courts-msg – 9/9/06
How to manage courts, royal presence. period courts.
NOTE: See also the files: jesters-msg, Baronial-Lead-art, largess-ideas-msg, SCAguests-msg, coronets-msg, crown-cost-msg, Guid-f-Barons-art, SCA-royalty-msg.
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NOTICE -
This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.
This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org
I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.
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Thank you,
Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous
Stefan at florilegium.org
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From: gendy at panix.com (E. F. Morrill)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Better Courts ARE Possible : GENDY OFFERS HELP
Date: 25 May 1994 11:14:18 -0400
Organization: Fast Eddy's Bar at the end of the Street.
I have followed this thread for a while and agree with most of the advice
that has been given thus far. As a professional actor (tv, film & legit),
and a long time Society member (20 some odd years), I have often given my
services and skill to the reigning Royalty in "coaching" them in the Art
of Public Speaking.
That offer still holds. I would be more than happy to aid anyone learn
the way to captivate an audience.
The major stumbling block to a "good" court is PRESENCE. The royals
must command the NEED for people to watch and listen to the goings on.
Because most of our Royalty does not come from a theatrical background,
this is often difficult. But with the help of a good court herald, this
can become easier. The secrets for Our Royalty in overcoming the barrier
of "interesting or boring" are:
1).- Remember that at all times, you are King/Queen. You hold the
power of life and death over your subjects.
2).- Stand up straight.
3).- Don't fidget in the throne.
4).- Look at the audience. Don't stare at your feet.
5).- Speak dis-tint-ly. don't hem and haw or mumble.
6).- Create a feeling of urgency about your presense. this gives
the populus a sense importance.
7).- Always travel with an escort. Don't walk the the road with a
towel on your head. (remember, the President of the US
travels in a motorcade - if he traveled in a Chevy Impalla,
where is the Pomp?)
I know that these hints might be a little "Norman" in attitude, but what
can you expect?
My offer of help is open to any set of sitting or soon-to-be-sitting
Royalty. As my new Lady-Wife (Mistress Elizabeth Talbot) likes to say,
"It's my husband - He who can read by his own Aura", comes my new motto:
HAVE AURA, WILL TRAVEL.
(ah...plus travel and expenses, of course)
(we do make a very nice set of house guests)
Yours,
EDWARD ZIFRAN
--
E. F. Morrill Icon God of the Theatre World
aka Viscount Edward Zifran of Gendy, KSCA, OL, OP, ETC
gendy at panix.com
From: ansteorra at eden.com (8/2/95)
To: ansteorra at eden.com
RE>Royalty (& Courts)
>Hmm, the Ideal Crown. Pageantry is very important. Pomp & circumstance
>as well, but don't over do it. (I heard rumors that once someone was
>wanting to ride into their coronation on the back of an elephant. Too
>Hollywood, IMHO). Then again, I've never seen a March of Precedence in
>my 15 years of playing SCA (maybe I've just never been to the right
>events). But the Ideal Crown must not be pompous in their pageantry.
>Somehow they must still remain approachable.
This gives me an idea for a court. What if everyone at the event was
called before the Crown in order of precedence. ( It would have to be a
court event, like Coronation or Twelfth Night, or Candlemas.) The Crown
gives awards to the people that they had planned to when the people
show up in front of them. The People can conduct any business they need
to(Fealty oaths, banns of marriage, gifts, introductions, whatever)
with the Crown while they are there. Don't have people line up, have
them sit down and feast. Have the Herald call them like they do
fighters.("Master Soandso and her Ladyship Whatsername will be next to
speak with their Majesties.") It would take a lot of work from the
Heralds. But it might be fun. (Probably have to be a time limit on
business before the Court.)
>I believe that most events probably follow their schedule better when
>the Crown is not in attendance. The Ideal Crown would be able to
>negotiate with the steward of the event on time schedules for court,
>etc. The Ideal Crown would be able to finish their business with
>whomever, attend the feast when it was ready, and conduct court in a
>timely manner (not necessarily in that order). [If court is not going to
>start until after feast (say 10/11 pm), how about some official down
>time for everyone in the middle of the afternoon, oh ye stewards of
>future events?] (Of course, this presupposes that the fighters actually
>got started & finished when they were scheduled to. Just once I'd like
>to see someone come out on the list field & say, "Sorry, the fighting's
>scheduled to be finished now, so you have to stop so we can get x
>started on time" but that's another thread entirely :)
At my Coronation the fighting was over by noon. Peerage circles were
held in the heat of the afternoon, with little other activity planned.
The feast was served during the stepping down Court. Stepping up Court
began precisely at dusk (when scheduled). If the horses had cooperated
it would have been perfect.
It can be done, if you have the right support crew.
>Estrill Swet
>Mooneschadoweshire
>
Kein MacEwan
(Whose brass hat gives him a headache.)
From: ansteorra at eden.com (8/3/95)
To: ansteorra at eden.com
RE>Royalty (& Courts)
Greetings all.
Kein wrote:
>> This gives me an idea for a court. What if everyone at the event was
>> called before the Crown in order of precedence. ( It would have to be a
>> court event, like Coronation or Twelfth Night, or Candlemas.) The Crown
>> gives awards to the people that they had planned to when the people
>> show up in front of them. The People can conduct any business they need
>> to(Fealty oaths, banns of marriage, gifts, introductions, whatever)
>> with the Crown while they are there. Don't have people line up, have
>> them sit down and feast. Have the Herald call them like they do
>> fighters.("Master Soandso and her Ladyship Whatsername will be next to
>> speak with their Majesties.") It would take a lot of work from the
>> Heralds. But it might be fun. (Probably have to be a time limit on
>> business before the Court.)
During our reign, we talked about doing something similar. Eastern courts
are famed for being *loooong* and we were looking for ways to get all the
required business done without requiring everyone to suffer through hours
(yes, hours) of court. Ruslan's squire, Edmund (now Prince of AEthelmearc)
had the idea of "sitting in state" for an entire morning or afternoon (or
even all day) to let people approach our Heralds and request to do whatever
business they wanted to do. In between, we would send our Heralds out to
summon gentles whom we wished to award for their efforts/expertise. The
Heralds would cry the entire site, and anyone who was curious about what was
being given to a particular person would also answer the summons. If a
Kindom level award was being given, the Order would be summoned and then a
couple of them sent out to find the candidate. During all this, food would
be served, casual conversations carried on, tourneys fought, arts & sciences
displays/competitions continue, etc. We figured that with enough advance
notice and cooperation from Autocrat, Heralds, and populace, it could work.
We never did get to try it unfortunately. I'll have to E-Mail Edmund to see
if he and Rosalind have given it a try during their reign in AEthelmearc.
Margaret
From: michael at diatel.dk (Michael Bradford)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: A neat idea for a court
Date: Thu, 16 Nov 1995 08:20:45 GMT
Organization: News Server at UNI-C, Danish Computing Centre for Research and Education.
msaroff at erie.net (Matthew Saroff) wrote:
> It seems to me that one of the purposes of court in period was the
>ejudication of disputes. I think that it would be neat of this happened
>occasionally, particularly in cases where the litigants (supplicants?) are
>_NOT_ to attached to the consequences.
Many years ago, our shire (Grimwood) had a Sheriff's court based on
this idea. This was partly because we were fed up with the typical
peerage courts and wanted something more at our level.
We started with some more or less pre-planned disputes. However one of
our guests (a fighter from Insula Draconis) took something amiss and,
after a few careful words from me and another fighter, almost declared
war on our then barony. It was all the funnier because his collegues
were trying to shut him up and then came over and apologised. We
explained our side of the joke and the evening ended in laughter and
not a few drinks.
The morale of the story is: enjoy yourselves and remember we do this
for fun.
Michael Bradford (once known as Knut Varulf)
[Contributed by Donna Hrynkiw <donna at Kwantlen.BC.CA>]
From leslie at fltdyn.com Fri Feb 28 11:33:09 1997
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 1997 09:23:21 +0000
From: Leslie Schweitzer <leslie at fltdyn.com>
Cc: steps at antir.sca.org
Subject: re:audible courts
In reference to the dialogue between Fionnruadhachain and Elizabeth
Blencowe, I definitely do hope that Fionnruadhachain becomes active in
An Tir Voice heraldry. Perhaps even court heraldry.
