Results of Recent Heraldic Submissions

I am thrilled to report that the SCA College of Arms has registered a populace badge for the Shire of Midhaven, a personal badge for my lady wife, and my heraldic will.

A populace badge is an armorial device marking members of the populace of a particular branch, in this case, the Shire of Midhaven (Kingdom of An Tir, Society for Creative Anachronism).  This particular badge is blazoned:  Argent, on a pale azure cotised sable, a tulip slipped and leaved argent.

 

The newly registered badge of my lady wife, Lady Avelyn de Mowbray, JdL, is blazoned:  (Fieldless) A cinquefoil pierced per pale purpure and vert.

My heraldic will designates my will regarding the disposition upon my death of the items which I currently have registered with the SCA College of Arms.  These include my name, Michael FitzGeoffrey, which I designated to be released, but the College of Arms (rightly) says cannot take place as long as my armory is registered under it, and must therefore remain until my other items are transferred, as stipulated.  Secondly, it designates my older son as my heir for my device, (Vert, a Latin cross and on a chief potenty argent, three mullets of eight points pierced gules).  Thirdly, my badge [(Fieldless)  On a cross potent vert, another argent] is bequeathed to Lady Avelyn.

 Arms/Device | Badge

Because of my leaving my arms to my son, he is now eligible (should he so desire) to register my arms with a mark of difference, such as in the following example.

A New Year of Events on the Horizon

Greetings & salutations, gentle reader.

’Tis now the middle of February, and my SCA event itinerary for the year ahead looks something like this:

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• Saturday, 13 April - Youth Allthing

This is an annual event (although it may be taking a hiatus after this year) for the children and youth of the SCA.  As the dad to three small children, I will be attending principally as a parent.

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• Saturday, 13 July - Sunday, 14 July - Skagit Valley Highland Games

Although this event isn’t actually an SCA event, per se, the Shire of Midhaven (with a little support from the Barony of Aquaterra, the Shire of Earnrokke, and the Shire of Shittimwoode) typically puts on a demo of heavy fighting, rapier combat, and various arts & sciences.  If I do get to go this year, I don’t know quite in what capacity I will participate.

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• Friday, 19 July through Sunday, 21 July - July Coronation

This is the semi-annual coronation of the new King & Queen of An Tir.  Leading up to the event, I will be coordinating pre-registration, reservations for RV camping, and reservations for large group camping.

I also designed a logo for the event, to be used on the site tokens.  (A “site token” is a little souvenir that one received when one checks in for the event.  It is ostensibly used to prove that one has paid the required admission fee, but does also serve as a memento of the event.)  The design features a tulip with a crown superimposed upon it (as if the tulip is poking up through the middle of the crown, but seen in profile).   The tulip is for the Shire of Midhaven, where the event is being held, and the crown is because it is the coronation of the new monarchs of An Tir.

While at the event, I expect I’ll probably do some voice heraldry (town cry, field heraldry, court heraldry), and will try to get in a shift or two on King UlfR’s guard.  Apart from that, I mostly plan to take it easy & spend time with family & friends.

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• Saturday, 5 October - Sunday, 6 October - Midhaven Fall Ithra

This is the Ithra session sponsored by the Shire of Midhaven.  Again, I may or may not attend, and if I do, I may teach or merely take a class or two.

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• Saturday, 23 November - Midhaven Harvest Feast

This is Midhaven’s annual holiday feast.  This year, I will be the event steward, which is to say, the project manager for the whole event.  This will be the first SCA event for which I have been event steward.  So far, I’ve had plenty of ideas with respect to it, and plan to devote an entire blog post just to these ideas.

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• Friday, 10 January - Sunday, 12 January, 2014 - Twelfth Night Coronation

Seeing as how this event is so close to home (South King County, Washington), Lady Avelyn & I will be taking this opportunity to get away for the weekend, and play in fancy new costumes.  We’re planning to dress in 15th Century Burgundian garb.

