Yesterday was the Queen's Speech in the House of Lords.
I loved watching the pageantry on television and I thought the Queen looked beautiful in her regalia.
I had a phone call at about 5pm to ask if I would chat on Radio Oxford for a 5 minute slot about the goatskin vellum that she read her speech from. I suggested they ask Tim Noad but he wasn't available so I took it on. (Gulp!) So I await your comments about the accuracy of what I said.
I said that vellum really means the skin of a calf whereas parchment is a generic term for skin that is prepared for writing. Goatskin "Vellum" is difficult to write on and impossible to erase – chatted a bit about the preparation of the skin and went back to goatskin not being very pleasant to write on unlike calfskin because it remains a bit shiny and you can't raise the nap. Then he said he believed that the ink took 3 days to dry and I concurred, saying that it would take a long time. So far so good.
Last night after going on air, I saw the Queen holding the document and it dawned on me that it was probably printed (of course, not handwritten) on sheepskin parchment. The interviewer and I had not questioned the probability of printing. Can anyone inform me?
The interviewer asked about my position as Hon.President of Oxford Scribes" and this was a good slot to talk about Oxford Scribes and how we are open to all levels of calligraphy etc etc. and then he asked if we e-mail. "Oh no, of course not", I said, "we all write to each other in Gothic – on vellum!"
As we do.
Some photos of my vellum samples from my notes after my visit to William Cowley a number of years ago.
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