But please remember, Vocal Projection Techniques are only part of a
Court Heraldry class. Court Heraldry is complex. The Court Herald
is the Voice of the Crown. This entails much responsibility. You
have to know the correct Ceremonials (well enough, in some cases, to
help out a newly Crowned individual who may not know them that well
him- or herself without making it look obvious. And to know when, if the
Crown proposes a change to the Ceremonial, to advise them of any
unforseen ramifications that might ensue from the change that might make
some people upset.)
You need the social and political acumen to know exactly how to
act as the invisible-except-when-called-upon-to-be-entertaining PA
system. (Their Majesties might not want Their Voice doing animal
impressions or long strings of puns to fill out the slow bits -- or they might
love it. But if their Majesties don't want it, the audience shouldn't get it,
no matter how bored the audience is. And the Crown definitely doesn't
want herald sctick to either slow down, or outshine, the actual Court
business!)
You also need to think quickly on your feet to help defuse any volatile
situations (like when the branch said they were going to present 'a tourney
chest' to His Majesty, and it turns out that the tourney chest has an exotic
dancer in it who is about to go into a routine.)
I suggest that Court Heraldry be taught mostly by people with some
Court Heraldry experience, ideally Royal or Principality Court
experience. Vocal projection is a larger proportion of the field
heraldry classes (there is some, but not much, social and political
acumen needed by a field herald). Perhaps Fionnruadhachain might
start teaching in that area. In any case he should hook up with Vox.
Unfortunately I do not believe she is on email. But she is in the
Crier under 'Black Lion Staff.'
Zenobia Naphtali
[Contributed by Donna Hrynkiw <donna at Kwantlen.BC.CA>]
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 97 13:14:49 -0800
From: willi at co.intel.com
Cc: steps at antir.sca.org
Subject: Re: Better Courts and Ceremonies
Greetings from Gisla,
> Greetings to one and all.
> One of the telling remarks that appears in the notebooks is an admonishment
> that "Above all else, Court must be entertaining in order to show the
> strength of the Crown." (So, make it worth watching to pull people into the
> ceremony and rituals that build the cultural society.)
What a concept -- it would be wonderful to observe....
> With this in mind, I wanted to observe that it appears that An Tir Courts
> (Royal and Baronial) seem to be less well attended than they were some years
> ago. Some open questions to all those gathered here:
>
> Why do you chose to attend court? Or not attend court?
I don't enjoy court. I find that there are lots of "in" jokes and
as a newcomer am not privy to the details. I find that sometimes
people don't speak loudly enough and as I lurk towards the back
(usually with a project to keep me entertained) I don't hear what
is going on.
My least favorite (recently observed) tactic is sending out people
to "bring people to court" so that court is well-attended. I don't
like being "drug" into court to watch what's going on.
I find that court tends to be long and drawn out. I've attended
only a few "different" (as in different areas) courts so I can't
compare.
I think that my favorite "court" was the mini-court at 3Y when
(I think it was) the King of Atlantia (he was here by himself)
gave a 3-5 minute -- very entertaining court towards the end.
In effect, since his "court" wasn't present, he invested us with
the "responsibility" of being his court. He taught us what we
should do and then we did it. It was *FUN*. I felt like *part*
of something rather than a bystander.
I realize that court is there to do business but feel at times
that if it were better organized (or at least broken up into
manageable chunks of business/pleasure) that they would go
faster and be more enjoyable.... But that's just my 2 baraks.
(btw, what is the sign for a barak? Is there one? :) )
> What do you personally get out of court? Is there something more that you'd
> like to see in a typical court that is not there? Anything you'd personally
> like to see go away?
I like to see the outfits. That's where I get ideas from.
I'd love to see more "entertainment" -- whether that's background
music, a jester who "interrupts" (planned mostly) to entertain,
I'd love to see the "in-jokes" go away... It's hard to follow if
you haven't been around. It'd be nice to have a better explanation
of the award being given for those who are new *AND* to remind
the recipient of what they did to receive the award.
> Don Maestro Artimis
Gisla
willi at ibeam.intel.com
[Contributed by Donna Hrynkiw <donna at Kwantlen.BC.CA>]
From Jennifer_Berry at stream.com Fri Feb 28 11:36:54 1997
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 1997 14:43:41 -0500
From: Jennifer_Berry at stream.com
To: steps at antir.sca.org
Subject: Re: Better Courts and Ceremonies
Personally, I enjoy court. I enjoy heralding court, watching the excitement on
the faces of the award recipients, and also watching the knowing smiles of the
people who recommended the recipient. I think that if more people wrote
recommendation letters for people they thought worthy of award, more people
might attend court to watch those gentles receive their award. That's not to
say there are any guarantees that every person you recommend will receive an
award this reign, or any reign, but I can guarantee it will take longer if
you don't write the letter.
We used to have more entertainment before, during, and after court. However,
now that court is soooo full of ver important business, the entertainment has
been pushed aside. There was entertainment in period, so we should re-instate
it. (This is a blatant plug for jugglers and fooles! It's been AGES since I've
been asked to be foole to a reign! Or any foole being asked for a reign for
that matter!) I like the idea of Court Bard. Brianna is an excellent
choice, and I know she will do much to further the Bardic Arts in AnTir.
One other thing I have noticed: If you are sitting far back, you can't hear
what's going on. So, you miss the jokes. Why is everyone chuckling? I don't
know how to move everyone closer to the action, but maybe we could have fooles
and jesters passing along what's happening to the populace in the back of
the court?
I don't see how you could remove anything, but courts are REALLY too long. All
the business I have seen at court has been important to someone. The Crown has
taken to having Presentation Courts after Main Court, but many people want their
presentations to be known by the populace. Maybe the Crown could publish the
presentations They receive in The Crier? Then everyone would be happy and
courts might not run so long. Also, maybe we should have the friends of the
recipient make sure the recipient is at court to receive his/her award.
That would save some time, too...
Sgt. Courtier Arwen McDougall Lioncourt OGS, JdL
[Contributed by Donna Hrynkiw <donna at Kwantlen.BC.CA>]
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 97 9:26:09 PST
From: "Terry L. Neill" <Neilltl at ptsc.slg.eds.com>
To: An Tir <steps at antir.sca.org>
Subject: Courts
> What do you personally get out of court? Is there something more that you'd
> like to see in a typical court that is not there? Anything you'd personally
> like to see go away?
I haven't attended an An Tirian court since the knighting at 3YC. (And boy,
was that looooooooooong and inaudible! Boooooooring.)
The courts I enjoy the most are those where the business is brisk and LOUD.
Loud enough to be heard in the back.
Short personal comments to the populace about WHY that person is getting an
award are wonderful. Our current King and Queen jot down reasons for the
awards on 3x5 cards, split them up between them and surreptitiously cue off
of them LOUDLY. Occationally they make personal quiet comments to the
awardees, but those are short.
At the last court I attended a man was called up twice to do business of the
event and divested himself of edged weapons both times. BAD. Time consuming
and needless. Silly and pointless. As if the King has something to fear from
his people. They gave him an AoA and the Prince got up and retreived the man's
weapons and gave them to the King to give back. Pointedly, but nicely, done
Showing off illuminated scrolls one receives in court on one's way back to
one's seat is a neat thing to do.
At one court, where the hall was large and the acoustics were terrible, the
herald loudly called out what was occuring in court. "Lady Mary Inducted into
the Order of the Golden Dolphin!" "The King Banters with the Outgoing
Clerk of Precedence!" "The Shire of Good Folk Present The King and Queen
with Potable Taxes!" It was great. Business moved quickly and those in
back knew what was going on.
At another court, there were two marriage proposals. One was long, and
inaudible and between the Queen and the man mostly. They called the woman
into court, but no one could hear a thing. BAD. Do that at feast or at the
Royal Pavilian while TRM sit in state.