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•  Friday, 24 January - Sunday, 26 January, 2014 - Ursulmas

This is the large annual public demonstration & off-season fighting event hosted by the Barony of Aquaterra at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe, Washington.  Once again, I will be handling pre-registration for the event, and may possibly be handling RV camping reservations as well.  IF I actually end up attending, it may be that I will mostly help out with heralding the tourneys.

Back again

Well, I started my last post (October 25, 2012) saying how it had been so long since my previous post.  Well, I just beat that record into the dust.  (Sorry folks.)

Since then, a fair amount has happened:

1. Between the end of August and the beginning of September, I submitted a heraldic will, Lady Avelyn submitted a badge, and the Shire of Midhaven re-submitted both a populace badge and a badge for the Company of the Tulip.  As of now (February 2013), all of these items, except the badge for the Company of the Tulip passed at the Kingdom level and are being considered at Laurel.  I have proposed some more designs to the Shire for yet another resub of the Co. of the Tulip badge, and will probably submit next month.
2. The Shire of Midhaven held its annual Harvest Feast, wherein my lady wife was awarded membership in the Order of the Jambe de Lion (and her Grant of Arms), and several others were given Awards of Arms, including Lady Martha at Gore, Lady Elizabeth at Gore, Lady Libuše Makovička, Lord Cailin Cobb, and Lady Fujioka no Kaorime.  For these last two, the court ceremonies for their Award presentations were written by me.  Also at this event, we met a new friend, Baroness Stephania von Graz, OC, OD, OHA.  She is an accomplished scribe.
3. After Harvest Feast, I was invited to serve on the retinue of the next King and Queen of An Tir.
4. In December, we attended the Barony of Aquaterra’s annual Good Yule.  Lady Martha was there made aware of her Award of Arms, a great secret that we had kept since she was unable to attend Harvest Feast.  After about 30 years playing in the SCA, it was about time, and she is still basking in the appreciation.  Also we sat with Baroness Stephania during the feast.
5. Over the holidays, we took some time and visited family in Arizona and California.  One of the gifts I received was a large brass hand bell -- perfect for doing town cry!
6. Then in January, we were unable to go to Twelfth Night, but heard report that the Towne of KeyPoynt (a confederation of small households, mostly within Midhaven) was made an armigerous group by King Vik and Queen Astrid.  Huzzah to KeyPoynt!
7. Later in January, all the work that Lady Avelyn and I had been putting in toward Ursulmas came to fruition.  That is, Ursulmas happened.  Originally, I had not intended to attend, but being on royal retinue, I wanted to come so that I could actually get a chance to serve while Their Majesties still reigned.  It was a success.  Lady Avelyn had a successful time demonstrating period garb with her friend and teacher, Lady Elewys, and while I was on guard duty with the King, I got to see a surprise knighting on the field.  I also got to assist in heralding royal court in the evening, and Duchess Angharad added Baroness Stephania to the family as a fellow protégé.  Also, one of my heraldic consultation clients, Mistress Gulenay, finally submitted her name, device, and badge to the College of Heralds.
8. Now, looking forward, I'm accepting pre-registration for Youth Allthing, which has been postponed until April, and beginning work on July Coronation, for which I am in charge of pre-registration for gate and RVs, coordinating camping reservations, and helping with site layout and created the artwork for the site tokens.  I want to see if we can get a web form posted online for pre-registration, so as not to have to deal with illegible handwriting and postal delays.

Busy, busy, busy (as usual)

Well, it has been a while since my last post, but I have not been slacking off (much).  Mostly, I’ve kept busy (SCA-wise, that is) with several local events, a bit of book heraldry, and a few other miscellaneous matters.

September 2012

·         Taught a class at the Shire of Midhaven’s monthly A&S / Social Night (see my previous post).

October 2012

·         Midhaven’s Fall Ithra and Revel (a great success):  I taught one class, and took three others.  I also had opportunity to provide crash space for two senior heralds, and therefore, to pick their brains on a variety of issues.  They were very helpful with a few of my heraldic consultation clients.

·         Shire herald’s quarterly report to the Kingdom

·         Working with the Ursulmas event team to prepare for event pre-registrations

·         Taking pre-registrations for Midhaven’s Harvest Feast

·         Began my first scarlet-work project

November 2012

·         In November, Midhaven will have its annual Harvest Feast, including a court held by the Crown Prince and Crown Princess ofAn Tir, for which I anticipate that I will either be the herald or will coach a new herald.

