The Coronation of Tristram and Katrine

Returning from the Estrella War, preparations began in earnest for the coronation of their Royal Majesties Tristram and Katrine. It turned out to be an amazing event. Peoples from the shires of Wyvern Cliffe, Standing Stones and Amleth Moor participated, with the event itself being held in the Moor, at the local elementary school commons. Lord Richard co-autocrated the event with lord Thomas of Cologne^[1] from Standing Stones. The feast was coordinated with a huge kitchen staff under the direction of baroness Bronwyn nic Dougal, coming out of semi-SCA-retirement. The populace of the Moor turned out in force and the event itself was a great success.

During the day there was some panic as to the name of our new official shire. Laurel Sovereign of Arms had somehow not ended up with the documentation for the name, and was unwilling to pass "Amleth Moor". In Laurel's infinite wisdom, they decided the name should be changed to "Amlesmore". Since a shire with no approved name could not be moved up to official status, and since we were sort of at the 11th hour - we succumbed to the will of Laurel King of Arms and accepted the name change as suggested.

During the morning court, king Garick and queen Yasamin summoned all the populace members, and lord Richard knelt before the falcon thrones as the grand charter of the shire was read. A large number of our folk were present, though some few still remained behind in the kitchens preparing for the evening feast. It was a strange thing to have come so far and to finally be an official part of the Society and the kingdom. Even as our status changed and we began something new, we were joined by several new members that day as well. Cricket^[2], Aelfwyn^[3], Wren of Amlesmore^[4] and Stephanie of Amlesmore^[5] all joined the group at this event.

The culmination of the evening came in the form of evening court, when the new crowns took the thrones of Calontir. Tristram approached the vacant thrones in full armor and met with the traditional challenges. Following close behind was Katrine, with a splendid banner created for her by Finvholla of Grimfells^[6]. The Royal Household was assembled, with HL Seonaid as chamberlain, HL Caillin MacKenzie as the marshal of the Royal Household and the author as herald. The baroness Ursula^[7], lady Cavae^[8] and His lordship Callum Cawdor^[9] were created as Thegns of Calontir by His Majesty and the author had the honor of being made a Thegn by Her Majesty. Lady Katherine Blacklea was admitted to the Order of the Torse for her service to the shire and kingdom.

The weekend following coronation, the shire had a sort of impromptu meeting to regroup and collect ourselves. On a rainy, foul day, when most of the group was exhausted from the past week's efforts, 23 people showed up to the meeting. It was a good sign that though one hurdle had been overcome, the people of "Amlesmore", were certainly prepared to deal with additional challenges. Upcoming events were discussed, including War College and a plan to run the inn at Wyvern Cliffe's Gauntlet event. Also, the shire gained an Archery Marshal, the lady Tanwen becoming the first to hold that office upon the approval of lord Ulliam, the current Knights Marshal of the shire.

The New Crowns at War

Soon after the peaceful ceremonies of coronation were at an end, the new monarchs and their army were off to war yet again, this time to Gulf Wars XIV. The War was an annual event traditionally fought between the kingdoms of Ansteorra and Trimaris^[10], and held in the principality of Gleann Abhann^[11]. Her Majesty, lords Freygeirr and Ulliam, as well as Rowan and the author made the trip in mighty Brutus. Our shire member lady Caillin O'Hicidhe was also at the war.

It was a triumphant debut for our new monarchs as Calontir performed in an outstanding manner on the field. The Principle of the shire Order of the Pig, Her Ladyship Caillin MacKenzie, was elevated to the Iren-Fyrd during the conflict. Lord Freygeirr and the author were struck by some sort of nasty bug and out for most of one day, but other than that things went along fairly well. Rowan outdid herself as a water bearer on the field, despite the unseasonably cold temperatures that plagued everyone there.

The Queen presented the army with a number of gifts throughout the conflict, which succeeded in keeping moral high. The Fyrdman of the kingdom were given garters marked with a futhark "K"^[12]. Additionally, the rest of the those in attendance were favored with a token of a white glass bead charged with red crescents, Her Majesty's badge. The author presented the queen of Trimaris, Cherish Fitz Gerald^[13], with a Norse helmet as a token of friendship. All wounds, both enemy and self-inflicted, bandaged up, mighty Brutus was loaded and we headed for home and the events of Spring 2005.