The other was by a man who had just been knighted. He audibly told the Queen
that now he was a Knight, he needed a suitable household and would she please
choose a suitable bride. She called his girlfriend into court. In a very
relieved tone, he said "Thank you for your choice, your Magesty." (He was
also a landed Baron and there were TWO unmarried landed Baronesses in the
Kingdom at the time. Good thing she didn't choose the OTHER one! ;) It
was short, funny, moving, and AUDIBLE.
Brisk pace, relevent comments to awardees, make sure the populace knows
what's going on, and SPEAK UP!
- Anarra, occastional court herald
[Contributed by Donna Hrynkiw <donna at Kwantlen.BC.CA>]
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 1997 00:44:43 -0800
From: Tom Pilcher <ug510 at freenet.victoria.bc.ca>
Cc: steps at antir.sca.org
Subject: Re: Better Courts and Ceremonies
At 01:14 PM 2/26/97 -0800, willi at co.intel.com wrote:
> It'd be nice to have a better explanation
> of the award being given for those who are new *AND* to remind
> the recipient of what they did to receive the award.
I wholeheartedly agree with this. When I was in the East Kingdom they did
this. You didn't just get an award of arms for hanging around long enough.
(This is probably where I got such a high standard for reccommending people)
Each and Every award of Arms was given for distinct contributions by a
person. The scroll that always accompanied it included some of these
details. In discussion with some of them they would say things like "I got
my AoA for the work I did in the kitchen at all those events" or "I got my
award for my contributions to the martial activities." When I was asked what
I got mine for I could only speculate because I was never told why. When we
give out the local awards here we always preface it with the deeds that
fathered the recommendations.
The award means so much more when you can justify it to the person receiving
it because there are so many humble people who will try to convince you they
are not worthy, until you start listing their accomplishments for them.
****************************** Non nobis Domine, Non nobis,
* HL SGT Squire Apprentice * Sed Nomine Tuo da Gloriam
* James Llewellyn ap Gruffydd*
*ug510 at freenet.victoria.bc.ca* The Order of the Poor Knights
*tormentr at islandnet.com * of the Temple of Solomon
*(250)383-7174 * (Knights Templars)
******************************
From: "Timothy A. McDaniel" <tmcd at crl.com>
To: ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG
Date: Mon, 28 Jul 1997 15:51:10 -0700
Subject: Re: ANST - Coronation
Kein Rex wrote:
> A warning to all heralds.
> We may open a court and give an award at any time, so stay on your toes.
Three ideas for all crowns ... though I may be teaching ovasuction to
superannuated female ancestors (which is to say, trying to teach
Granny how to suck eggs):
1) keep a stock of blank award report forms on hand to hand to the
herald. (Get 'em from Star, I presume.)
2) for the Lord's sake, give your court herald warning and wait until
he's ready! The only time I've ever been tempted to regicide was
where I was the baronial backup herald at Steppes Warlord's big court,
and for some unknown reason that particular Crown decided to start
without their herald and their award scrolls. We were 7 minutes from
the end of baronial court before the herald (a quite competant fellow,
I should note) was located -- he and a scribe were off finishing the
scrolls. 7 minutes from telling two people "sorry, we're not
elevating you to peerages tonight like we said". 7 minutes from
telling everyone "we'll have to have a big court on Sunday instead".
7 mintues from making everyone at that end of the court look foolish.
3) agree with your herald that you back each other up. The two
classiest stories I've hear of are:
- a herald misspoke and the king apologized for misspeaking. "The
herald is the voice of the Crown", so it was the king's mistake.
- the royalty had forgotten to sign the scrolls beforehand, and the
Queen noticed on the third award. The herald took the blame loudly
("there will be a royal autograph party after court to sign these
scrolls ... using herald's blood"), covering the royal error.
But I digress.
--
Daniel de Lincoln
Tim McDaniel. Reply to tmcd at crl.com
tmcd at austin.tx.us is not a valid address.
From: "Vicki Marsh" <zarazina at flash.net>
To: ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG
Subject: Re: ANST - Coronation
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 97 11:00:24 PDT
My Lord Baron and myself have discussed at great length with our friends and heralds on the best ways to conduct court and this is what we have come up with:
1) All presentations that can be, should be given out of court, either during feast, between bouts of the tournament, or during a private moment. Not everyone needs to see hourds of people stand in front of the throne and mumble for 5 minutes.
2) Court should be reserved for business. Entertainment should be done at other
times that are more appropriate.
3) KISS - Keep it simple, stupid.
4) Don't mumble or bore your audience - after all, court should be a show.
5) Keep things moving. A slow pace will make your audience either fall asleep or hate you. Private jokes and local humour are best reserved for small, intimate area events, where everyone is in on the joke. I have watched some things at court and just felt totally confused while everyone else just laughed.
6) Your audience's comfort should come first. If you have to move the thrones and tables so the audience can be in the shade, then do it. If your audience is
starving, feed them first or make it the fastest court on record. Or do part of the court before feast, and part after - break it up somehow.
7) Prepare, prepare, prepare. Have the scrolls ready, have the regalia ready, make sure you and your heralds are on the same channel.
Sometimes it can be a real balancing act - trying to get through things quickly while still creating the proper atmosphere. Any nobles who can achieve all these things deserve sainthood. These are goals that even Llywelyn and I aim for, but do not always succeed in.
There is a lot of business that must be conducted at some events, so sometimes long courts are just inevitable, but they can be made more pleasant with a little forethought and preparation.
In service to the Kingdom of Ansteorra,
Baroness Zara Zina Theanos
From: "Talen von Marienburg" <talen at microtutors.com>
To: <ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG>
Subject: RE: ANST - Coronation
Date: Wed, 30 Jul 1997 10:42:34 -0500
On Tuesday, July 29, 1997 11:30 PM, Charlene Charette
[SMTP:charlene at flash.net] wrote:
> My big pet peeve for courts: if the populace can't hear you, why the
> *&^ are you doing it in court? While I understand that not everyone in
> the back of a large court will be able to hear, I've seen this happen
> when you couldn't hear from the 2nd row.
>
> --Perronnelle
WARNING! SOAPBOX ALERT!
My lady and I were in the FRONT row at Kein & Alicia's Coronation, and we
only heard about a third of the court. Yes, projection was a problem, but
more of a problem was all the conversations occurring off to the side.
Because of the slope of the ground, I was 20 feet from the thrones. 20
feet to my left was a large group having a real good time quite loudly.
During Mahdi & Valeria's closing court I was in the back having quiet
conversations with my fellow Centurions prior to Wilhem being called. I
couldn't hear parts of our own conversations, let alone the actions within
the Royal Presence, due to a large group 30 feet behind us who were having
a REAL good time, likely with large portions of alcohol involved.
ATTEND THE COURT OR LEAVE IT! I can't believe the rudeness of some people!
A little quiet conversation is okay. A lot of it is a dull roar. All of
that is excusable, but loud and boisterous conversations, especially those
that last more than a few seconds, is INEXCUSABLE! Take your revel back to
your camp. If your camp is close to court, keep it down until court is
over or take the opportunity to visit another camp further away.
I know courts can sometimes be long and boring (to some). As an armigerous
Lord of this realm, I feel it is my responsibility to attend my King &
Queen when they hold Court. I know not everyone feels this way. It's part
of MY Dream. Quit stepping on it! In addition, if you know that you have
recommended someone for an award, even though you don't know they will be
getting it, you have an obligation to know where that person is during
court. If they aren't in attendance and can't be reached within 30 seconds
or so, too bad. It was their choice not to attend Their Majesties, and I
don't think court should be held up so someone can go running around the
camp looking for them.
Yes, during long courts sometimes people have to leave for bed, or perhaps
to take care of a child. If you know this, let the Crown know as soon as
the name is called, then ask for permission to go get them. If you don't
know where they are camped, perhaps the Crown will be understanding and go
on to other business while they are found.
