Let us introduce you to Kadriya, a Turkish drummer with an amazing resemblance to Lady Meghan Paget. Kevin O'Gallagher met her on trade trips to the east, and consorts with her on his travels. Hm, what does Lady Meghan think of this? Ah, well, she doesn't seem to know about her, somehow you never see the two of them together. Kevin must keep his secrets well! He's such a scoundrel.

She drums for her friend, the dancer Seher Deka al-Khasif. Oddly enough, Seher bears an amazing resemblance to Lady Eleanor Hazleberie of Isles, another member of the Kelthaven household. What a bizarre coincidence. Fortunately for the household, as well as gracing us with her dance, she's also a talented seamstress, who produced all of the garb you see on this page.

Seher is often found consorting with another drummer - Hameen Muwakkil al'Shahaab. She was dancing when he met her, he was drumming. Now she has him truly entranced. He's seen here with his drum Tanwir. Hameen bears a striking resemblance to Brent Eubanks, living in Mojave, at KeltHaven East, the household's alternate locale, and source of many long drives.

Sadly, Seher and Hameen have moved away from Caid, and are currently living in the Kingdom of the West. We miss them terribly

Kadriya's first doumbek, named Sothis, suffered an early death at the Naevejhem MidEast Feast. Ah, so sad. Ceramics and concrete floors are such a risky combo. Kadriya has found a new doumbek, and likes it very much. This one has a protective case, and has an inkle-woven strap made for it, so hopefully it will live longer. What it does not yet have is a picture to put up here, or a name yet.

You, too, could be bitten by the ME drumming bug! (Seher says it's something like a scarab.) Wander the web with us - Kadriya recommends the following links to start with.

• Heartsong Studios This is where I ordered my new doumbek. VERY nice.

• Middle Eastern Dance Resource Guide Lots of helpful information. They have a section on ME names with meanings that I was really glad to find.

• Quick & Dirty Guide to the Doumbek A really good page, one of the first things I found.

• Jas's Middle Eastern Dance/Doumbek Rhythms Wow! An impressive page with lots of rhythms. I love checking this out from my home computer where I can play the different rhythms and practice along with it.

• Al Musta'rib - Dur's Medieval Arabic Culture page (SCA)

• Middle Eastern Percussion - page of interesting links and other resources

• Davina's page - author of Costuming from the Hip. My friend Dawn had borrowed this book, so I got to glance at it - looks pretty good.