Joe Bethancourt in his song The Ladies of the SCA includes the following:
Now, you’ll see a lovely lady with a cord of black and red
Court her gingerly and carefully, or else you’ll wind up dead!
Don’t muck about with Mongols, you’re better off in jail!
For the ladies in the SCA are deadly as the male!
Blue Feather I’ve heard from before, but what does the “cord of black and red” signify?
It sounds like one of the belts/symbols worn to signify that you’re a knight or training to be a knight. How exactly it is expressed varies from kingdom to kingdom, if not the individual. White belts and circular chains are reserved in the entire SCA for knights, but I believe that what squires and apprentices wear is up to the kingdom.
So it sounds like she’s a fighter of some sort.
Ah, okay, then. I was thinking that but that such symbols were universal. Later on he mentions the women fighers of Aten(veldt) – here in Arizona – wearing an oleander blossom. Since Joe was a member of Atenveldt (One of the founders, I believe) it may be that kingdom only.
There’s a lot of little quirky sumptuary things from from kingdom to kingdom. Like coronets/crowns/metal things you wear on your head. Some places limit the types of metals non-nobles can wear on their heads, and some don’t. And there are bunches of other customs that don’t show up everywhere, like the oleander thing.
Around here (in Ansteorra) it’s squires, I believe, who wear red belts – but I’d never heard of any problem with someone wearing, say, red and black. To my understanding if the belt is primarily the sumptuary color that’s another matter, though.
This seems to fit the last two lines of the verse:
Don’t muck about with Mongols, you’re better off in jail!
For the ladies in the SCA are deadly as the male!
So, apparently the verse is referring to ladies who are members of the household of the Mongol Horde.
Vivat Trimaris!
Definitely the Horde.
ETA: and Go Drachenwald!
Mystery solved. Thanks to all.
Actually, full member horde. Petitioning members of the horde wear black red and white cords…warning, makes sound but is prettymuch safe for work
You can also avoid the Tuchuks - the gor fanatics. You can get in trouble if you dont act correctly around them as well.
I believe that Joe Bethancourt is (or was) a member of the Dark Horde. Another of his songs with Horde references is the Atenveldt Invasion.
I wondered what the Tuchuks were. Now I know I can safely avoid.
Vivat Ansteorra!
…Death to Trimaris! 