·         I’m also going to meet with my student, Cailin Cobb, and his wife, Fujioka no Kaorime, as well as my wife, Lady Avelyn de Mowbray to help them make good quality pages for themselves on the An Tir wiki.

·         Also, Lady Avelyn and I have been invited to a “persona dinner”.

In addition…

·         My Pelican (Duchess Angharad) has assigned her protégés to provide her an SCA résumé and a list of what we have done in 2012, sometime in January 2013.

·         Sometime soon, I want to get started on my heraldic tabard

Currently working on...

CLASSES
I’m preparing to give two presentations to the Shire of Midhaven for its A&S/Social nights in September and October 2012.  In September, I’m presenting an overview of what awards are bestowed by the Kingdom of An Tir.  In October, Duchess Angharad Banadaspus Drakenhefd and I are team teaching on how to write effective award recommendations.

Also, I’m preparing to teach an Ithra class on “What Can Your Herald Do for You?”

HERALDIC CONSULTATION
At September Crown, Duchess Angharad put me into contact with Mistress Gulenay Khazari, OL so that I could (hopefully) help her to get her name and armory registered with the SCA College of Arms.

I also have been asked by Lord Bryson MacLachlan and by Martha at Gore to help them develop and register badges.

I continue looking, from time to time, for documentary evidence to support a name submission for Libuše Makovička.

OTHER
Today, I agreed/volunteered to help with this upcoming January’s Ursulmas, by tracking pre-registrations with a spreadsheet.

I’m also occasionally working on a belt favor, bearing my badge, for my student, Cailin Cobb.

September Crown

Well, this recent September Crown event in An Tir was quite an event.

HERALDRY
I had a lot of opportunity to work as a herald at September Crown.  I did three town cries, and the site had amazing acoustics.  I almost had the chance to do one of them from a horse-drawn chariot, but the equestrian side and the herald side didn't quite connect.

I also attended the Black Lion meeting (the meeting of the An Tir College of Heralds, under the direction of the Black Lion Principal Herald).  Midhaven had a great showing:  I was accompanied at the meeting by Libuše Makovička, Cailin Cobb, and Fujioka no Kaorime.

I also had my first opportunity to herald the Grand Processional at the invocation of the lists.  What this means is that in the royal court preceding the actual Crown Tourney, all the contenders and their inspirations process into court to present themselves to the King and Queen and seek permission to compete for the Crown, sometimes with entourage (banner bearers, children, etc.)  If accepted, the King invites certain of the combatants to assemble on his right side, the rest assembling on the Queen’s left.  Those on the Queen’s side challenge their choice of those on the King’s side for the first round of the tourney.  Anyway, the College of Heralds provided six heralds (including me) to be available to announce those fighters who approach the thrones without their own heralds.  It was fun, and now that I have the experience of this processional, I would be better prepared for future opportunities to do this.  BTW, due to my being a relatively junior member of the An Tir College of Heralds, I slid into this opportunity because the person whose place I took didn’t show up quite in time for court to begin.

I also had the fortune to herald a section of royal court on Sunday evening.  I enjoyed the chance to herald court for King Vik and Queen Astrid, and see how heralding their court is different from heralding court for Thorin and Dagmaer.

Finally, my liegelady, Duchess Angharad, asked me to assist a friend of hers, Mistress Gulenay Khazari, OL from the Barony of Stromgard, with her own heraldic submissions.  Her name is proving to be an extreme challenge.

ADDING TO THE FAMILY
On the Saturday of September Crown, Cailin Cobb accepted my invitation to become my student.  He has been working with me recently on chain mail and voice heraldry, and shows great potential. It is my pleasure to give him a bit of guidance and to advocate for him, and I consider him a good friend and a great human being.

CAMPING
I have to take this opportunity to extol the praises of Lady Elewys Cuyter of Finchingfeld and her daughter Lottie Blacksmith.  Lady Elewys was incredible with helping us set up camp, run the "kitchen", doing stuff with Lady Avelyn, helping with our kids, and helping us strike camp on Monday.  Lottie was a godsend also, helping tremendously with the children.

