[Regia-NA] Jorvik shoes

[Robert Kenyon]

Hi all,
Just thought I'd share this annoying little epiphany.  After recently
completing a pair of Jorvik style turnshoes with the flap and toggle going
over the instep and fastening at the outside of the foot, I re-read the
relevant section of "Leather and Leatherworking in Anglo-Scandinavian and
Medieval York" by Quita Mould, Ian Carlisle, and Esther Cameron (from The
Archaeology of York series, The Small Finds 17/16 Craft, Industry and
Everyday Life).  Much to my chagrin I discovered a passage that I had
previously overlooked.  I had always assumed that the flaps fastened on the
outside of the foot and others have too, judging by the reproductions
offered by many of the suppliers out there, and the photos on the
leatherwork page of Regia's website.  However, according to Page 3302:

 "A large group of distinctive ankle-shoes fastened with flaps and toggles
over the instep were found at the sites under consideration here, and
elsewhere in York.  Though varying slightly in aspects of construction, they
all comprised an upper of fundamentally one-piece construction closed with a
single side seam at the vamp wing on the inside of the foot...  The shoes
were fastened over the instep by a flap or flaps with toggles that were
passed through loops mounted low down on the quarters.  Complete examples of
shoes of this style show that the fastenings and the single seam were placed
on the inside of the foot though one would have thought that practicality
dictated that any fastening would have been placed on the outside.  This
same phenomenon was noted on a near complete example from 5 Coppergate and
commented upon by MacGregor (pp.138, 163, Fig.72, 627, AY 17/2)."

The accompanying illustrations in this section of the book were a little
deceiving to me at first because they seemed to show the outside of the
upper and the inside of the sole in the relative positions they would be
when assembled.  Then I read this passage on p. 3274:

"The accompanying illustrations use stitch conventions shown in Fig.1596,
taken principally from Goubitz (1984, 187-96), and are generally shown from
the flesh side."  Then I realized that these drawings are showing the
insides of both the upper and the sole, indicating the stitches.  Seen in
that light, the side seam and flap are indeed on the inside of the foot.
The same holds true for the double-flap shoes.  Aw, crud.  Time to make new
shoes...

I'd love to hear feedback on this.
Wulfric