And while I'm on this soapbox, let me say that Court is NOT held for the
entertainment of the Populace. Court is held for the Crown to conduct
official business pertaining to the welfare of the Kingdom. This is why
official Courts cannot be held at non-calendar events -- actions of long
term significance to the Kingdom and the SCA are conducted in Court and by
Law these can only be done at published events (I'm sure the Seneschallate
can give the more Official wording). Awards fall under this category.
Presentations to the Crown generally do not. Household business does not,
nor does it have a place in Court -- take it private. It's nice if Court
can be entertaining, but it's not necessary. Good Fools and good Court
Heralds are wonderful, but unfortunately few and far between. It would be
nice if there were more of them, but Court goes on nonetheless.
In Service to Kingdom and Shire I remain,
Talen
----------
Centurion Talen Gustaf von Marienburg - Kriegsherr von Nordsteorra
Private E-mail: talen at microtutors.com
Centurion Web Site: http://www.microtutors.com/css/css.htm
From: Burke McCrory <bmccrory at mercury.oktax.state.ok.us>
To: ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG
Date: Wed, 30 Jul 1997 15:37:57 -0500
Subject: Re: ANST - Long Courts, Loud Populace
Centurion Talen and Mistress Gunnora make some good points. Courts can be
long and the weather can be very difficult. Also the populace sometimes
are very remiss in giving the Crown their attinion. As a one who has
heralded courts for more Crowns than I want to remember, I know both sides
of the problem. The solution is really a series of steps.
1. Court heralds need to be very mindful of the fact that courts can be
long and hard to hear. They need to project and make sure that the pace is
kept running at a reasonable rate. One thing that I did was to mix up the
order of awards. Sometime I would read an AOA, then a Grant, then an AOA.
This can help to keep the populace wondering what is coming next. Also
plan your courts out before you open them as much as you are able. Master
Korwin told me once that the court herald is part showman, part fool, part
herald, and part conductor. A good court can be something that people will
remember for years to come.
2. The populace needs to remember that court is court. While we don't have
the penalties (off with their heads!!) that may have existed in period
times, we are trying to recreate as much of the flavor as possable. If you
come to court be aware that it could run long. Bring a chair and something
to drink (drinking beverages for sunburn that cause you to behave in a
socially unacceptable or impolite way whether in 1200 AD or 1997 AD is no
excuse for that behavior). If you are new to our dream ask someone about
courts and how long they may run. If you have been playing for a while
think before you come to court.
Events like Coronations and Crown Tourneys are always longer. The pomp is
a part of the day. The oaths of the knights, Landed Baron/ess, and
officers at Coronation, the sword oath and the statement of intent to fight
in Crown are all very much a part of the tapestry. Should we remove these
things to make it a little more comfortable for those of us that have done
this before and are a bit bored? That would be like removing the red
threads from a tapestry to make it easier to weave. It will lose something
in the process. I think that if we all try to work on our different parts
of the game we can all benefit and make the Dream just a little more alive.
Sir Burke Kyriell MacDonald
mka Burke McCrory
email: burkemc at ionet.net
From: "Deborah Sweet"<dssweet at okway.okstate.edu>
To: ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG
Date: Wed, 30 Jul 97 18:09:28 -0600
Subject: Re: ANST - Talen's hot button issue - court
>>>Galen wrote:
>>>(big snip - talking about presentations to the crown)
>>>But in the final court of an outgoing king & queen, this is necessarily
>>>going to happen. It's simply the last chance people have to make any
>>>sort of gift. Hopefully, people have come to love their rulers, and
>>>want to express that sentiment; I am disinclined to discourage that.
I wrote:
>>people, why lengthen court with it? Present your gift to them later that
>>night, in private or at their camp, with your thanks. If your gift is
>>for the *Crown*, then it doesn't really matter who's wearing it, now,
>>does it? If possible present your gift at another event entirely, either
>>before or after Coronation.
Burke wrote:
>This is all fine and good but sometimes gift should and need to be given in
>Court.
(snipped example from BMTIM - before my time in Mooneschadowe)
I didn't say it wasn't. I'm just urging that people think about
whether or not they need to clutter up that *particular* court (last
court or first court) with *their* presentation. Possibly the court
herald(s) need to be a little more forceful in weeding out these
"cluttering" presentations. Suggest alternatives to the potential
presentors. Maybe that person didn't *know* s/he could present the gift
*out* of court.
I really liked the way Northkeep did their presentations to the
Baron & Baroness back in November. If I'm remembering right, the herald
requested that everyone with gifts to line up in a long line & briefly
give each present to the b&b. It was noisy, but it was kind of a time to
stand up & stretch while this huge line slowly wound its way to the
front of the hall. After everyone that wanted to had presented
something, the herald loudly announced what most of the gifts were. All
in all though, it took a shorter amount of time than calling each
individual presentation up would have. It did take up "official" court
time, but it was a permissible time to be loud in court.
But to get back to the example you told, I've never heard that
story. So who all went, more names, more details. Etc, etc, etc. Or in
other words, what other stories of early Mooneschadowe (BMTIM) are you
holding out?
Estrill
Mooneschadeen
From: Tim McDaniel <tmcd at crl.com>
To: ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG
Date: Wed, 30 Jul 1997 23:29:38 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: Re: ANST - Talen's hot button issue - court
On Wed, 30 Jul 1997, Paul Mitchell <paul.t.mitchell at lmco.com> wrote:
> I discouraged them as much as possible, but as herald I am not
> inclined to tell the King's vassal that they can't have time in the
> King's court.
It's not the herald's court, it's the Crown's court! It's not the
herald's right to let *any* person into what is the *Crown's* court
(unless the Crown delegates the decisions, IMHO). If the argument of
courtesy doesn't work for you, I note kingdom law VII.1.b. "Any
person with business before the Royal Court shall petition the Crown
prior to the beginning of Court." as well as a, "The Royal Court shall
be in session, at the pleasure and convenience of the Crown, at any
event of the Society ...".
(I am told that some people went up and interrupted Madhi and
Valeria's stepping-down court. If it wasn't with pre-arrangement with
the Crown, I think they should have been banished from the Royal
Presence on the spot, enforced by guards if necessary. That's the
mildest banishment, the "get outta Our Faces" banishment: they have to
avoid the presence of the Crown, but have no other hinderance.)
(I make lots of jokes and snarky remarks, but I get Dead Serious when
I'm doing court. It's a performance and I'll damned well do it right.)
When I was a local herald, I would talk to the baron early. I might
say, "It's Warlord / Twelfth Night, and there's a lot of business, so
I suggest there be no presentations, squirings, et cetera in court",
and Baron Edwin would then agree. Actually, he'd probably start by
telling *me* that. Sometimes, tho, he'd say "It's a small revel /
event, and there's no royalty present to hold court, so sure, let's
have presentations.". When crying the camp / hall, I'd usually say
"Presentations may be made to the baron during feast" or "If you have
business in baronial court, please see me", respectively.
-- Also note that Steppes courts under Edwin should never end with the
herald asking, "Is there any other business before this court?". If
he does say that, I would expect it to be a mistake. It was always
"There being no further business, ...". There have been rare
exceptions of interruptions, but it's usually something very major
("they're towing cars", expensive lost property, that sort of thing).
I would strongly advise against interrupting court unless it's major
and you're willing to take the heat.
--
Daniel de Lincoln
Tim McDaniel; Reply-To: tmcd at crl.com
tmcd at tmcd.austin.tx.us is wrong tool. Never use this.
Date: Tue, 16 Sep 1997 14:09:16 -0600
From: Nancy Lynch <lughbec at info2000.net>
To: SCA-ARTS LIST <sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu>
Subject: Irish documented court ceremonies request
Currently I am researching to document Irish period court ceremonies.
Thus far I have located a few, with the most flamboyant being the "Irish
Submission" of the Chieftain O'Neil to Queen Elizabeth. While that is
really fabulous, it is also for a chieftain who was trying to make a
military point. Perhaps that was typical of Irish behavior. But I
would enjoy at least one second period source.