The reign of Tristram and Katrine provided our new shire with an interesting dichotomy. One the one hand, we were not very busy with the development of the new shire. On the other hand, however, we were all incredibly busy assisting Their Majesties with the myriad tasks involving Their rule of the kingdom. Many of the local folk were either on the official retinue, or they were unofficially helping whenever they could. The spring of 2005 became a whirlwind of events. Every weekend we were waking up at or driving into a site in the wee hours of the morning somewhere in Nebraska, Iowa, etc…

It should be noted that even when so many of our populace were involved in attending the Crown, the Moor was still able to keep in pace with and assist its neighbors. Duty called HRM Katrine to the northern wastes of Calontir along with several shire folk. In the same weekend, however, lords Ulf and Roibeard, lady Catherine, Leo and others set up and ran Prince Amleth's Inn at the "Gauntlet" event in Wyvern Cliffe. The "Prince Amleth" was fast becoming a well known traveling inn. Lord Hendrick, lady Constantia, and Bridgett Duncan designed and painted an incredible banner/sign for the inn which, unfortunately, was forgotten in the packing and failed to make its scheduled appearance at the event. The blow was softened somewhat by the success of the Inn and the debut of Roibeard's heraldic cooking apron (another of lady Constantia's creations).

Our First Event (Really this time)

Before we knew it, it was time again for War College. We had hosted the event the previous year but since we were not an official shire, it was co-sponsored by Standing Stones. This year, we were on our own. The author autocrated^[13] the event with lady Catherine Blacklea running the food and lord Freygeirr managing Troll^[14]. Tribble Park again served as the event site.

Because of the success we had at fundraising, the shire was able and decided to hold our first event for free. No site fee was charged and the "buffet style" lunch was open to all with only the request of a donation towards cost. As it turned out, the entire cost of the event was covered by the donations. Several notables from the kingdom gave up their time to come to the Moor and teach. Count Valens of Flatrock^[15], His Lordship Duncan McTorquil, His Lordship Clef of Cividale^[16], and His Lordship Duncan Fathmbjorn MacPherson^[17] all gave the attendees a great deal of useful instruction.

His Majesty was unable to attend the event, as he was representing the kingdom at the first coronation ceremony in the brand new kingdom of Gleann Abhann^[18]. Her Majesty, however, did hold court and two of our shire members were honored. Rowan was elevated into the nobility by an award of arms and lady Lyse Vogt was created a companion of the order of the Torse. It was about this time that Leo adopted his SCA name and became known among us as Heinrich von Ruhfkar.

The preparations done at War College were not wasted on the army. Soon it was time to set off again for the Great Pennsic War. The Barracks, a gift from his lordship Alban St. Albans, was tried and tested at a couple of events prior to the Great War, notably at War College. This was a large tent, formerly his lordship's merchant pavilion, that was donated to the shire. It served admirably at the war, housing several of our folk.

Pennsic XXXIV

Her Majesty, along with the author, went to Pennsic. Lords Richard, Roibeard, Freygeirr, and Ulliam, as well as ladies Tanwen and Rowan made the trip also. The war was a complete victory for the Middle Kingdom, with whom Calontir was allied (due to the affection His Majesty had for another Mid-Realm ally, the Kingdom of Northshield). Once again the Calon army proved to be a force to be reckoned with on the field. As in the previous year, the castle defense battle proved fortuitous for one of our own. Lord Freygeirr's actions in that battle, accompanied with his service to the kingdom over years in the army, won him a place in the order of the Iren-Fyrd.

There were many proud moments had at the castle, both in defense and assault that war. Not the least of which was the raising of a certain standards of honor over the ramparts. Lord Ulliam had decided that no dull or simple banners would proclaim the necessary spirit of "Calontir was Here." So during darkness he raised what the morning was to discover to be a battery-lit gold rubber sea anemone sewed to a purple woman's bra and panties^[19]. The anemone had been a favorite toy among the army and all, well, some, were happy to see it reach a place of honor at the war. These particular ensigns were flying freely as we drove away from the site at the close of the war, though their eventual fate is unknown to this author.

