Genevieve's Journeys

Very Very short version:

Splendid event.
Lots of weather.
Felt truly pleasant.
Met and visited with fine folks.
Ate better than most people do in fine restaurants.
The Grace hound is the most popular dog I've ever met.
We're buying a futon for camping.

I'm desperate to write up the good stuff from Raglan, because it was one of the best I remember, tail-end-of-Hurricane Bertha notwithstanding. (Over the week, two nights and one day of periodic downpours, thunder and lightning right overhead, lots and lots and lots of water underfoot.)

It was one of the most relaxed for me, because I'd decided to organise less, leaving me free to take part and help out in more.

I still pitched in: one day stewarding, one class, some marshalling for fencing and archery. Some court business, including Maistre Pol's vigil and elevation.

But I fenced and shot more than last year, or possibly even the year before. I was still crap, because of lack of practice, but I still savoured the occasional hit on someone (w/ rapier, *not* shooting anyone).

And I felt better and enjoyed it more. I felt freer to just hang with people rather than chase a schedule and that was a great feeling, something I'd missed.

But: I'm flat out again at work.

The Great Britsh Holiday(tm) is underway and half the office is disappearing for the next two weeks, leaving an even more skeletal staff than usual, with a mad schedule.

So when I get home I turn into a cat sofa, stretched out on top of the existing sofa.

(Haggis prefers to sit on a thing, on top of a thing. So given the whole floor to sit on, she'll sit on the fabric you're cutting; given the whole tabletop, she'll sit on the paper you're reading. Same applies to sofas.)

Haggis appears intent on catching up on lost loves from last week, so it's hard to move out from under a determined loves-seeking feline lump. Especially if you don't want to move that much.

Hope to remedy this soon.

At Coronation in January HE Eleanora gave me a box of Pelican tokens made by Lord Vrank in Frankmark.

I finally finished a hood (actually this was me refurbishing a hood that was given to me - new silk lining, new shoulder and back gores to widen it, new front opening instead of pullover, new cloth buttons and - cheating - I attached a length of fingerloop braid on the edge of the opening for 'buttonhole' openings) and stitched them on.

It proved warmer at Crown than I expected, so most of the day I wore the green gown and undergown without the plum surcoat, and the hood over the veil. For the procession I wore my heraldic cloak.



I hadn't realised just how much the gold silk glows in certain lights.

As many know, my lord Robert haunts the Armour Archive, fighting the good fight for authentic kit, tournament styles and general passion for the 14th century.

As his friends started a thread to congratulate him, he posted a copy of the ceremony, and has included photos taken by Lady racaire .
I must say she and Lord Vrenk are terrific event photographers: I didn't even see them, and yet they have some splendid pics of the ceremony!

Gerhardt and Judith are K&Q: court herald is nusbacher on one side. Heralding the pelican ceremony is Sir Garrick von Kopke, OP, who did a great job of shepherding non-Latin speakers through several Latin responses and multiple regalia steps.

Robert's speakers were
Master Floris von Montfort from the Low Countries, on behalf of the Pelicans;
Master Etienne Fevre, on behalf of the Laurel circle, who spoke of his works in pewtering and his generosity of spirit in donating tokens for awards and events;
HG Sir Alaric of Bangor, for the Chivalry, who spoke of Robert's continuing work to support the fighting community in Thamesreach and ID with fight practices, armouring and training;
and HG Mistress Nerissa de Saye, Lady of the Rose, who spoke of his courtesy towards all ladies.

Scroll down the thread to find the account of the ceremony, with pictures.

No ceremony is exactly as is on paper, but this is awfully close. Of course, neither does it convey the solemnity, the lovely music, and the pleasure we took in seeing this ceremony, or the joy Gerhardt and Judith took in performing such a ceremony.

Nerissa also covered the story, including a nice pic of two of us,laughing, and again at dinner.

Trying to recount my hols, and actually finish it, unlike my Raglan account...