I am more interested in those involving Irish, or at least Celtic, women
of rank. There are many histories of the ancient times (pre-period) but
I was wondering if anyone had a good historical account of "during
period".
Sonas ort! (Happiness on you!)
TH Lady Lughbec ni Eoin
Date: Wed, 17 Sep 1997 10:10:37 -0500 (CDT)
From: "J. Patrick Hughes" <jphughes at raven.cc.ukans.edu>
To: sca-arts at listproc.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Irish documented court ceremonies request
For quite a while I have been interested in Irish ceremonial.
Particularly useful has been the article "The Consecration of Irish Kings"
in _Celtica_, Vol X, 1973. I am particularly interested in the
installation of the OConnor at Carnfree in the 15th century but have yet
to track down the sources to it. I am aware of the series of Irish
appearances at the Court of Henry VIII as part of his surrender and
regrant policy. These included the O'Neill at Greenwich ion 1 October
1542, the Upper MacWilliam Burke and the O'Brien in 1543. But I do not
have any original descriptions of these and would dearly like such. The
O'Neill's submission to Elizabeth on 6 January 1562 is noted in a number
of works but details from a period source are still eluding me. Grey's
installation as Deputy for Ireland at Dublin in 1580 was a noted
ceremonial which impressed several with its pomp, but I am still looking
for details. I am hampered by having only limited access to a research
library that does not concentrate in this area. If you have details on
the O'Neill submission I would be most interested. There is the famed
visit of Grania ni Malley, Chieftainess of the seagoing Clan O'Malley, to
the court of Elizabeth at Greenwich in 1593, but there does not seem to be
a first hand account of the meeting.
Charles O'Connor
jphughes at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Date: Wed, 17 Sep 1997 09:46:48 -0600
From: Nancy Lynch <lughbec at info2000.net>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Irish documented court ceremonies request
J. Patrick Hughes wrote:
>
> For quite a while I have been interested in Irish ceremonial.
> Particularly useful has been the article "The Consecration of Irish Kings"
> in _Celtica_, Vol X, 1973.
Is this a magazine? How should I search for it?
<snipeth>
First had accounts of any Royal Irish meetings would be helpful.
> O'Neill's submission to Elizabeth on 6 January 1562 is noted in a number
> of works but details from a period source are still eluding me.
Since it is in "Twilight Lords - an Irish Chronicle" (page 24)by Richard
Berleth, perhaps his bibliography would help, if I had some idea which
book to start with -there are a couple dozen... I am not well read in
late period books yet so would appreciate some guidance as to which I
should start with.
If you have details on
> the O'Neill submission I would be most interested.
In the Twilight Lords, around page 24
There is the famed
> visit of Grania ni Malley, Chieftainess of the seagoing Clan O'Malley, to
> the court of Elizabeth at Greenwich in 1593, but there does not seem to be
> a first hand account of the meeting.
Then how is it famed? There must be something... somewhere...:)
Sonas ort! (Happiness on you!)
Lughbec
Date: Wed, 17 Sep 1997 11:44:44 -0500 (CDT)
From: "J. Patrick Hughes" <jphughes at raven.cc.ukans.edu>
To: sca-arts at listproc.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Irish documented court ceremonies request
Good and worthy Lughbec,
I referred to _Celtica_, and you asked Is this a magazine? How should I
search for it?
It is a scholarly periodical which I accessed at the Ohio State Library.
I said I was interested in O'Neill's submission to Elizabeth on 6 January
1562. You noted Since it is in "Twilight Lords - an Irish Chronicle"
(page 24) by Richard Berleth, perhaps his bibliography would help, if I
had some idea which book to start with -there are a couple dozen... I am
not well read in late period books yet so would appreciate some guidance
as to which I should start with." I agree that the use of chapter source
notes instead of end notes is frustrating with this author. But in this
case, he lists nothing that I could trace back to a contemporary source on
this incident. His account I did find most interesting, but I want better
than a secondary source on it.
I stated There is the famed visit of Grania ni Malley, Chieftainess of the
seagoing Clan O'Malley, to the court of Elizabeth at Greenwich in 1593,
but there does not seem to be a first hand account of the meeting.
You replied "Then how is it famed? There must be something...
somewhere...:)"
Maybe it is more famed with Mayo folk such as myself than the general
public but the Pennsylvania Ren Fest has (freely interpreted) made it a
part of their stock show. Morgan Llywelyn made a novel about Grania ni
Malley. The best factual biography of Grania is by Anne Chambers
_Granuaile: the Life and Times of Grace O'Malley_. She comments (p 143)
The details of the meeting of these two women...must unfortunately remain
in the realm of fantasy and legend." The author follows that with a deal
of speculation on what was worn and statements of what traditions
(centuries later) said about the meeting.
Charles O'Connor
Date: Wed, 17 Sep 1997 12:56:41 -0400 (EDT)
From: Maradin at aol.com
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Irish documented court ceremonies request
_Celtica_ is a scholarly periodical, and every university library I've ever
poked around in has it in their stacks.
Gwydion
Date: Wed, 17 Sep 1997 12:59:06 -0400
From: Becky Needham <betony at infinet.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Irish documented court ceremonies request
> There is the famed
> > visit of Grania ni Malley, Chieftainess of the seagoing Clan O'Malley, to
> > the court of Elizabeth at Greenwich in 1593, but there does not seem to be
> > a first hand account of the meeting.
>
> Then how is it famed? There must be something... somewhere...:)
> Lughbec
I believe it was the History Channel had a mini series on Pirates a few
weeks ago, and Grania was one of the twain they previewed that night.
It does mention her meeting with Elizabeth and one of the main topics of
their discussion was the death or imprisonment of her son. Whatever
they spoke in private, according to the writer, Grania fared well out of
it.
Bet
Date: Wed, 17 Sep 1997 14:09:43 -0500 (CDT)
From: "J. Patrick Hughes" <jphughes at raven.cc.ukans.edu>
To: sca-arts at listproc.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Irish documented court ceremonies request
There is an effort to assemble court and ceremonial occasions for Wales by
Mistress Tangwystl in her journal _Y Camamseriad_, Issue 4, Summer 1996.
She notes that the needs of the Society for ceremonies and the needs of
the Welsh do not always match and that we will have to "take inspiration"
rather than directly use their examples.
Charles O'Connor
jphughes at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 11:35:03 -0500 (CDT)
From: "J. Patrick Hughes" <jphughes at raven.cc.ukans.edu>
To: sca-arts at listproc.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Irish documented court ceremonies request
In going through my notes for citations that I plan to look up when I have
acess to a decent research library, I cam across these promicing entries:
G.A Hayes-McCoy, The making of an ONeill: a view of the ceremony at
Tullaghoge, County Tyrone, _Ulster Journal Of Archaeology_, 3rd ser.,
XXXIII (1970), pp 89-94.
H.F. Hore, Inauguration of Irish Chiefs, _Ulster Journal Of Archaeology_,
1st ser., V (1857), pp 216-35.
James Hogan, Shane ONeill Comes to the Court of Queen Elizabeth, _Esseys
Presented to Torna, ed. S. Pender (Cork, 1947)
As people might imagine these are not available locally where I am ; (
Charles O'Connor
jphughes at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: ANST - Court Herald Style
Date: Wed, 07 Jan 98 10:52:13 MST
From: "Timothy A. McDaniel" <tmcd at crl.com>
To: ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG
I have some experience as a court herald and I always use a script. I
just have this aversion to starting with, for example, "This opens the
court of Edwin fitz Lloyd, Baron of the Steppes, in the presence of
Their Majesties ... um ... err ..." (as one possible example), or
worse, "in the presence of Their Majesties Inman and Alianora" or
whoever his earlier queen was -- I DON'T WANT ANY INFORMATION ABOUT
ANYONE BUT ATHENA. DON'T YOU DARE REPLY. IF THE ONLY NAME I'M
FAMILIAR WITH IS ATHENA, I'M LESS LIKELY TO MAKE THAT MISTAKE.
<plugging his ears> LA LA LA LA LA ... I'M NOT LISTENING ...
