Raglan ffair AS 50

I've trailed off keeping LJ up to date - the insidious effect of other social media, and Having Life (tm), and being more busy at work.

However, Raglan, as always, merits a post or three.

Good stuff

Camping for 10 days with my sweetie and friends: this alone is worth celebrating.

This year we travelled once more with the Vitus-wagon, which is turning into the Vitus wagon-train, really, with multiple vehicles.

I've never seen the trailer so full, so that 2 grown men are braced against it as it's re-opened on site. However, the goodwill on site for unloading and schlepping was excellent, and our stuff was sorted and unloaded in very short order.

We had the luxury of setting up in broad daylight, rather than dusk, and looked at each other somewhat bemused when we had the entire tent, mini-kitchen (courtesy jpgsawyer and edith_hedingham) and seating arranged, and still had time before dinner.

The Pologrinus encampment took much longer, and their site suffered more in extremely high winds over the week.

Due to enforcement of 4" tent stake rules, many pavilions were not fit to stay up in the high winds especially on the bowling green. We adjusted our centre pole, but once more the pavalino design came through for us and while it creaked and shifted, our tent stayed put.

The 4" rule is hard to enforce in the face of high winds; if you use 'medieval' stakes, then they are fat and tend to be short, and thus pull out easily, and you cause more damage pounding them back in in a new hole. If you use 'modern' steel stakes, they are skinny and go deeper, but actually do less damage to the ground (which is what you want to avoid on historic sites). A week after we've left, you'll be hard pressed to see where the steel stakes went in.

For the first half of the week we dined 'lightly' (meaning typically 2 dishes per meal) but well together with Mrs Katherne of Lochac and nusbacher, and made a merry gathering.

We managed one bowl of syllabub, which was the usual spectacle and was as delicious as ever.

For the second half of the week Master Paul, jpgsawyer and edith_hedingham plus aryanhwy and J and G rolled up and our meals doubled to tripled in dishes, ambition and splendour. Here's their menu. The chickens planned for Sunday went off, so were replaced w/ omelettes and refried smoked meats and amazing liver pate, made by edith_hedingham.

Wednesday evening
pre-cook pottage & a stew for the evening

Thursday
Breakfast - standard fare!
Dinner - Lamb roast
Home made sausages!
Salad
Pottage (hopefully with home grown broadbeans)
Fruit patties or similar desert

Supper - cold meats, breads and cheese

We will be 9.5 people!

Friday
Breakfast - standard
Dinner - ember day
fried fish
pottage
Salad
Veggie dish or 2
tart on ember day
green omlette
norwegian pasties
wafers
custard / fruit

We will hopefully be welcome Master Alexandre & his lady

Supper - cold meats, breads and cheese

Saturday
Breakfast - standard
Dinner - a Grand feast!
Roast Beef
Great Pie
Pottage
frumetry
Grand sallat
Cheese Gnoochi
Commandores
Omelette
Berry fool
wafers
Strawberries

We will be welcome the Prince and Princess, the Prince's lady, Mary and Rick and Lady Moria
15 people

Supper - cold beef!

Sunday
Breakfast - standard

Dinner -
Omelette
Refried smoked meat
Salad
Pottage
Carrots
Wafers?

Supper - cold meats

The sausages were a splendid success; or as I called them, 'Innuendoes with Edith'. It was hard to handle or even watch the sausage-stuffing process without dscending to medieval levels of humour.

jpgsawyer's innovation this year was a portable shelter based on a model by Scappi (late Italian cook, I think) that helped keep the rain and sun off the cooks' backs while working, and made working around the firebox more comfortable. It also stood up in light-to-moderate winds well, but dodged the serious winds early in the week.

Thamesreach on tour

The shire's presence was sizeable this year, with both new attendees and old friends. Thamesreach folk were much in evidence in running Raglan, tourneying, challenging, teaching and generally having a splendid time.

zmiya_san was hip-deep in the Raglan organisation this year, along w/ her mum lady Tamara. She even managed to squeeze in authorising to fence in the week, which is pretty impressive.

The Thamesreach forces triumphed in the Oxford Roll - the regular shire-vs-shire tournament that is a feature of Raglan.

Individuals held their own in the protectors tourney and in the torchlight pas d'armes, and Pan Vitus was once more named protector, after a 45 minute bearpit tourney.

Lord Guy de Dinan and Pan Vitus succeeded in their challenges into the Drachenwald academy of defense, as free scholar and provost respectively. Milady Cicely survived her first storming of the castle and pitched in on the prefect challenges, so when someone asks 'who died and made you provost?' she can say, 'I did!'.

My sweetie served as the prince's champion, fighting a destructive bye in the coronet tourney, when the prince himself had to withdraw. He lost just 1 bout in the process, thus being very destructive indeed.

This week, as we all collectively recover, the happy noises and pictures coming from assorted Thamesreach members shows that the event was as full and fulfilling as in past years, which I love to hear.