THE EMBELLISHERS’ GUILD OF AN TIR

At September Crown, the Embellishers' Guild was granted official status by the Crown.  We had a couple of Expert-level challenges, and saw a major project that the guild inherited:  100% silk summer cloaks for the King and Queen to be worn in the grand processional at Pennsic.  Queen Astrid was so impressed with the project (even at it’s current early stage) that She was moved to tears, and jealous of the future Queens of An Tir who will get to wear this cloak after its completion.

Also, the guildmistress, Lady Aelianora de Wynteringham, gave me a couple of really useful resources for blackwork embroidery.

EQUESTRIAN ACTIVITIES
Having requested that our campsite be in the “quiet” part of the site, we were relegated to the farthest away part of the entire site, behind the equestrians.  When we checked in, the local equestrian marshal extended the hand of welcome and came to talk to the kids in our encampment about safety around the horses.

The next day, after the kids had traipsed a few times through the equestrian encampment to the biffies and back, Her Excellency Contessa Ilaria Veltri degli Ansari, OL offered to let Emily ride.  The next day, Sunday, Emily and Jaren both got to ride a very friendly horse, named Toby.

MADAME JACQUELINE DE LIONCOURT, OP
Madame Jacqueline, who is the Minister of Family Activities for the Kingdom of An Tir, had some really great ideas for the kids.  Emily, Jaren, & Edwin, and also Lottie got to do a scavenger hunt around the erics and merchants row, looking for shells.  Once they found as many shells as they could, they would redeem them at the family activities table for beads with which to make necklaces.

Edwin also got a bit of fabric and embroidery floss with which I began to make him a little belt pouch.

On Sunday evening at court-time, Madame Jacqueline graciously entertained Emily and Jaren (within sight of Lady Avelyn) so that they wouldn’t be utterly bored and restless during court.  Great thanks and huzzahs to Madame Jacqueline!

BARDIC
I took the opportunity to wander a bit from bardic circle to bardic circle and perform my An Tir/West War Anthem.

Recent Projects

Greetings.  Well, An Tir’s September Crown Tourney is nearly upon us.  Our family will be attending together with Lady Elewys Cuylter of Finchingefeld and her daughter, Lottie Blacksmith, and also Elizabeth of Fernhill with her husband and little children.  As I write, Lady Avelyn is busy making herself a new apron dress (in the Viking style).  Our group has reserved camping space under the name House Finchingefeld.

I have recently made myself a green belt favor with the yellow crossed trumpets of the herald’s badge hand-embroidered upon it.

Also, I have been working on preparing to teach a "What Can Your Herald Do for You?" class at the upcoming Midhaven Fall Ithra.  This will be my first time teaching an Ithra class, and is intended to cover the things that heralds do, and the things that heralds could do if asked.  I am also eager for the other heraldry classes that will be offered.

(Fieldless.)  A cinquefoil pierced
per pale purpure and vert.

On the subject of heraldry, I have volunteered to do early morning town cries on the Saturday and Sunday of September Crown, and may be joined for at least one of these by Libuše Makovička, who is a relatively new member from Midhaven.  She has been interested in voice heraldry and tried it out a couple times over this summer.  She and I may also assist a bit with field heraldry and perhaps even court heraldry, as well.

I have also been working with Lord Bryson MacLachlan and my wife, Lady Avelyn de Mowbray, to develop personal badges.  Lady Avelyn has settled upon a rather elegant badge (IMHO) which has now been submitted for registration by the SCA College of Arms.

In addition, I have recently been working on a redesign of a couple of badges that the Shire of Midhaven has already unsuccessfully tried to register.  One, for the populace is now,  Argent, on a pale azure, cotised sable, a tulip slipped and leaved argent.  The other, for the Company of the Tulip, is (Fieldless.)  A tulip slipped, leaved, and conjoined at the base within a billet voided argent.

proposed redesign of
Midhaven’s populace badge

proposed redesign of badge for the
Company of the Tulip