Saturday, November 22, 2014

Charles ap Brochfael Tyger's Cub

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

We've heard of Charles ap Brochfael
His ready wit and charming laugh.
We've heard of his kindness and courage great,
That he'd take on the Frumious Bandersnatch!
 
In uffish thought We stood
King Edward stalwart  and Queen Thyra  good
When Charles, the Beamish Boy, came into sight
Playing in Our Rusted Woods, with great delight.
We take Our vorpal sword in hand
And moved are We by the Tumtum tree to make of thee
A member of the Tyger's Cub.

And as thou, Charles do receive this award
O, frabjous day! Callough! Callay!
We chortle with our joy.

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Done this day November the 22, AS 49 in our Shire of Rusted Woodlands at the 100 Minutes War.


Words by Aislinn Chiabach

Illumination by Rennewief Von Grunewald

Calligraphy by Colin MacLaren




"We’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."

"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.

"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t BLOG here.”

-Lewis Carroll, with all the love.

I was writing for my own child and I wanted it to be special! Inspiration finally came.  I have called Charlie “My Beamish Boy” since he was an infant.  When he was a toddler he had Jabberwocky memorized.  My choice to filk was clear was clear.  At first I was trepidatious;  Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll is centuries out of period and a well-known poem at that.

But in the end,  it was for a Tyger’s Cub and it was a poem that he loved.  Once I made the decision, I went with it.
I kept the first verse (and the last verse) verbatim to the original poem:

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

 Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:

All mimsy were the borogoves,

 And the mome raths outgrabe.”

 

I tried to keep to the cadence and wordcount of the original poem and incorporate the poem and the information needed in the scroll.  Altogether I thought it came out very well! 
Charlie certainly appreciated it.

Unofficial Court Report for 100 Minutes War








Saturday, March 22, 2014

Hugoline the Delicate of House Three Skulls Award of Arms

House 3 skulls stands on a solid frame.
Those who fight with skill and vigor. Those who play with dance and song.
Those that serve with guidance and care. When We hear of one who gives up her time and skills without thought of worldly benefit. One who toils in the hottest sun for the benefit of those much smaller than herself. We are moved and with great alacrity announce to all: That we, King Kennric and Queen Avelina in our most quoggy of lands, reveal to all that Hugoline for her service of years and most specially this common thread, the care and nurture of that we hold most dear, the young of our tremendous Kingdom of the East. Unto Hugoline the Delicate we endow Arms that she may wear with joy from this juncture forth. Done this Mudthaw, in the Barony of Settmour Swamp on March 22, AS XLVIII Word count 151


“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift... that's why they call it BLOG” ― Master Oogway (More or Less)

This scroll went through 3 iterations with  the calligrapher/illuminator encouraging me to keep adding more!  Knowing  that the scroll was going to be embroidered, I initially  aimed very low on the words. With Eleanor’s encouragement I worked on through three iterations until I was at 151 words!.
The style I worked with is a traditional scroll format. Loosely based on treatises and charters in the SCA time period. As such I don’t particularly have a source or writing style that I was basing it on.  An excellent source for this style is On Writing an Award Scroll.


House 3 skulls stands on a solid frame. Those who fight with skill and vigor. Those who play with dance and song. Those that serve with guidance and care. 

The number 3 is a part of the house’s name, and so I reflected that in 3 sentences that represented them.The last sentence represented the recipient and why they were receiving the award.


When We hear of one who gives up her time and skills without thought of worldly benefit. One who toils in the hottest sun for the benefit of those much smaller than herself.

This includes a personal reference to the many times I had worked with Hugoline at Pennsic Children’s Activities.


We are moved and with great alacrity announce to all:

That we, King Kennric and Queen Avelina in our most quoggy of lands, 

I absolutely adore being able to use quoggy or whatever iteration of the word in reference to an event held in Settmour Swamp, especially Mudthaw.


Reveal to all that Hugoline for her service of  years and most specially this common thread,
“Common thread” was my reference in the words to the embroidered nature of the scroll. I managed to stitch it into the piece, while not dégradé-ing the meaning.
I’m punny.


The care and nurture that we hold most dear, the young of our tremendous Kingdom of the East.
Since I am writing this blog 8 years in the future, as it were, it is a treat to see that  the recipient received her Order of the Pelican in 2021 in part for her work as Chancellor Minor of the East Kingdom.

Unto Hugoline the Delicate we endow Arms that she may wear with joy from this juncture forth.

Done this Mudthaw, in the Barony of Settmour Swamp on March 22, AS XLVIII


I didn't get as many personalized details in the words,as I would have liked.  However, because I was the one feeding the artist information about the recipient, there are quite a lot of personal touches in the embroidered illumination. Hugoline loves pandas, the color green and loves board games!  All of this is represented in the beautiful scroll.
Having the opportunity to put so many personal references into a scroll is something I treasure.  It’s part of why I got interested in writing scrolls to begin with.


Embroidery, Illumination and Calligraphy by Eleanor Lebrun




Photo by Caitlin la Broaderese


Saturday, January 4, 2014

Arthur le Taverner - Award of Arms

Word has come to those on high
Of a musician, a drinker, an excellent man by and by
Amongst the sounds of dum tekka tekka, dum tek tek
He entertains with voice and guitar on the annual trek
We King Kennric and Queen Avalina of the great and powerful East
Do make a presentation on this the Twelfth Night of frolic and feast
For Arthur le Tavener’s many great charms
We hereby award him the right of these arms

Done this day, on the first Saturday of January, the fourth
In the Shire of Anglespur, and the Barony of Concordia of the Snows, in the north.