More Raglan ffaire AS 50: A new dependent in house Sylveaston

The ceremony to welcome Lord Aodh O Siadhall gothwalk into the greater house Sylveaston went very well, with advice from nusbacher on some important details. This rounded out the ceremony in a way that I really appreciated and I would not have known of, without her help.

I was amused that when I brought the belt of obnoxious brightness over for sizing, it was a knight, Sir Jonathan, who instantly saw significance in the colours. I know that Dame Oriane still wears her green belt with yellow borders as her connection to Sir Richard Gilchrist and thus her connection to the house. Aodh will find many Sylveaston descendants to meet yet.

The tone was dignified and pleased, which is what I wanted.

Aodh's role in the house is as 'dalta', which apparently in old Irish is 'student of the bard' - someone who might, or might not, be a bard in his own right, but even if not, gets a fine education and benefits from the support of the bard. I liked this title; it seemed very apt for him, and avoided the 'protege' which is a bit loaded in Society terms.

Photos are courtesy of Lady Agnes, Aodh's lady, who got Lord Aidan to record the occasion.

We're sitting within the castle, in the fountain court, shortly after principality 'thing' (Parliament) to talk about principality business.

Me introducing the ceremony, and managing to recite the lineage from Sir Merowald (as it applies to us) correctly. (Lyonette told us later of 'Merowaldry', Sir Merowald's offer to paint up arms people wanted, no registration required. Now Robert has a name for his guerilla heraldry...)


The intenture (read by Robert), belt (continuity with the greater house) and livery (as promised n the writ) all went as I had hoped.







Having cut the signed indenture in 2, I show the 2 pieces indented to witnesses.






I wanted to incorporate some statements that originally came from Sir Menken chequey and Dame Eleanor kes_zone, about dependents being neither slaves nor servants, but nobles in their own right.

This is important to me, as Lord Aodh has his own household, with his lady Agnes, that they care about a lot, and I wanted to make clear I wasn't taking it over.

A completely unplanned and unforseen effect was me commenting, as I held Aodh's hands as a vassal, that he was paterfamilias of his house, with his own duties and obligations; that in that role, he remained responsible for his house,

...but that I was available to advise him on dependants, suitable placements for children or orphans, or places in convents for those who were unsuited to marriage.

This raised a small laugh, but apparently struck shock and terror in the Catholic hearts of the ladies of House Green - particularly single ladies, or whose other halves don't play - who all assumed I was referring to them directly.

I found this out later, as Lady Agnes passed it on, and it now has common currency that at least one lady of House Green is destined to a nunnery...

I had warned Aodh of the Belt of obnoxious brightness...I'm hoping he'll wear it fighting.




Aodh's livery: 3 ells of good cloth and 3 more of linen, to outfit himself suitably.

Aodh complains of being a mammal and having warm blood and thus not liking wool clothing, so I dug up the lightest wool blend I could find - it may even be linsey-woolsey, I'm not certain. It's for him and his tailor to sort.


I'm kicking myself because I can't find a picture of the uncut indenture. I nicked the text wholesale from a previous contract Robert wrote for Sir Vitus for one of his dependents, with only small changes.

I like the line about protecting from unjust harm - if the harm is justified, apparently you're on your own. :-)

This indenture being made between Genevieve la flechiere, Viscountess and peer of Drachenwald by letters patent on the one part and Lord Aodh O Siadhail on the other part, testifies that the said Lord Aodh stall stand in service to the said viscountess for peace and for war for the term of one year and one day following the date of this document

The lord Aodh having the estate of dalta, and being retained with the said viscountess of the ancient house of Sylveaston for the said term by indenture without fraud or evil device, shall be accorded all the customary rights and privileges, vis of livery, maintenance, counsel, instruction, advancement and defense against unjust harm.

The lord Aodh shall in turn accord the said visountess with service in matters of charity and hospitality at such occasions and tourneys as they shall be mutually conveniently present therat.

The lord Aodh shall also afford the viscountess Genevieve support in matters touching court, law and custom, and the management of her estate as are within his normal competence.

He is bound not to be a maintainor, instigator, barrator, procuror or embraceor of quarrels and inquests in the country in any manner, and shall not know or understand of any manner thing to be attempted, done or spoken against Viscountess Genevieve's person or honour but he shall let and withstand the same to the uttermost of his power.

Should the lord Aodh be in any error or found in any detestable crime, as soon as Viscountess Genevieve knows it she must admonish the lord Aodh charitably that he may gain from it.

Done before noble witnesses this nones of August AS 50, at ffair Raglan.

After this ceremony I started the discussion about 'peers, what have they done for us anyway?' which ran for about an hour, or til we ran out of daylight.

We had a keen discussion overall, with nusbacher enjoying her role as devil's advocate. We heard some stories from peers that I'd not heard of before - like how Sir Elffin came to be knighted in the West, and how Sir Clancy turned down knighthood in his first homeland.

The only drawback I've observed from these talks is that peers like to talk, when in fact I want to get more newcomers to talk. :-) But I hope that if we keep holding the time and place to chat, it'll become the place to ask questions and come to be known as a feature at Raglan.