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kimurhoOne aspect of modern culture is that we've lost the wide diversity of professions.
I almost hesitate to use the word "profession" because I'm starting with the lower classes and, frankly, some of these are not professions I would want to encounter.
When I want to write a street scene in Borderlands, I find myself hampered by the ignorance of what shops would be present, of what people would be out in the streets, and of what they would be doing. This is a partial list of those from the lower classes culled from The Writer's Complete Fantasy Reference, Chapter 5 (written by Sherrilyn Kenyon).
Lower Classes in Fantasy Writing
Some of these are strictly urban and would only be seen in population centers. Others are more rural but would visit population centers in order to buy or sell.
Barber - cuts hair, pulls teeth, lets blood
Beggar (guild? loose association? license required?)
Chambermaid/ maid/ female servant
Charcoal burner - I'm not entirely sure what is involved but it requires a special oven and long "cooking" time. Charcoal was considered a more reliable heat source than wood (for smiths?) This is a rural occupation, probably not a full time occupation
Churl/ Peasant/ Serf/ Slave - not really the same thing. Churl is used to indicate a lower-class, rough-looking male, usually a rural worker
Cloth-dyer - urine was one of the liquids used to "set" colours. A dyer would be stained and stinky
Fishmonger - think Molly Malone of Dublin's fair city
Footpad/ mugger
Fortune-teller/ Oracle/ Sooth-sayer
Friar/ Street-preacher
Gypsies/ Romany/ Rom
Herder - Shepherd/ Cowherd/ Swineherd - the last would be the lowest of the three
Mercenary - tough for hire ... Is there a Guild?
Midwife - not only delivered children, but treated minor ailments, lay out the dead, brewed small potions - basically a general practice nurse
Pawnbroker/ Money-lender/ Usurer - pawnbrokers were often the money-lenders of the lower-classes, the reputation could be as seedy as any loan-shark. Usury was condemned by the Church, and so was under more restrictions with regard to interest charged. (This was one of the crimes it was possible to use against Jews in the Middle Ages)
Peasant - rural worker may or may not be a free-holder
Peddlar - traveling salesman - either with a cart or operating out of travel-pack
Poacher
Prostitute/ Pimp (aka Fancy-man)
Rag-picker - buys and sells old clothes
Stewholder/ Brothel-keeper
Spinner/ Spinster - Aladdin's mother supported herself and her son as a spinster, however, this is an occupation that any woman would take up at need
Tanner - another profession that required urine - even smellier than dying
Thief (guild? Fagin?) / Pickpocket/ Housebreaker
Thug (footpad, mercenary, thief)
Tinker - mended metal items, usually a Traveler - had the same reputation as the Romany
Traveler - British version of the Gypsy tribes; made and sold baskets, clothes pins, pegs; sold horses; mended small metal items like pots/ pans/ &c. Often called Tinkers
Wet nurse - mother of infant who sold her breast milk (at fount) to those who either could not or would their own child
Woodcutter
Street Performers
Acrobat
Actor
Bard/ Minstral/ Singer
Clown
Comedian
Dancer
Human oddity - Side show feature
Juggler
Mime
This is NOT a definitive list. It's a mnemonic and reminder of who might be seen or met in Borderlands.
I almost hesitate to use the word "profession" because I'm starting with the lower classes and, frankly, some of these are not professions I would want to encounter.
When I want to write a street scene in Borderlands, I find myself hampered by the ignorance of what shops would be present, of what people would be out in the streets, and of what they would be doing. This is a partial list of those from the lower classes culled from The Writer's Complete Fantasy Reference, Chapter 5 (written by Sherrilyn Kenyon).
Some of these are strictly urban and would only be seen in population centers. Others are more rural but would visit population centers in order to buy or sell.
Barber - cuts hair, pulls teeth, lets blood
Beggar (guild? loose association? license required?)
Chambermaid/ maid/ female servant
Charcoal burner - I'm not entirely sure what is involved but it requires a special oven and long "cooking" time. Charcoal was considered a more reliable heat source than wood (for smiths?) This is a rural occupation, probably not a full time occupation
Churl/ Peasant/ Serf/ Slave - not really the same thing. Churl is used to indicate a lower-class, rough-looking male, usually a rural worker
Cloth-dyer - urine was one of the liquids used to "set" colours. A dyer would be stained and stinky
Fishmonger - think Molly Malone of Dublin's fair city
Footpad/ mugger
Fortune-teller/ Oracle/ Sooth-sayer
Friar/ Street-preacher
Gypsies/ Romany/ Rom
Herder - Shepherd/ Cowherd/ Swineherd - the last would be the lowest of the three
Mercenary - tough for hire ... Is there a Guild?
Midwife - not only delivered children, but treated minor ailments, lay out the dead, brewed small potions - basically a general practice nurse
Pawnbroker/ Money-lender/ Usurer - pawnbrokers were often the money-lenders of the lower-classes, the reputation could be as seedy as any loan-shark. Usury was condemned by the Church, and so was under more restrictions with regard to interest charged. (This was one of the crimes it was possible to use against Jews in the Middle Ages)
Peasant - rural worker may or may not be a free-holder
Peddlar - traveling salesman - either with a cart or operating out of travel-pack
Poacher
Prostitute/ Pimp (aka Fancy-man)
Rag-picker - buys and sells old clothes
Stewholder/ Brothel-keeper
Spinner/ Spinster - Aladdin's mother supported herself and her son as a spinster, however, this is an occupation that any woman would take up at need
Tanner - another profession that required urine - even smellier than dying
Thief (guild? Fagin?) / Pickpocket/ Housebreaker
Thug (footpad, mercenary, thief)
Tinker - mended metal items, usually a Traveler - had the same reputation as the Romany
Traveler - British version of the Gypsy tribes; made and sold baskets, clothes pins, pegs; sold horses; mended small metal items like pots/ pans/ &c. Often called Tinkers
Wet nurse - mother of infant who sold her breast milk (at fount) to those who either could not or would their own child
Woodcutter
Street Performers
Acrobat
Actor
Bard/ Minstral/ Singer
Clown
Comedian
Dancer
Human oddity - Side show feature
Juggler
Mime
This is NOT a definitive list. It's a mnemonic and reminder of who might be seen or met in Borderlands.
