotland was offering to the world.
If I remember correctly from my school days, I don't think that the Scottish Enlightenment was taught too well in our schools, something that I have always failed to comprehend why.
Perhaps I am going of on a tangent but I'm sure people will understand that these great events in Scotland's past are there to be appreciated and understood with regards to its significance and impact on modern society.