Another important thing to script is the closing, lest you forget to
vivat the queen or something.
When someone wants an announcement made in court, I ask them to write
it themselves, so I don't mangle it further.
I also write down the people who are getting awards.
I also write an overall timeline -- for example: royal open, local
open, baron speaks, baronial (announcements, non-armig, AoA, low-level
kingdom in baronial (Thistles, usu.), local armig), crown speaks,
crown biz, baronial last announcements, local close, royal close.
That's just one example.
--
Daniel de Lincoln
Tim McDaniel. Reply to tmcd at crl.com; if that fail, tmcd at austin.ibm.com
is work account. tmcd at tmcd.austin.tx.us ... is wrong tool. Never use this.
Subject: RE: ANST - Court Herald Style
Date: Wed, 07 Jan 98 11:33:18 MST
From: John Ruble <ulf at urocor.com>
To: "'ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG'" <ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG>
Daniel said:
><snip> I DON'T WANT ANY INFORMATION ABOUT ANYONE BUT ATHENA.
Wait until I tell His Grace...
Daniel also said:
><snip>I also write down the people who are getting awards.
>
><snip>I also write an overall timeline -- for example: royal open, local
>open, baron speaks, baronial (announcements, non-armig, AoA, low-level
>kingdom in baronial (Thistles, usu.), local armig), crown speaks,
>crown biz, baronial last announcements, local close, royal close.
>That's just one example.
I carry a few 3x5 cards in my pouch for such things. Anyone who has gone
to college will agree that a LOT of information can be crammed on one of
those things. With a paper clip, you can attach it to the inside bottom
of a Herald's Book, where it is out of the way of any scrolls. If you
get up there and no Book is available, the card fits neatly into your
hand instead.
Try to leave room on the card to renumber everything at least once, and
to write in last minute business.
Just remember to be at ease with the crowd. Chances are, most of them
know you. They'll forgive the small mistakes and lost-thought-trains
that you will undoubtedly experience. And for the bigger mistakes,
well, stand closer to the Crown so that they don't dare shoot!
Ulf Gunnarsson
Subject: Re: ANST - Court Herald Style
Date: Wed, 07 Jan 98 11:17:11 MST
From: "Lisa A. May" <xylm1 at ttacs.ttu.edu>
To: ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG
>Baron Leofric has undoubtedly given the best advice for an aspiring Court
Herald... get a script! I recall the court he refers below...
While I don't doubt that a full script would be helpful indeed, at least
have an outline of what's happening during court. One thing that we always
made a point of doing was to provide our heralds with a typewritten,
triple-spaced agenda for each court. That way we could decide the order in
which we wished to give out the awards without spending time at the event
conferring with our herald.
The typewritten portion had the recipient's name, the award to be given,
and the reason they were getting the award -- this allowed our herald to
remind us why we were giving each award so that we could say something
personal to each person (remember, Crowns seldom know all the persons they
are rewarding). We took stuff from the award recommendations to comment on
so that we could personalize each award, so we really appreciated complete
recommendations.
We triple spaced the agenda so that our herald could add new business that
came up during the event in appropriate spots. The agenda was also very
helpful when the herald wrote up his or her report on the event.
Probably what we appreciated most in a herald was the ability to quietly
remind us of what we needed to know in order to personalize each award
given -- little tidbits about someone that we didn't know but that he had
found out about. Also, the ability to ad-lib when necessary to keep court
from dragging when there was just a ton of business to get through. Of
course, your freedom to do that depends on the Noble you are heralding for,
but comic relief can be a life-saver during a long court.
Margaret
Countess Margaret ny Connor
Barony of Bonwicke
Kingdom of Ansteorra
Subject: Re: ANST - Court Herald Style
Date: Wed, 07 Jan 98 12:26:21 MST
From: "Lori Campbell" <ossm.edu!LCAMPBEL at uunet.uucp>
To: Ansteorra.ORG!ansteorra at uunet.uucp
> I also write down the people who are getting awards.
This is a really good idea if you are lucky enough to have time.
Often, however, heralds are handed a stack of scrolls just as
everyone is ready to process in for court. If you happen to be
a new herald and have never even seen the scroll texts, you get the
time-honored privilege of sight reading and deciphering the strangely
structured english and calligraphy - not to mention the fun of trying
to record who got what, for your report, as you give the scrolls
away....
Here's a suggestion for new heralds. If you know (or strongly
suspect) that you will be heralding court, try to get the scrolls
about an hour before court. You should be able to fill out your
heralds report and decipher any names and text you can't clearly
read. Also, Post-it notes work really well for writing down phonetic
spellings of names - and they're easy to remove as you pass the
scroll off to whichever noble is holding court.
- just a suggestion from someone who has never actually heralded a
court, but who has on occassion tried to make life easier on those
who do.
- Kat MacLochlainn
Barony of Wiesenfeuer
lcampbel at ossm.edu
Subject: Re: ANST - Court Herald Style
Date: Wed, 07 Jan 98 12:57:16 MST
From: "Timothy A. McDaniel" <tmcd at crl.com>
To: ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG
Amra wrote:
> Another *excellent* tool to have on hand is a "booklight" or other
> supplemental source of lighting which can be kept inconspicuous but
> allow reading of any documents.
This is a hint I got from Tadhg Liath ... hie thee to the Container
Store. (If thy town is so benighted as not to have one,
hie thee to Dallas or Austin or possibly other places, or cornerest
me at an event.) There is a device called Beam and Read. THey
keep it on the knick-knack towers near the registers.
It is a light that hangs around one's neck. The lid with the bulb
flips up to turn it on, and you can adjust the angle so that
the charter is lit but nobody in the audience can see the light.
It is a wonder and a marvel and I hand them out like mad.
It's the true herald's friend.
Daniel de Lincoln
--
Tim McDaniel. Reply to tmcd at crl.com; if that fail, tmcd at austin.ibm.com
is work account. tmcd at tmcd.austin.tx.us ... is wrong tool. Never use this.
Subject: RE: ANST - Court Herald Style
Date: Wed, 07 Jan 98 13:36:05 MST
From: "Martin, Brian" <bmartin at origin.ea.com>
To: "'ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG'" <ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG>
I have no problem with book lights like the ones described by Daniel
as long as they can't be seen. I've seen heralds actually holding a
flashlight while doing court and its just, well, wrong. Its mundane. I
really hate terribly mundane sources of light at SCA events. A small
light that the herald can hod behind the book is okay but not those
big ones. When heralding in poorly lit areas, I will opt for a torch,
candle or lantern every time. If non of those are available, I think
that I'd rather recite the scrolls from memory rather than use a
flashlight that can be seen by the audience. So there. :)
-Pendaran
Subject: Re: ANST - Court Herald Style
Date: Wed, 07 Jan 98 18:22:29 MST
From: heatherford.manor at juno.com (Kateryn R Heathryge)
To: ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG
On Tue, 6 Jan 1998 17:56:38 -0600 jurgens at ghg.net (Frank D. Jurgens)
writes:
>A not on voice projection that I tell heralds: the voice is like any other
>wind instrument, the more air that is moved the louder the sound. When
>projecting your voice, you will use more air and will have to take breaths
>more often. The extreme of this is heralding outside and trying to cover a
>very wide area (such as the camping area). When crying the camp, I will
>breath after as 4 words depending on how loud I am trying to be.
I like the term "breath support", as that is how it feels for me.
Also, please feel free to practice, practice, practice. Find a willing
person to stand a long way back from you and tell them to listen and
critique whether you are loud enough and distinct enough. Or, find a
long room with bad accoustics and see if you can hear your voice bounce
off the back wall (much more fun, and doesn't require a willing
vict..uuh, participant).
Also, for the all-important breathing, try this. Put a book edge-wise
against a wall and your diaphram against the other edge of the book. If
you are breathing correctly, you will push yourself out from the wall.
fustrated music teacher stuck subbing. Chee, it's nice to use my real
skills!
