Genevieve's Journeys

Contrary to expectations, Bolton Castle is not in Bolton, the Lancashire town. It's actually on the other side of the country, with the nearest town being Ripon, and the nearest large town being Darlington. Its main claim to fame is that Mary Queen of Scots stayed there for 6 months, though her retinue were obliged to live nearby, as the castle could not house her whole retinue. It's a good reminder; when you read accounts of her flight into England, the stories leave out those travelling with her.

It's also adjascent to the path of the first stage of the Tour de France this year through England.

Le Tour Yorkshire appears to have lots of public support with loads of cycle-related decor, invitations to watch the tour from the pub nearby, and general promotion on the route to the castle. We travelled on some roads featuring big signs about closures on 5 July for the tour. There's certainly some serious hills and hairpin turns to make the first day exciting.

Driving with Sir Vitus and HE Isabel's brother A, we travelled briskly; Vitus is comfortable at speeds on country roads that I'd never attempt, all the while remarking that it's insane that the speed limit is 60mph along here... as if the speed limit were mandatory not a limit. We succeeded in getting air over a humpback bridge that had no signs I could find at the bottom of a tight turn - on the downside I swear the Vitus-wagon was airborne.

The castle cafe, we found, was the one place not closed at midafternoon - pubs in the country close their kitchens between lunch and dinner, something unheard of in London. Fortunately the last few hot dishes (basically soup and sandwiches) were excellent and we all felt better for eating before starting to unpack and put up pavilions.

We were soon followed by jpgsawyer and edith_hedingham arriving with their pavilion, and we quite filled the small flat grass area to one side of the castle. Perched on a hillside, there are fine views from the castle, including over the maze garden and vineyard; just glorious.

The drawback of filling this space was that nusbacher and her eldest had no space, arriving very late that night - they opted to crash in the castle rather than try to find flat space in pitch black. They ended up staying in the castle all weekend.

The castle is delightful and looking at other peoples' photos I clearly didn't see half of it, but was caught up immediately in the business of the day. I missed the gardens, the forge and the maze, and can only hope we get another chance to visit in future.

With the tent and pavilion furniture up, I changed to visit the second half of the site, the Jonas Centre, a sort-of scout-camp-ish thing on the other side of the small town. This was accommodation for most of the guests, in cabins with a kitchen and shared dining space where many folks gathered on Friday evening and Sat night. I caught up with the Irish contingent, got a chance to chat with gothwalk and some of his household, who have useful insights about better serving newcomers online in the Society.

I quizzed them to find out if anyone has caught the irishman responsible for pogbody getting pregnant. Not yet, though I suspect they know, they just aren't saying...

Their highnesses had had an adventure: her highnesses' luggage had gone AWoL, with all her new coronation outfit, jewelry, accessories (handmade shoes, beaded gloves, the works) as well as all her personal stuff. Her party stopped in town to shop for overnight clothes and toiletries while her entourage and Brighthelm scrambled an outfit.

It was remarkable; in the end, though most people had heard of the baggage-train problem, you wouldn't have known to see their highnesses, then majesties, on the day. HRM Morrigan was beautifully and suitably turned out, and they opted to enter court bareheaded as is done in some other lands. (The one time they check the coronets...)

HRM Morrigan's luggage has since turned up...in Kansas City, apparently, acc to news I heard 25 June (10+ days later). Easy to mistake for Yorkshire!

It was fun to do court again; to be in on the discussion, to pick up where aryanhwy led to, to hear nusbacher's eldest speak so beautifully and crisply. A did a great job. nusbacher also had a speaking role reading the Albion tale and of course she did a fine job. The vibes were warm and friendly throughout; the goodwill for both Prothall and Cecilia and for Leif and Morrigan were palpable.

It was a beautiful day out, at a beautiful site, with fencing through the maze to watch, scribing to do, and a castle to take in. For the keen, you could help with the cooking in the castle kitchen; unfortunately the fire didn't draw well and the kitchen windows were limited to a small gap, so the castle gradually filled with smoke, including the gift shop. I don't think the gift shop staffer was best pleased!

The falonry display had a keen and interested audience, appreciating the splendid hawks that sat so calmly on the falconer's fist.

I sat in on a meeting of the Insulae Draconis Inc group - the little group of folks involved in planning the move to incorporation and afiliate status. It was very productive and planned to meet, um, last weekend on skype. Whoops...

Feast was delightful, sitting with jpgsawyer and edith_hedingham, who arrived well supplied with red wine, yum. Further down the table were a Lochac couple and their two daughters; they are living in the UK for another year(?) and decided to lash out to visit an event in a castle, though they'd mostly planned not to play while abroad. They seemed an excellent fit and Dame Marguerite and Thomas F had lots of shared memories.

Second court at feast was well received. The good vibes continued, the food was excellent, the impromptu AoA was very welcome and very apt. I was happy to be involved.

Robert engaged in some profound silliness during court: while someone ran to fetch a recipient at court leaving an awkward gap, he broke out the so called coconut shells (2 wooden bowls, really) and enacted the search on horseback for the missing recipient, playing out searching, leaping over logs, ducking through rivers. It was very silly and very funny.

For some reason, this was the event that I got a half-dozen compliments on my gown. It's a gown I've worn for several years, one I 'made new' (adding a new lining, redoing all the lacings) 2 years ago to wear under my Tudor gown.

It must have been the summer air, or else just the whole outfit with the coronet.

Robert swanked about in his princely-stepping-down outfit most of the day, just adding coronet in the evening (unfortunately my matching outfit is in the shop with the sleeves in the UFO pile).

The pic looks like all the peers have been drawn together by a 4 year old in the middle.

