Baroness' Oath of Fealty - An Dubhaigeainn

Dear Autocorrect, the word “Duck,” always means BLOG!

The soon to be Baroness’ of An Dubhaigeainn, Hugoline the Delicate and Fiona The Volatile,

 asked me to write their fealty to Their Majesties at their upcoming Investiture at St Andrew Enters York With A Brave Heart.
They requested limericks and duck puns.
I was so down for that.

The first thing I do for a punny post is to gather as many puns as possible. 149 Duck Puns That’ll Definitely Coax A Giggle Out Of You and Duck Puns So Funny They’ll Quack You up With Laughter, provided many. Soon, the Google Docs page for this scroll was swimming with duck puns.
Rhymezone.com next for the word duck. Not only was I going to need to visit there for the limerick but the site has a feature called “More ideas” where they list “Nouns for Duck” and “People also search for.” These were also copied onto the work in progress document .  Then the composing began. 

I had so much commentary running through my head that I ended up writing their Next-cellencies a bit of a script:

KEY

Oath of Fealty

Hugoline the Delicate

Fiona The Volatile 

Together 

We’ll not be an albatross - 

Psst! Wrong bird! Duck!
Why? Oh! Right, ahem -

We will not duck Our obligation

In taking on this new station

Honored that you think We’ll

Be those that fit the bill

As we waddle through Our oration

 

For events starting at quack of dawn

We will be there for folk to egg on 

Fowl weather won't stop us

We'll be worth all this fuss

As the newly webbed footed Barons 

Ness! 

I mean yes, but Barons scanned better! 

Baroness-ess! 

Your Majesties chose Us for Our pluck! 

For the Barony of Landed Duck 

Oh! Our An Dubhaigeainn

We’re egg-cite! for this scene 

We Promise Our utmost not to suck! 

Then Hugeline and Fiona made some final edits and this is what they said in court:

Final version (same Key as above):

We’ll not be an albatross - 

Psst! Wrong bird! Duck!
Sorry, nervous!-

We will not duck Our obligation

In taking on this new station

Honored that you think We’ll

Be those that fit the bill

As we waddle through Our oration

 

For events starting at quack of dawn

We will be there for folk to egg on 

Fowl weather or fair

We'll always be there

As the newly webbed footed Barons 

Baroness-ess! 

Gender Is a Social Construct!

True! 

The Duckies chose Us for Our pluck! 

For the Barony of Landed Duck 

An Dubhaigeainn, Oh!

We’re an Island Culture, you know! 

We Promise to try not to suck! 

This was such a privilege to work on!
Absolutely pun-tastic!

The final draft from Their Excellencies, well, I am a bit jealous that I didn’t think of the “gender is a social construct” myself!
I was so honored to be asked and the final version was just so duckking perfect! 

photo by Bróccín MacIvyr

video by Bróccín MacIvyr

Rosalie Jane Blackmoore - Silver Tyger

Attend all, East! And hear her roar!

This! Our Rosalie Jane Blackmoore 

Weaving trim for battle array

Displaying fine form as they slay

Engagement with Polearm! Ax! 

Finding all the opponents’ cracks 

Silver Tyger Do We adorn 

This fighter with mettle and thorn

Argent, two double-bitted axes in saltire sable between three roses proper

Matthias and Feilinn, Royal 

Majesties run this fine cabal 

As per auspices of  King and Queen

In the Barony An Dubhaigeainn 

Done this day at St Andrew's 

Amongst this crowd of Tyger Blue

Wordcount 88

Illumination and Calligraphy by Fiona the Volatile 

Photo by Fiona the Volatile

KEY

Octosyllabic Rhymed Couplets

RAINBOW - Rhymed Couplets

Italics for heraldic latin

Attend all, East! And hear her roar!

This! Our Rosalie Jane Blackmoore 

Weaving trim for battle array

Displaying fine form as they slay

Engagement with Polearm! Ax! 

Finding all the opponents’ cracks 

Silver Tyger Do We adorn 

This fighter with mettle and thorn

Argent, two double-bitted axes in saltire sable between three roses proper

Matthias and Feilinn, Royal 

Majesties run this fine cabal 

As per auspices of  King and Queen

In the Barony An Dubhaigeainn 

Done this day at St Andrew's 

Amongst this crowd of Tyger Blue

Reet of BLOG 

Third Bloom 

Another scroll that didn’t have much additional research.  But what was inside it really represents one of the beauties of using the octosyllabic rhyming couplets verse form.