Thurs 12 Nov: Train to Leatherhead to meet jpgsawyer . We're on holiday! Hurray hurrah. We drive together to Dover (me dozing in the back of the car), and time it perfectly to make the ferry. We lunch on the ferry (desperately overpriced for fish 'n chips, humph) and I stitch new toes into my wool hose.
I has toes/in my hose/As we blows/across the Channel...
Next time I wake we're entering the outskirts of Antwerp - the traffic is appalling, and still more between Antwerp and Eindhoven. I'd thought England had the corner on crappy traffic. Eeek.
We arrive at the lovely flat of Lady M's, in Eindhoven. It reminds me of my friend Ingrid's flat, that I visited in Amsterdam in 2001: spare lines, high ceilings, big windows. Very elegant. jpgsawyer cooks pheasant, taters and cabbage, and we chat, and I scope out M's paperback library, til bedtime.
Friday 13 Nov: Up for 9.30am train to Amsterdam, which is busy but not packed, and I pass the time stitching lacing holes in pouches, and smiling stupidly at my seatmates, because I'm so delighted to be holiday. God I love European trains: clean, fast, reasonably priced.
Arrive 11am and manage to find the right ferry to reach the N. side of the Ij, where Floris and Hannah live.
F&H rush around packing then go to meet their kids to deliver them to camp Grandma; we have a quiet hour to stitch and read.
On the road: Hannah is embroidering a lovely Pelican badge in silk. I had no idea she was so accomplished and say so. 'Neither did I' she says. She's aware of all the mistakes, but I think it's amazing. It's a pleasure to talk with both of them, when we're not actually at an event.
We reach Celle, in Germany, 45 mins from the SCA site, for dinner, and have a HUGE meal of schnitzel w/ mushroom sauce, and pckled salads. I'd forgotten the German love of cream sauces; I'll be well basted by the end of the weekend at this rate.
Sir Vitus phones Robert, having missed his RyanAir flight. He'd gotten caught in Stansted traffic and he'd arrived as the flight was boarding, and they refused to check him in. He's desperately disappointed, and Robert sympathises.
We arrive, and I promptly get sucked into the royal whirlwind. I agree to do evening court, including an invocation to vigil - cannot start til Sir Garrick arrives, as the invocation ceremony calls for a member of the chivalry.
Being herald gives me a fine view of Robert's face when Mssrs Floris, Etienne and Garrick step forward to escort him to their Majesties. Robert is in mid-drink of his beer, which he stops, then tips back and finishes, and puts down carefully to follow the Pelicans.
I'm invited to the vigil - first in, in fact. Robert is in a white tunic and hose in the vigil room. He's mostly bemused, and we talk about what he might ask TRM and the Pelicans for guidance.
I head to bed around 12.30-1am, asking Floris to ensure that Robert doesn't stay up all night. He gets in around 3am. The vigil continues without him, with Pelicans shooting the breeze together, til about 4am.
Saturday 14 Nov: Wake up at 8am, 9.30am for Robert. He's sort of bemused and subdued as I show him the wool tunic, cope, red skullcap, gloves and ring prepared for him. Floris has arranged for a crozier, by dint of picking up a curtain rod with a curly end. It's not clear if he's surprised, shocked, or disappointed.
jpgsawyer and aryanhwy arrive to discuss the ceremony, and we add in the laying on of hands. Ary has added some key Latin phrases to add to the medieval church feel of the ceremony, and she confirms that some very period (ie. explicitly Christian) phrases are ok for the scroll text.
Both Robert and I have classes to teach: my Luttrell Psalter class draws only two people, but that's ok.
I really enjoy nusbacher 's Hebrew calligraphy class, done in the persona of a 14th century scholar. I find it trickier to work from right to left than I expected - I feel like I'm learning right-handed all over again! I'd love to try teaching an in-persona class sometime, though representing a 12th c Norman might be trickier than a Chaucerian/Elizabethan English speaker.
I spend the afternoon editing copies of the ceremony, after checking in with TRM. Talk to Floris, and, Etienne, and Robert, about how the Pelicans function. I'm learning a lot this weekend.
nusbacher kindly steps up to the job of heralding court, doing a splendid job, with Sir Garrick heralding the pelican ceremony itself. He proves to be an extraordinary herald (this, after teaching his own class, and picking up both of Sir Vitus' class on the fly - awesome).
The ceremony goes even better than I expected: Robert is processed in and out by the Aarnimetsan choir singing choral sacred music, and is ably announced by one of the students from his voice projection class that day. The music is the crowning touch that puts a fine polish on the ceremony.
Pictures:
Racaire's lovely series starts here, in the 2009 Germany university set
Nerissa's series starts here, in the Kingdom uni 2009 set
Feast is very cheery with more singing (including a rather unlikely straight-faced performance of a rather bawdy Elizabethan English song - we're not certain if these lovely Finns know what they're singing!), and lots of good food. I give the choir a selection of rings to say thank you for their fine performance.
After about 12.30am, I can't keep my eyes open.
Sunday 15 Nov: we hustle to get on the road with F&H, in convoy with Bertrik and aryanhwy . We (Robert, Bertrik, Ary and I) stop en route to visit a German castle; unfortunately we stop for lunch first (3pm it's a bit late) so the castle is closing by the time we get out. We settle for a walk around the walls instead, and then head back to the road to Amsterdam.
Back at F&H's tall, steep home in Am'dam, we have a light dinner and talk late into the evening - discussing current and past Pelicans in Drachenwald, who is active, who is not. F&H have been members of the Pelican circle for ten years now, elevated together as a couple, and while they're no longer huge long-distance travellers, they continue to participate. I'm realising that anyone who still plays after ten years, peer or not, is doing well; there's an art to taking part without burning out, or growing (too!) cynical.
We also look up all the details that we'd talked about, in passing, on our journey: F&H have the best medieval history library I've ever encountered.