In the evening I drifted over to the Jonas centre to help tidy up - hobbitomm was shlepping pots and pans and serving ware back from the kitchen mostly alone, so Catherine Weaver, nz_bookwyrm and Catlin and I pitched in for awhile. Nothing's more gross than waking up to piles of dirty dishes in the morning.

Sunday was soggy; the sheep in the field looked like extras from the old Looney Tunes cartoon, where Ralf wolf and Sam sheepdog are competing for the sheep. Sheep really do have these tiny sticklike legs under huge coats.

Breakfast gave me an excuse to feed up (alas, without Turkish coffee as Sat morning courtesy of nz_bookwyrm) before tackling the pavilion, and chat to Barun Pol about archery, among other things, and gradually the weather lightened. We still had to pack down wet canvas, but fortunately Vitus has a big conservatory that is warm in summer and is excellent for airing canvas, and he takes good care of our collective kit.

The last treat of Bolton was spotting their family of boars across the paddock. The boars have piglets, not the tiny stripey cute stage but a bit bigger, but still fascinating to us city slickers.

One more good meal in the castle cafe (special meal for Father's day! very apt with Vitus surrounded by his family) and we set off.

On the return trip we saved a couple of hours journey by having Isabel drop us off at Luton airport parkway, which is a train stop on the northeast corner outside the M25, from where we could change and get to a station near us. Saved the trek round the M25, hurrah.

Haggis was very glad to see us, of course, but showed every sign of having been pampered by her new contract staff the neighbours.

Though it's a trek, this site shows every sign of being a lovely venue for fair-weather events. Many people remarked on how pleasant it was compared to in February! which isn't a great surprise. In heavy weather it would not have been so charming but we were blessed this weekend, and I think we made the most of it.

Sigillum rex, for Matthewe Baker: text by Robert de Canterbury, calligraphy and gilding by Genevieve. Goat(?) parchment, logwood black ink with a quill, Miniatum size and transfer gold, outlined with a crow pen.

I haven't used a quill in some months, but I really wanted these pieces to be as completely medieval-made as possible (didn't quite make it, the size and transfer gold are modern, though the gold is real). The results weren't as smooth as they could have been with a metal nib, but frankly I was pleasantly surprised they were as good as this.

One silly mistake: I use my slope almost all the time for scribing, and I forgot you need a flat surface to lay the size on the parchment, otherwise it pools at the lowest point. So I can see a pool of size in the foot of the P, where it gathered overnight.



One very cool aspect: Robert made me an inscrbing tool for making lines in parchment.

Somewhere, I've read, that the lines you see in manuscripts aren't pencil - they're silverpoint. The scribes used a silver-tipped 'pencil' to indent the lines in the parchment. What you now see is the effect of tarnished silver embedded in the parchment, which has turned dark with years. But initially, you would not have seen it.

So Robert took a piece of broken arrow (lots of them in this house) and inserted a nail in one end, to create a slightly blunted point. It's sharp enough to make a line, but not so sharp that it breaks the surface of the parchment.

You can just see the shade of these lines on the pic.

There's a large space at the bottom, so that it could be folded and sealed, as well as signed. I'll have to ask Matthewe to bring it to an event, to ensure this happens, because I know I didn't manage to convey that before it was given out.

ETA: link to the full text on Robert's wiki

I'm still 'on' my gilding challenge, but had to take a few days off to complete some commissions for Coronation. Will post pics of finished works shortly.

12th night was well-attended by many folks from out of the region, which was lovely - seeing many people I haven't seen in months or years. Our friends Keilyn and Ormswin (O. was one of the founders of West Dragonshire) were in the UK for the holidays, visited with us, and attended the event. K was one of the first people from Drachenwald I met at Pennsic the summer before I left, and she was a longtime gaming mate of Robert's.

The site is a good one for an event like this, well supplied with bunks, showers and kitchens - the only downside being transporting tables, chairs and and food between buildings. But for modern comforts, it was pretty good. 

I got to introduce O, as maker of the Drachenwald kingdom seals, to aryanhwy, who as signet had trouble finding any of them.

He explained he'd been asked to make copies of one that had been made in FIMO or something similar, and make them in a hurry, which might explain why the one I have custody of is a bit rough-and-ready. He's a go-to guy for 'making stuff' in his current barony, just as he was in Insulae Draconis, along with Master Paul and Sid.

The evening court was held 'on the sofa', because a large, semi-circular sofa was in the main hall, sitting in front of the fireplace, and had room for three sets of royals, with TRH Nordmark in comfy chairs on the outside. 

Robert and I were jointly honoured with a rare award, that of the Dragon's Bowle, for notable attention to authenticity. We got a lovely scroll from a Finnish lady, who took one of my scribing classes at double wars in 2011 with text by badgersandjam. It carries no precedence, but is not often given. 

My sweetie is now on the hook to make us 'bowles' to display - so we'd better get eating more coconuts for their shells. :-)  

There were few straight faces when Anne of Wokyngham came to receive a sigil from the queen, for 'relieving the burden' of many cares during the reign from the queen's shoulders. It was a great text and ideal for her.

HE Paul, in addition to his county title, also received his order of the Laurel scroll - backlogged since the days of Edouard and Eanor, AS 31. merlyn_gabriel completed it with Robert's text, and it is a delight.

The big news of the event for this region is that HE Clancy was put on vigil to contemplate membership in the order of Chivalry.

HRM Thorvaldr made it clear that he has the option of knighthood, mastery of arms or nothing at all - three options, all three equally open to him. 

Their Majesties will be back for the principality investiture, and want his answer at that time, so it looks like we're headed to investiture in February.