Knighthood -The true meaning

                                                  In days of old when knights were bold

                                                      and horrors lurked every corner

                                                     there lived a king so cruel so cold

                                                 that there were enemies at each border

                                                 his highness ordered the knights so bold

                                                       to face these enemies so daring

                                                yet little did they know they weren't told

                                                    of the monsters they were facing

The above poem written by renowned poet Edgar Allan Poe is the perfect definition of a medieval knight, and the final passage surmises what they did:

                                                 in days of old when knights were bold

                                                     and horrors lurked every corner

                                           the knights so bold weren't scared we were told

                                                           and fought in every danger

To be a knight was to be revered throughout the lands in every Kingdom none more so than Britain. The term Knighthood began sometime between the 11^th and 13^th Century, it was a rank bestowed on mounted troops of lower Nobility for example Lords of the realm, perhaps Britain’s most famous Knight was William Marshall and his name was known on every tournament field in the country.

In France the Knights of the temple of Solomon or the Knights Templar were formed as soldiers of god to protect pilgrims on their passage to the Holy lands.

Throughout the middle ages Knights became part of everyday life. They fought our wars, often being the driving force of a victorious battle, Bards would sing tales of their brave deeds and the lady’s loved a man in shining armor, but could anyone become a knight? As is suggested in the 2001 movie “A Knight’s Tale” starring the late Heath Ledger it was probably not possible to impersonate a knight of noble birth but it could have been possible for the Squire of an existing knight to become one through hard work and training.

The usual method of becoming a knight was through birth or if you fought bravely on the battlefield, organised mass murder was the normality in those days and so many men lost their lives through fighting battles started by the nobility of the country, however if you survived and killed more men than the man next to you then a knighthood was probably on the cards.

It did however, take more than just being a good fighter to become a knight, more so in the late middle ages (13^th -15^th Century) when the ideals of Chivalry were introduced, although there is no proof that the seven virtues of Knighthood existed (other than in more modern writings) it is suggested that the values a Knight would hold were as follows:

Courage

This relates to overcoming obstacles and facing the enemies without fear, standing up for those who cannot and protecting the innocent and weak

Justice

A Knight upholds and serves justice, if someone has done something which breaks the laws of the land or offends then justice is served by the Knights hand.

Mercy

To give Mercy also shows strength, forgiveness is one of the greatest Knightly virtues and sparing an enemies life on the field of battle was seen as an act of Mercy and the debt was often repaid

Generosity

To be generous does not mean just to share what material wealth you had it could also mean something as simple as sharing your horse with a fallen comrade as depicted in the symbol of the Knights Templar, or it could mean sharing your food, home or even your wisdom.

Faith

Having belief in something is what drives men (and women) in the middle ages religious faith was forefront on all men’s minds especially those about to go into battle, but it also took faith in other causes and people after all who would go into battle for a King or Queen they had no faith in?

Nobility

To be noble is usually associated with birth-right and it is true that the Lords of the land were the first to be awarded Knighthoods, but being noble can also mean being true to yourself at all times and keeping your morals.

Hope

Knights were a symbol of Hope, if you were in the front line of a battle and heard the clatter of hooves behind you as your Knights move into position it would have been a welcoming sound and spurred you onward, to the common man Knights were also seen as protectors bringing them hope in a time when feuds between neighbors were rife and bandits raided their homes.

Together, these values make up the act of Chivalry and paint a picture of what we know a knight to be, someone who will stand up for the weak and defenceless and fight for them, someone who will help those in need in whatever way they can and someone who will defend the country from its enemies.

This brings me to the actual topic of this article and modern day Knighthood’s.

I recently saw that the comedian Billy Connelly was awarded a Knighthood, now I love and respect Mr Connolly to bits; not only is he a biker like myself he is a fantastic musician, comedic genius and one of the most down to earth people on the planet but does he deserve a Knighthood?

Take a look at the two links below and ask yourself an honest question, would any one person on those lists be able to uphold the Virtues of knighthood and defend the country?

Actors awarded British Knighthoods

Musicians awarded British Knighthoods

Putting the deceased Knighthoods to one side, those who are on the lists and alive such as Michael Caine, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Elton John, all people whom I personally admire as Musicians or Actors and I am in no doubt that the actors mentioned could defend any country on film but if they were to take on the true role of a knight they would probably go running to their agent or manager demanding they were flown to a safe place.

It appears that in the 20^th and 21^st Century there has been no military or services personnel awarded the honor of Knighthood, now forgive me if I am wrong here but wasn’t the original concept of Knighthood a military concept founded on the aspect of protecting the country? 

I believe firmly that only those who are deserving should be bestowed this honor, a soldier fighting for his country, a police officer or fire-person who serves the public, even our nurses and doctors who work in A&E saving lives on a daily basis are much more worthy of the title than someone who is there for entertainment.

Perhaps Her Majesty is getting mixed up with James Bond and Sean Connery/Roger Moore, no offence Ma’am but they were “Acting” and James Bond is a “Character” he didn’t really fight a cat stroking bald man or some bloke with metal teeth. 

As for the musicians who have been knighted they should throw their titles away in disgust or return them to Buckingham Palace with a note saying “give this to a deserving human who has actually done something for the people of the country to keep them safe”.

Saal Digital Aluminium print

Saal Digital is a high quality photo printing firm based in Germany, I have been lucky enough to review their products previously when they offered an excellent quality photo book with my images in it (the review of this is on my blog).

