Catriona bean mhic Cailin
Is known to invite all gentles in
and treat them as if they were kin
Working hard, she’s not one to flout
Always there to help others out
Her joyful spirit will uplift
Those whose emotions are adrift
Willing to work and get down
Even dressed in a handsome gown
In times of sorrow, times of joy
She’ll use the cards of her employ
All sides, in, out, and upside down
Cat supports, including the Crown
Now We’ll set pearls upon her brow
Per fess wavy vert and purpure, a wolf statant argent and a mermaid Or, in chief two hearts argent
Baroness! We’ll not disavow
Rulers Ioaness and Honig
Grant this during the whirligig
Of the East Kingdom 12th Night
January 08, AS LVI
In Our Shire of Panther Vale
I'm Henry the 8th, the Blog!
I got this assignment and I was delighted to see that I had just written their spouse's Court Barony! I would have really liked to talk to their spouse, but I needed to maintain the surprise…
The recipient’s wiki listed their persona as, “Late period Scottish.” I found the Brus by John Barbour, written about 1375 in Octosyllabic rhyming couplets. I had just finished writing the scroll for Edward Talot in the same poetic form, so it was fresh in my mind and I was able to attack the scroll with gusto.
I considered matching the humor of their partner’s scroll, but since I don’t know the recipient well, I decided against it. I knew Fiona the Volatile was planning on an inspiration scroll from the Horae (Cambrai) [Heures de Boussu], so I decided to contrast the dark background and the skulls with pretty flowery poetry.
The writeup was full of praise for the recipient's welcoming abilities, warm laughter and a willingness to listen to others. I wrote a few couplets and realized I had started a sort of “In & out, up & down, and all around” theme. So I expanded and refined that for the rest of the scroll.
The Challenge is where to begin?
Catriona bean mhic Cailin
Was this the wordsmith talking for themselves or TRM talking about the recipient?
I’ll never tell!
I mean okay. In all honesty here I wanted a rhyme for “Cailin” and “begin” fit the bill. I built the opening sentence from the word that I wanted to rhyme with.
Is known to invite all gentles in
and treat them as if they were kin
I started right off the bat with the “in.” Her welcoming nature was emphasized in the write up.
Working hard, she’s not one to flout
Always there to help others out
This couplet came from working hard and lent itself to the “out” couplet.
Her joyful spirit will uplift
Those whose emotions are adrift
This is the only couplet in which I stretched the theme somewhat, putting "up" inside “uplift” - mainly for rhyming purposes.
Willing to work and get down
Even dressed in a handsome gown
My original line read that she was willing to “get down and dirty,” but that wasn't the feel I wanted for this couplet. This imagery worked better.
In times of sorrow, times of joy
She’ll use the cards of her employ
I considered omitting this verse, as it doesn't fit the theme, but in the end I decided the one oblique geek reference in the scroll was worth it. (It's essentially a rewrite of the line, "Cards for Sorrow, Cards for Pain," from the Rocky Horror Picture Show song, “I’m Going Home'' by Richard O’Brien.
All sides, in, out, and upside down
Cat supports, including the Crown
This is the "meat" of the scroll, referencing all the ways the recipient had supported their Majesties and everyone around them.
Now We’ll set pearls upon her brow
Per fess wavy vert and purpure, a wolf statant argent and a mermaid Or, in chief two hearts argent
Baroness! We’ll not disavow
I got to put the arms into the middle of a couplet - something I like doing, as it frames the heraldic language and makes the break of the couplets make more sense.
Rulers Ioaness and Honig
Grant this during the whirligig
I was rather pleased that I rhymed Her Majesty's name “Honig” with “Whirligig''.
Of the East Kingdom 12th Night
January 08, AS LVI
In Our Shire of Panther Vale
At this point I was up to 142 words on this rather last minute scroll, so I decided to abandon the rhyme and meter and just get the pertinent information on paper. In an effort to keep the word count down I also used Arabic numerals, Roman numerals and abbreviations as necessary. ("Anno Societatis" alone has 13 letters.)
I am just as glad I had so recently researched Edward Talbot’s Silver Crescent, written in the same meter. The two recipients have different time periods, but their personas are from different countries, and this meter was popular in both places and times. History is fun!
East Kingdom Twelfth Night **Canceled**
Went out at Ethereal Court of Their Royal Majesties Ioannes II and Honig II
March 17th, 2022
At the 4:05 - 41:02 marks respectively
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