Violet Ruthvene

Persona

Violet Ruthvene is gentlewoman of lowland Scotland circa the 1580s. She is married to Thomas Hamilton, and they have two children -- their son and heir, Andrew, is 18 and recently married to Euphemia Balfour, and their daughter, Cecelia, is 15 and has been in ill health all her life. Violet spends most of her time managing the family estate at Innerwick, about a day's ride from Edinburgh. Thomas is often away called to the service of his kinsman the Earl of Arran.

The Ruthvene family are wealthy merchants connected to old Catholic Scots and French nobility. Violet's two elder brothers run an import business at the capital and often send her a few ells of silk. When she was a child, she was sent to serve Mary Queen of Scots in France, and there Violet acquired a taste for richness not often found in her homeland. She also gained a proper classical education during that time, much of which she struggles to remember in the face of her more mundane housewifely duties.

Purpure, a reremouse and in chief three chalices in chevron argent

Her great joy is to travel on rare occasion to visit friends whom she has corresponded with for many years. They call their little group La Compagnie du Chateau Rose.

SCA

Violet lives and plays in the Shire of Crosston, Principality of the Mists. She loves dressing up in fancy clothes and acting in character. She is a key instigator of shenanigans and Pinque Drink maker for the Chateau Rose.

While she joined the SCA in 2007, she has been doing historical recreation and studying 16th-century English and Scots nobility since the early 1990s. She learned to sew at her grandmother's and mother's knees (though you'd think she would be better at it by now).

Her interests include researching historical costume / clothing, making accessories such as purses and hats (because the ability to accesorize is what sets us above the other primates), and studying the lives of women in the 16th century.

Violet is currently Collegium Chancellor for the Kingdom of the West. If you are interested in teaching, volunteering, learning something new, or just have ideas about this annual educational event, please visit the Collegium Occidentalis website and use the Contact Us form to tell her all about it!

Thomas Hamilton & Violet Ruthvene at home

Honors

• Corolla Vitae (01/10/2011, Miles & Francesca)
• Crown's Favor (05/01/2010, Uther & Kara)
• Award of Arms (01/09/2010, Uther & Kara)

Websites

• The Diary of Lady Violet Ruthvene - An in-character journal.
• 16th-Century Costume Closet - Dress diaries for how she made outfits.
• Costuming Articles - From SCA classes and other organizations.
• SCA Collection on Flickr - Violet's photos taken at SCA events.
• Violet's West Kingdom History Site entry -- Features photos of Violet taken by others.