A pair of cow horns...

It was a warm (50degrees), sunny day to be on the field watching the armed heavy fighting, fencing, and the pole arm tourney. I just threw a blanket over my shoulders and stood in the sun to enjoy all the sights and sounds. I knew that all this fighting was pratice for the summer great wars ahead for the Kingdom. There were afternoon classes on spinning, coin making, and basic soapstone. Some of the populous were dancing while the pipers played. Many of the women were involved in various kinds of needlework and talking. While visiting with one wrench ( a young woman), I noticed that she was carrying a beautiful cow horn. I began to ask her about it. She took me to the merchants stall that sold them. They were longhorn cow horns in black and white colors. They were cleaned up inside and the inside was coated with bees wax. Now they were ready to be used for drinking horns. No ice..that would chip the wax. No heat..that would melt the wax...just lukewarm liquids. No soap to clean just water. The price went according to how much liquid each horn would hold. 3/4 pint and up...there was one so huge that it held a couple of quarts. Each horn came with a leather strap around the middle so that it could hang on a belt to the side of a person. Take a piece of wood with a round hole in the middle and insert the horn in the hole and now you could put that on your table to use for drinking. I was strongly drawn to the horns and found one that was a beautiful marble of black and white. My husband chose a black horn, a little bigger than mine, for his drinking utensil. After the exchanging of coin, they became ours. Wood plates, cow horns, garb, belts...we were beginning to fit with the times past.