Award of Arms

It was a great and unexpected honour to receive my Award of Arms on 26 February at Nottinghill Coill's Baronial Birthday. I was very much taken by surprise, and was quite concerned that the award was in error. I'm very grateful for the nomination, however.

As we live and learn... I was called into Her Majesty Brianna's presence by my "holding name", Catherine of Cydllan Downs, instead of my registered personna name, which was the root of my confusion. Eventually, the Gordian Knot Herald pointed at me, and waved me up. I neglected to kneel to Her Majesty (note to self... practice kneeling and rising). I was nominated for my activities with Atlantia's College of Heralds.

The scroll was drawn by Shizumi Kaijo, and illuminated by Ceilidh of Farflung. It was taken from pg. 66 of the Book of Hours, Utrecht, circa 1405-1410.

I just need now to find a scribe to correct the name and complete the scroll with my registered arms, Purpure, a gurges and a bordure argent. (Oh, yeah... and to do all those things for which I was awarded arms...)

New Monthly Fighter Practice

Talan and I attended the first of what we hope will be many Sunday fighter practices, hosted by Lady Marie Hélène of the New Forest and Lord Wilhelm Leopard der Schwarze at their new demesne.

I baked some Irish soda bread as a housewarming gift, learning a number of interesting things along the way. I came across a wonderful YouTube vid, Great grans soda bread, where a 94 year old lady demonstrates how she makes her bread. She also refers to her soda bread as "scones" at one point. What a great way to capture family receipts! The bread wasn't bad either.

Lord John Emeris came up from Tear's Sea Shore, guitar in tow, as well as Mistress Megara di Alessandra.

I hope to provide some heraldry consulting at this monthly meeting in the future, especially as we'll have access to Lady Marie Hélène's library and expertise (and Internet connection).

A delightful time was had by all. (3/20/2011)

Unto All Good Gentles, Greetings

With all goodly grace, I welcome you to share in my adventures in the Known World of the Current Middle Ages. My lord husband, Talan Gof, and our son, Rónán mac Aodha, join me in these adventures.

Although I've been aware of the SCA -- Society for Creative Anachronism -- for decades, I've only been actively playing since 19 November 2007. My first event was The Pilgrimage, hosted by the Canton of Cyddlan Downs. I went at the instigation of my good and longtime friend, John Emeris of Ellenor.

Next, I convinced my son to come with me. This was not a difficult undertaking at all. About a year later, I convinced my husband to join me, under the guise of seeing some of the jewelry. He has found a niche, and is an active player as well.

My family and I had tried to become part of the SCA in the early 1990's. I thought it would be marvelous for the children, who were then young enough not to mind that this might be an unusual undertaking. (But I really wanted to play... so the benefits to the children were, shall we say, secondary...) We attended several fighter practices, but were most disappointed. The primary problem was the unwillingness of the other people to share. We had no information about the other local or regional events, and so were very turned off by our reception.

It was during a conversation with John Emeris several years later that I mentioned my continuing interest. He met me at my canton's local fighter practice (traveling up from Tear-Sea's Shore) and introduced me to several people there. A few months later, I made the "pilgrimage" to the site at Camp Barstow for my first event. I'm very glad I persisted.

In this age of the Internet, it is so much easier to learn about local and regional events-- and therefore easier to overcome "less than perfect" initial experiences. If you have any interest at all in learning more about the middle ages, I encourage you to explore the official website at http://www.sca.org. From there, you can find local groups and people willing to answer your questions.

In Service to the Dream,
Catguistl