Attend all, East! And hear her roar!

This! Our Rosalie Jane Blackmoore 

I had not intended to start with the opening couplet naming the recipient.  That change happened later in the writing process.  It shows that nothing is set in stone and anyone working in the creative process may erase and correct and completely rearrange what they are working on before the final product is shown.

Weaving trim for battle array

Displaying fine form as they slay

The recommendation specifically mentioned the effort the recipient was putting into their kit.  They are weaving trim to adorn their battle tunics.  Presentation on the battlefield is as important as the armor in some ways!

Engagement with Polearm! Ax! 

Finding all the opponents’ cracks 

Pole arm and Ax were specifically cited as the recipient’s preferred weapons.  The axes even appear on their arms.  

Silver Tyger Do We adorn 

This fighter with mettle and thorn

The naming of the award being given and another reference to roses.  Albeit not by name.  The thornes of the rose are just as important as the petals.  Even more so in a fighting award.

Argent, two double-bitted axes in saltire sable between three roses proper

Their arms are included as written.  The heraldic latin is ne’er to be touched!

Matthias and Feilinn, Royal 

Majesties run this fine cabal 

Royal/Cabal is not what I would call a full hit rhyme, but a clever herald will make it work in the performance/recitation of the scroll in court.

To get started in the writing process this couplet was written first. Initially this was to start the scroll. As the writing evolved, though, I moved this couplet to the end, so the immediately following rhyme could be Queen/An Dubhaigeainn

As per auspices of  King and Queen

In the Barony An Dubhaigeainn 

I know that I have used this rhyme before.  It is a solid one and appropriate to the entire piece.  It's the rest of the words that are always going to be different and specific to the recipient.

Done this day at St Andrew's 

Amongst this crowd of Tyger Blue

Oops a rhyme with a possessive and a singular.  Ah well, it works for the scroll and that’s what’s important.

This was a fun piece to work on.There are some rhymes that end up getting used more than once across different scrolls, the required information of an award document lends itself towards repetition, but the other words in the couplet or whatever rhyme pattern I am using do contribute towards its originality for each recipient. That challenge is what keeps writing these interesting and fun!

East Kingdom Gazette - Court Of Their Majesties Matthias And Æsa Feilinn at St. Andrew Enters York with a Brave Heart

Photo by Bróccín MacIvyr

Photo by Vettorio Antonello

Photo by Aislin Chiabach

Mægwynn Filia Brun - Silver Tyger

She’s been known to admire roses.

Intricate, dangerous in strength. Known hereby 

Lovely to see but opponents fear to run afoul. 

Verily today, does the East show its love.

Endeared to gentles with passion and drive

Regal Majesties Matthias & Feilinn favor

Those that show finesse with sword and shield, both!

Your talents improve so swift and timely

Great is Our pride, We have now sung

Encouraging those that catch Our notice

Respect to Mægwynn Filia Brun newest  Silver Tyger!

Done at the First Court of The Coronation of Matthias and Æsa Feilinn, in the Province of Malagentia, Anno Societatis Fifty Eight

Word Count 102

Illumination by Ellesbeth Donofrey

Calligraphy by Jonathan Blaecstan

Photo by Ellesbeth Donofrey

KEY
A

C

R

O

S

T

I

C

Letters vertically depend on the Acrostic Word Choice
Ten Syllables

Double Acrostic - the last letter is the same as the first letter per line

 

S She’s been known to admire roses

I Intricate, dangerous, in strength, known hereby 

L Lovely to see but opponents fear to run afoul. 

V Verily today does the East show its luv

E Endeared to gentles with passion and drive

R Royal Majesties Matthias & Feilinn favor

T Those that show finesse with sword and shield, both!

Y Your talents improve so swift and timely

G Great is Our pride, We have now sung

E Encouraging those that catch Our notice

R Respect to Mægwynn Filia Brun newest  Silver Tyger!

Done at the First Court of The Coronation of Matthias and Æsa Feilinn, in the Province of Malagentia, Anno Societatis Fifty Eight

Reet of BLOG

Second Bloom 

The first round of research for this scroll was with a definite cast toward a Norse scroll.  As the second scroll-rose in my reet of roses, I started looking for some sort of reference of roses to the Norse.  I was not very hopeful.  Somehow I couldn’t imagine a rose being found in medieval Jórvík in the early 10th Century, as per the recipient’s wiki.