Kateryn Heathrydge
Three Rivers, Calontir
Subject: Re: ANST - Court Herald Style
Date: Wed, 07 Jan 98 18:27:08 MST
From: heatherford.manor at juno.com (Kateryn R Heathryge)
To: ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG
On Wed, 7 Jan 1998 13:48:14 -0600 Nan Bradford-Reid
<ad-4na at mail.utexas.edu> writes:
>There are one or two heralds in the kingdom who get so wrapped up in trying
>to sound English, or something, that you can't understand them unless they
>are facing you directly. If they turn their heads while heralding,
>you lose everything.
(Kateryn reaches for music teacher hat again)
Actually, to be heard, one should stand with hips, shoulders and ears in
line so that the air column is straight, and your face should be pointed
at the audience. Just looking at the middle of the back row does wonders
for projection. Usually this is not a problem for the herald, but any
presenters really need to remember this.
Kateryn Heathrydge
Three Rivers, Calontir
Subject: RE: ANST - Court Herald Style
Date: Wed, 07 Jan 98 23:01:38 MST
From: Tim McDaniel <tmcd at crl.com>
To: ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG
On Wed, 7 Jan 1998, John Ruble <ulf at urocor.com> wrote:
> Just remember to be at ease with the crowd. Chances are, most of
> them know you. They'll forgive the small mistakes and
> lost-thought-trains that you will undoubtedly experience. And for
> the bigger mistakes, well, stand closer to the Crown so that they
> don't dare shoot!
These notes are not just for court, but for any public performance.
They'll never know about some of the mistakes. The following is an
invented scenario: "Shit, where's the insignia?! Quick! they're
already coming up the aisle!!" "I know them, so I'll give them my
insignia and tell them I'm so impressed with them, and dig another out
of the baronial box later." In a play, if you forget the exact line,
try to do the sense.
The best policy is not to stop, and do not acknowledge the error, or
if you must, do so briefly and go on. ("Did he just say Outman and
Aryanhwy? Well, nobody reacted, so I must have misheard. / Nobody
reacted, so it must be no big deal.") The worst thing is to make a
big deal out of it. Just keep tap-dancing and don't look down.
Court heralds always have at least one Court From Hell, with one
disaster following another (dropping scrolls in the mud, forgetting
business, ...). I'm sure players (actors) do too.
--
Daniel de Lincoln
Tim McDaniel; Reply-To: tmcd at crl.com; if that fail, tmcd at austin.ibm.com
is work address. tmcd at tmcd.austin.tx.us is wrong tool. Never use this.
Subject: RE: ANST - Court Herald Style
Date: Thu, 08 Jan 98 18:56:57 MST
From: "Martin, Brian" <bmartin at origin.ea.com>
To: "'ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG'" <ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG>
<<Comments below>>
These notes are not just for court, but for any public performance.
They'll never know about some of the mistakes. The following is an
invented scenario: "Shit, where's the insignia?! Quick! they're
already coming up the aisle!!" "I know them, so I'll give them my
insignia and tell them I'm so impressed with them, and dig another
out
of the baronial box later." In a play, if you forget the exact line,
try to do the sense.
Pendaran writes:
Well, Daniel, you're invented scenario happens all the time. Something
that I'm certain you are quite aware of. However, I'll share a real
life incident that occurred during TRM Kein and Alisha's Twelfth Night
court during Their first reign:
There Majesties decided to make Baron Hakkon, (sp?), then Baron of
Bonwicke a Lion of Ansteorra. I had forgotten to get Hakkon's full
name, (forgetting one of the three Ps of heraldry - Preparation), and
didn't think about it until the end of court when I called the Order
of the Lions into court. Immediately after calling the Lions, I turned
to Master Cynric, who was Sable Scroll at the time, and told him that
I didn't know Hakkon's full name. Cynric asked me if the king knew. I
thought that was a good idea, so while Cynric dived for his edition of
the OP and as the Lions made their way forward, I leaned over Kein's
shoulder and asked Him what Hakkon's last name was. He looked at me
very casually and informed me that He had no idea.
As Kein got up and began to extol the virtues of the Order of the
Lions, I was hissing at Cynric to hurry up and find Hakkon's name and
he was hissing back at me to keep my hosen on; and that he couldn't
concentrate with me looming over him and so forth. I abandoned
pestering Cynric in favor of asking about behind the thrones for
anyone from Bonwicke who would know their Baron's last name.
Of course, no Bonwicke folk were back there at the time. About that
time, Kein turned to me and instructed me call the next Lion of
Ansteorra forward. As I drew in a deep breath to call "His Excellency,
Baron Hakkon What's His Name" (or some such nonsense), I saw Cynric
stand up next to me, facing forward as though nothing were amiss. I
called out "Will His Excellency Baron Hakkon"
and Cynric whispered "Dedekker" (sp??) and I repeated the last name
without breaking stride and no one in front of the thrones was any the
wiser for our moments of panic.
Cynric and I were approached after court by a very nice lady who told
me that she was impressed how smoothly Kein and Alisha's courts always
ran and that we were obviously very prepared and at ease behind the
thrones. Cynric and just smiled, thanked her for the compliment and
laughed to ourselves. if only the general populace knew how often such
things happen. :)
-Pendaran
Subject: Re: ANST - Meetings and Volume at any Court
Date: Wed, 14 Jan 98 13:17:37 MST
From: "Vicki Marsh" <zarazina at flash.net>
To: "Ansteorra" <ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG>
I have some ideas that help when running Court. When Llywelyn and I became
Baron and Baroness, we wracked our brains (and the brains of our friends) to
come up with what does and doesn't work in courts and how to best deal with
them.
1. Only official business should be conducted.
2. Presentations that can be done at other times (like during feast),
should be. We can speak to the populace during those times and give proper
word fame for the presentors. It does not have to be during court.
3. It is better to have two - three small courts at each event than to have
one huge one. Each one can be very important, but each one is not so long as
to be painful.
4. The populace's comfort level (heat, cold, sun-in-the-eyes, hunger, etc.)
is more important than our own discomfort. If we have to move the
pavillions or thrones around, or change our time schedules to better fit the
weather, then so be it.
5. Court should not be boring, and neither should the feast. An
entertainment steward (lady-in-waiting, valet, herald,etc.) can help
coordinate presentations and performances, if need be.
6. Always work with your herald (and the Crown and the Crown's herald, if
they are there) and the event steward in advance. Prior planning always
pays off.
7. Surprises are not usually good.
8. Everything is subject to change at the last minute, so just learn to "go
with the flow" and minimize the damage.
9. Above all, remember to have fun (but never at the expense of others).
Many of these thoughts have been put forth by others on this list. I do not
like the idea of planning AOA or below courts and GOA and above courts, but
some courts where TRM are unable to attend end up that way. Generally,
Grants and above are only given out by TRM, but exceptions have been made
for some Iris' and Stars of Merit.
Baroness Zara Zina Theanos
Subject: Re: ANST - AOA/GOA etc courts
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 98 00:26:42 MST
From: Burke McCrory <burkemc at ionet.net>
To: ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG
>As for making courts more interesting: one thing Atlantia
>did at their recent 12th Night was mix up the order of
>awards -- they weren't given in precedence order. I know
>it's been done elsewhere. I think that would add more
>uncertainty, and hence spice, over the ordinary Ansteorran
>practice.
>--
>Daniel de Lincolia
>Tim McDaniel; Reply-To: tmcd at crl.com; if that fail, tmcd at austin.ibm.com
I agree, changing up the order was one of the things that I like to do when
I herald Court. It keeps the audience guessing and usually can allow you
to surprise a person with their award. One thing that Master Korwin taught
me was that the court is the responsibility of the herald that includes
things like pacing and order. One of the ways that I alter that pace of a
court is to vary the distance that I will allow a recipient to go before I
call up the next peace of business. In a long court you can save as much
as 20 min. if you shorten the distance to the next piece of business. Also
it is imperative that you coordinate the awards with the people giving the
regalia to the Crown. They need to know what pieces of regalia are going
to be required before you start court. Also take the time to look over the
list of awards before you actually start. Even if you delay court for 2 or
3 min. it will be better than a 5 min delay while you shuffle paper and
look confused.