Today I received another of their fantastic products through the mail.

Having used Saal Digital’s software before it didn’t take me long to grasp the concept and find out how to upload the image I wanted, the most difficult part for me was choosing a single photograph out of the thousands I have taken.

I was given several options for the print format, these included Gallery print (behind glass), canvas and the one I chose, an aluminium board which is very sturdy and comes complete with a plastic hangar on the rear making it simple to hang on my wall.

I did find the sizing guide a little confusing as it did not say whether the prints were in Cm or Inches and I was expecting a larger print than arrived, this however did not deter from the fact that it is still a good sized print and the image looks sharp and clear.

Once more SaalDigital.co.uk have outdone themselves with a fantastic product I recommend this company to all my photographer friends and anyone who is looking for a reasonably priced, quick delivery and great quality piece to show off in their home or as a present.

Guitar money versus Real money

I recently had a conversation with a friend about guitars and the cost of them, whilst trying to explain to him that the price of a guitar often reflects its playability or the quality of the hardware/wood used, I used the expression that “guitar money isn’t like real money”.

What I meant by this was this: If a guitar costs under £100 new its classed as a “cheap” guitar, usually the quality of these instruments is low grade, they use cheaper materials to build the body and neck, if it is an electric guitar they will use low end pickups.

Most cheap guitars are ideal for beginners through to intermediate players but they tend to have issues that many long term guitarists will pick up on such as the action, high frets or high nut, fret buzz or inferior sounding pickups or humbuckers.

This isn’t always the case and sometimes a good quality instrument can be bought at a reasonable price but in my experience of cheap guitars there are very few which can boast this.

There are many quality second hand instruments available if you look around for under £200 and some new ones for just a little more, it isn’t always the case that the more you spend the better the guitar as it is usually down to how the instrument sounds and plays to the player as much as the hardware.

I own a few low range guitars of various qualities; my samick LG dreadnaught acoustic is one of the few I have owned/played which I (and many others who have played her) have found to be a beautiful sounding guitar with great playability.

I also own a cheap Ibanez Gio which is probably the cheapest of the Ibanez brand of guitars, Ibanez are a very well-known brand of instrument played by some of the world’s greatest guitarists, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and more recent the fantastic Jen Majura are all champions of Ibanez guitars.

The Gio has its limits however, the body is made from Basswood which is light and is a material used in many cheap guitars, the pickups are standard and work well giving some nice tones in the bridge and neck positions, I rarely use the other positions of the selector switch myself.

It boasts a whammy bar (tremolo arm) which is about as useful as a chocolate fire guard as once you use this the guitar goes out of tune, not good in the middle of an epic solo and makes dive bombing and other techniques impossible.

The tuning of this guitar is the main issue I find, and although it has a nice fast fretboard and is easy to “Shred” on it is lacking in the abilities of its more expensive sisters.

My latest purchase was a swap for one of my old guitars (a De-Armond M65) and is a Cheetah electric acoustic bass, this is a very nice looking instrument which were produced for a short time around 10 or 20 years ago, I’m not sure of the specs but it plays nice both acoustically and through an amplifier, there is a slight fret buzz on the higher frets but this could be due to the age of the instrument and possibly requiring a restring.

All in all though the Cheetah, which I believe retailed around £65 new back in its day, is quite a nice bass for the price but not being a bass player as such there are probably issues with it that only a seasoned bassist would notice.

Over the 25 years I have been playing guitar I have been lucky enough to play some very beautiful (and expensive) guitars, believe me, you can tell the difference immediately.

The first was a 1967 Fender Telecaster, this relic belonged to a gentleman who had passed away and left his guitars to the pub where myself and a small group of fellow musicians played together. 

I hadn’t taken my own guitar with me (at the time a very cheap 80’s single pickup Encore)and so was offered the use of one of the instruments in the pub, the Telecaster was a dream to play, whether it’s because it was a seasoned loved and used instrument or something more I could not play a bum note that night and have nothing bad what so ever to say about this particular guitar.

Next was a Gibson ES 345 (I think it was a 1978 model), again this instrument had belonged to the same gentleman, and again I could not play a bum note on it, I didn’t feel as comfortable playing this guitar as I had the Telecaster but there was no denying it was a piece of history which screamed with beautiful tones as my fingers caressed the frets.

I could not hazard a guess at the cost of these two guitars but I would put it well into the thousands, seeing a similar ES 345 on EBay as I write this for $3,200 which shows that the more expensive an instrument is and in these cases the older too, the better quality it seems.

Personally I could not justify spending that amount of money on any guitar and those are the ones I call the “expensive” range, the mid-range instruments however are those that average between £300-£800, these are usually made for the more serious regular player, your bands who tour and gig regular, a recording artist or songwriter would justify spending this amount on a guitar quite easily.

I have seen some stunning instruments in this price range from some of the world’s most renowned manufacturers, Gibson, Fender, Ibanez, Epiphone and other companies such as Dean, Schecter and ESP.

It all boils down to what’s in your wallet and your own personal preferences, I tend to go for what I can afford and compensate for any issues whereas if I had the money I would go for a mid-range instrument which can fulfill my requirements without holding my playing back like the Gio does.

However to return to the comment at the beginning of this blog post “guitar money isn’t like real money” it is easy (from a guitarists point of view) to see that cheap isn’t the same as cheap when referring to other commodities and items we would buy such as shoes or electrical goods.