I did find Grumpy Lokean Elder, essentially someone’s blog where they’d attributed several kinds of flower to Norse deities. They did describe Sunna in association with the flowers - heliotrope, morning glory, sunflower, coreopsis, marigold.  Unsurprisingly, the search for a flower that wasn’t available in the North of Europe in that time period was not surprising.

Then I had a conversation with Ellesbeth Donofrey, the illuminator.
Ellsebeth had reached out to several people close to the recipient and they all mentioned their love of roses.

RECORD SCRATCH! 

She wanted to do a later period scroll so as to focus on the morning glory!
I suggested an acrostic poem. 
The acrostic word is the name of the award, SIlver Tyger. For my own amusement I decided to make it a double acrostic.  There are some sporadic examples of double acrostics or Sator squares found from the Roman period through the Late Middle Ages.
Initially, there was no plan for additional research. It was, however, reassuring to discover that this particular form, the double acrostic, was found in the ancient world and the middle ages. 

FIRST ACROSTIC WORD: Silver

S She’s been known to admire roses

Starting the ball rolling with an allusion to the work the recipient had done on the Queen's Guard. 

I Intricate, dangerous, in strength, known hereby 

This became an allusion to the recipient herself and the winding vines and strangling strength of the morning glory.  This also made it more applicable to the fighting prowess of the Silver Tyger.

L Lovely to see but opponents fear to run afoul. 

As a flower is beautiful to look at, they all have defenses and offenses! The nature of a flower is more than beauty, and this fighter on the field is as dangerous.

V Verily today does the East show its luv

I try so hard not to use Victorian words and spellings.  That is, until I do use them. Luv was chosen specifically because it ended in V.  The calligrapher used the love spelling, but I kept the luv in the heraldic copy. It certainly has the same effect with the silent E, but the V, while anachronistic, keeps the proper double acrostic. These are the rules I make for myself and then break when I have a need.  

E Endeared to gentles with passion and drive

Vindication for the use of luv above!  Which no one will ever notice, but me, and that's okay. Drive ends in the silent e, but I am  counting it as E for the alliteration!  Ha!

R Royal Majesties Matthias & Feilinn favor

Back on more solid ground with R.  There are solid beginning and end acrostics happening here

SECOND ACROSTIC WORD: Tyger

T Those that show finesse with sword and shield, both!

Even though there is a word break, the Scroll continues as if there is none.  With a little more description of the recipient’s chosen weapon form.

Y Your talents improve so swift and timely

In order to configure the Y into the piece, there Was a slight perspective change. Having the scroll refer to the recipient directly. Addressing them as "you." While this was done entirety to accommodate the acrostic, it also added more descriptions of the recipient that were pertinent to the award.

G Great is Our pride, We have now sung

Sung is equivalent to said here.  A bit more poetic and evokes the phrase, “To sing one’s praises.”

E Encouraging those that catch Our notice

A great deal of emphasis in the East Kingdom is put on encouragement.  From an individual, one on one encouragement, to TRM giving awards as encouragement for one to continue in their path.  To include that in a scroll is incredibly appropriate and one of the best things about our awards system.

R Respect to Mægwynn Filia Brun newest  Silver Tyger!

In the last sentence of the Acrostic the recipient’s name and the award are mentioned.

Done at the First Court of The Coronation of Matthias and Æsa Feilinn, in the Province of Malagentia, Anno Societatis Fifty Eight

The last bits of information that need to be included in the scroll.  This was written for Their New Majesties, and as such, I included all the bells and whistles, as it were.  The full name of the event, that included the full names of Their Majesties, the full name of the hosting group and full spelling of Anno Societatis.

Initially, there was no plan for additional research, and yet I managed anyway. There's so much more to learn about acrostics. It was really nice to sit down and take a moment before I work on on the scroll.  The difficulty of the double acrostic was delicious. It’s not even something that the audience may notice when the herald reads it in court.  However, it is a wonderful challenge, and adds delightful nuance to the scroll. I really did have fun creating this piece!

Photo By Brenden Crane

Photo By Brenden Crane

Photo By Mægwynn Filia Brun

Photo By Mægwynn Filia Brun