Sir Burke Kyriell MacDonald
Baron of Wiesenfeuer
Kingdom of Ansteorra
Subject: Re: ANST - Court Herald Style
Date: Mon, 19 Jan 98 16:57:16 MST
From: Charlene Charette <charlene at flash.net>
To: ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG
Frank D. Jurgens wrote:
> A not on voice projection that I tell heralds: the voice is like any other
> wind instrument, the more air that is moved the louder the sound. When
> projecting your voice, you will use more air and will have to take breaths
> more often. The extreme of this is heralding outside and trying to cover
> a very wide area (such as the camping area). When crying the camp, I will
> breath after as 4 words depending on how loud I am trying to be.
Also, be sure to warm up the voice before heralding. I've seen people
strain their voice badly because they didn't warm up first.
--Perronnelle
From: "Timothy Rayburn" <timothy at elfsea.net>
Date: Mon Jun 30, 2003 9:59:49 AM US/Central
To: "Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc." <ansteorra at ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Ansteorra] RE: Just a Question
From: "R. Smith" <russ at randomgang.com>
> Some have brought up modern niceties like sound systems. Sir Burke, the one
> at ATYC was not a bad thing -- that hall is hideous for acoustics, as you
> well know, and indeed, many of the courts in which I have felt like I was
> witnessing the aforementioned private meetings have happened in that hall
> (even when I have been seated in the third row!) The ampitheater at Dakani
> was also dicey for audibility and worse for visibility, as you pointed
> out.
I could be proven wrong by someone, but I do believe that for running
sound systems at an event, I have done so more than any other person in
the Kingdom. I organized the sound systems for the coronations of
Drake & Kayleigh, and Timo & Alysson, as well as having organized them
for several other events such as Elfsea Defenders & Springfaires. I
also happen to have a bit of first hand knowledge as to what it takes
to herald a court so that it can be heard.
On the table, yes, Canton's hall is a acoustic nightmare, and Ennis
isn't a heck of alot better. But the real problem with sound systems
is that they come in two flavors.
The first involves, as Sir Burke had done at ATYC, a simple stand
microphone. It gets people heard, but is immensely intrusive into the
feel of our Courts. The Crown is suddenly a subject of the
microphone's kingdom, being forced to enter it's presence in order to
speak to their subjects.
The second is the type I am more comfortable with, which involves the
use of wireless microphones, lots of them. To do a Steppe's 12th night
well takes, as an opener, 9 wireless microphones and having a stand
microphone would be very good as well. This then requires at least a
10 input mixer (which none of the regular sites we use are equipped
with) and someone trained to run it. This assumes that amplification
and speakers are already equipped in the hall (ala Canton & Ennis).
In either scenario, a Sound System is intrusive to a medieval feel.
One worse than the other, but intrusive either way. Use of a sound
system at a Coronation has a notable effect on the 'noise' level of the
hall, but it does not get rid of it. So being able to hear is a
definite factor.
At most courts, noise is a cascading problem. It starts with people
who are sitting back far enough that, given the Herald that is
speaking, the cannot hear. They begin to talk, making it harder for
those closer than they to hear, and they begin to talk, etc.
Solution? Certainly not to run sound at every event, at least not
immediately. Well done sound systems require a major expense for the
event (The coronations I did ran at least 350-500 dollars ... that's a
buck a head at the event). While that is a major expense, that
equipment is rented. Just one of the good microphones in use would
cost $1,500 dollars, so renting is preferable unless nearly event Royal
Presence event started using sound systems. This ignores the need to
train people in how to run a sound system well, how to teach our
heralds and royalty how to work with a sound system, etc. And even if
all of the above happened, a sound system would still take some of the
charm out of our courts. Do you like it when the King walks out
amoungst the populace to speak on something passionately? That's a
sound system nightmare, I assure you.
As with most things, there is no replacement for good behavior. And,
if I may be so blunt, except for very large events (Warlord, Defender,
major Investitures, Coronations, 500+ people), if everyone was quiet,
and a compitent Court Herald was used, there should be no problems.
Timothy of Glastinbury
From: Burke McCrory <bmccrory at oktax.state.ok.us>
Date: Mon Jun 30, 2003 10:30:03 AM US/Central
To: ansteorra at ansteorra.org
Subject: [Ansteorra] Sound Systems in Court (was Just a Question)
> The first involves, as Sir Burke had done at ATYC, a simple stand
> microphone. It gets people heard, but is immensely intrusive into the
> feel of our Courts. The Crown is suddenly a subject of the
> microphone's kingdom, being forced to enter it's presence in order to
> speak to their subjects.
>
> The second is the type I am more comfortable with, which involves the
> use of wireless microphones, lots of them. To do a Steppe's 12th
> night well takes, as an opener, 9 wireless microphones and having a
> stand microphone would be very good as well. This then requires at
> least a 10 input mixer (which none of the regular sites we use are
> equipped with) and someone trained to run it. This assumes that
> amplification and speakers are already equipped in the hall (ala
> Canton & Ennis).
>
> In either scenario, a Sound System is intrusive to a medieval feel.
> One worse than the other, but intrusive either way. Use of a sound
> system at a Coronation has a notable effect on the 'noise' level of
> the hall, but it does not get rid of it. So being able to hear is a
> definite factor.
Several years ago when Wiesenfeuer use to hold its annual Yule Revel in
the old armory in Edmond, Ok we had similar problems. As you might
suspect and armory is not the best place for acoustics and court was
held on a raised stage at one end of the hall. With the hall full of
people you have had the same problems that Einis or Canton has. To fix
this I rigged a single area microphone and placed it on the floor in
front of the stage. It was hidden behind some yule greenery so it was
not visible and was adjusted to only pickup strong sounds from the area
in front of it. The sound volume level was set so that the system
acted as a boost for the court proceedings but didn't pickup every
conversation. The herald still had to project his voice and the
Crown/Baron/ess still had to speak up just like a normal court but it
kept the audience involved in the court while still allowing the
principals to have private conversations when necessary. Something
very similar to this could be rigged at almost any indoor court using a
stand-up or spider microphone. Of course wireless is the best but Even
if you only use three mics (Crown and Herald) it will still be
expensive to set up. I wonder if we could get someone to donate the
equipment? Just a thought.
Sir Burke
From: "Elaine Crittenden" <letebts at earthlink.net>
Date: Mon Jun 30, 2003 10:26:24 AM US/Central
To: "Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc." <ansteorra at ansteorra.org>,
"Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc." <ansteorra at ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Ansteorra] Banner for "Just a Question" thread
It sounds stupid, and I am sure there will be no end of naysayers to the
following:
In some of the very ritziest hotels, there are signs middle of the hallways,
as normal bedtimes approach, asking for people to be quiet. One I saw in W.
VA. said, "Shhh. It's sleepytime down South." Gentle, but the point was
gotten across.
For the same purpose, there could be a Banner Bearer who, at times of most
noise, be asked by the peer in charge to pass among the populace with a
T-supported banner of the same ilk saying something like, "Shhh! Court is in
session."
Court is not interrupted, no one is pointed out, no one is offended and
everyone is quietly reminded. I can envision someone who is chatting being
nudged by another who then points to the banner, since everyone is under the
same injunction.
If the first banner is ineffective, a second could be carried throughout the
hall saying something about its being good manners to respect court
proceedings in quietude.
If these ideas are amenable to those on this thread, could you offer some
ideas as to the wording for Banner One and any subsequent ones?
Lete
PS. I very much like the idea of a sound system. Of course, it's not Period,
but then, neither are flourescent lights nor air conditioning systems.
There is, however, an amusing story about my being ignorant of where some
microphones are placed:
Being close to full Social Security age, getting up from a kneeling position
is not always easy. When my Baron was graciously helping me up from having
received an award, I, in gratitude, whispered, 'The "Old Broad" (me) needs
help getting up!" It went directly into the microphone clipped to his chest.
Of course, my little confidential statement went out over the sound system,
and the whole hall got a giggle.
<the end>