After Pennsic, most people experience a strong desire for some time away from SCA events.  For the crown and retinue, this was not to be the case.  Successive events followed and soon it was time for Tristram and Katrine to step down from their high seat.  On September 10, AS 40, the coronation of their heirs, Martino and Ariel, was held at the barony of Coeur d’Ennui.  The hall was an absolutely grand Masonic building.  The descent from the throne was marked by sincere emotion from the king and queen as well as the assembled nobles and gentlepersons.

The orders of the Iren as well as the Boga Fyrd escorted her Majesty from the throne, the retinue and officers of the household were thanked and released.  Before Her departure, Her Majesty bestowed the Queen’s Endorsements of Distinction.  Three of these are commonly given at the end of each reign and one, the QED for “Ideals of the Society”, was awarded to Amlesmore’s own Michael St. Leger.^[20]  As His Majesty’s final act, the author was created a court baron and gifted a beautiful helm made by the hand of the king as well as her ladyship Caillin and baroness Ursula.

Shire activities calmed down for a while after countess Katrine stepped down from the throne. The winter months were coming on as well, and this made for a sort of lull in activity. Nonetheless, SCA moved on and soon new heirs would be chosen for Their Majesties Martino II and Ariel. Several folks from Amlesmore went to the crown tourney to see who the next in line of succession would be. The tournament was held in Vatavia and Sir Vaclav Semjaka emerged victorious, fighting for the lady Xorazne^[21].

Meanwhile, in the interim between events, the shire planned some upcoming activities. It was propose that the large shire "barracks" tent given to us by his lordship Alban St. Albans, should be repaired and spruced up a bit. The shire decided that we would paint the arms of the shire on the roof and prepare small banners of members' personal arms to be arranged around the tent. Killian Winterwolf^[22] was chosen to spearhead the project. Further, a wedding was in the making! Lord Freygeirr and lady Rowan were married in Amlesmore on November 12, 2005, which was followed up by a huge bonfire and celebration of the event.

A week later, several of us attended the annual Toys for Tots tournament. Not one of our shire folk fought in the actual tournament, as various injuries abounded amidst our fighters. Additionally, some of our folk were helping out at the fundraising efforts of His Lordship Hálvgrimr^[23] and his Norsa^[24] group. Hálvgrimr had helped the shire immensely in the same activity last year, and had taken over the fundraising. The tournament itself was quite a spectacle, hosting 105 fighters. Afterwards, the royal court brought more honor to our shire. Michael St. Leger was elevated into the nobility with an award of arms. Additionally, lord Ulliam was inducted as a companion of the order of the Torse and the author into the order of the Golden Calon Swan.

Winter AS XL

The winter months are always somewhat more relaxed and inactive and the one following the reign were even more so. A combination of the cold, illness, and to some extent, probably recoupment from Katrine and Tristram's reign, all played a part. On splendid interruption to the winter's ennui was the marriage of lord Freygeirr and lady Rowan. The affair was held in Amlesmore and in an SCA theme. It was attended by both SCA and non-SCA folk. Jade of Amlesmore^[25] and countess Katrine were among the bridesmaids and HL Snorri was one of the groomsmen.

The ceremony was brief but lovely. Lady Rowan's dress was made by HE Katrine, with alterations done up to the VERY last minute. The affair was catered by Freygeirr's mundane friend, who owns a popular Tai food restaurant in town called Bangkok Gardens.

Soon after the wedding the shire folk were treated to another excellent event, namely a Christmas Revel thrown by Standing Stones. HE Caillin, seneschal of Stones set out invitations to the surrounding groups, penned and illuminated by lady Illaria. The evening was outstanding in all aspects. A Christmas feast, cooked by Caillin, was served in a timbered cabin. Denizens of Standing Stones, Amlesmore and Wyvern Cliffe were all present. Enormous amounts of food and booze were consumed and spirited discussions were had concerning the nature of chivalry, honor, and deeds of arms.

The months of January and February passed. The kingdom once again went to war at Estrella and, as always, members of the shire went along. Shire members attended some events throughout Calontir and local fighter practices started up again as the weather warmed. Countess Katrine became kingdom Largesse Coordinator, which sparked a couple of projects. Her Excellency's idea was a plan to devise banners, to be offered as gifts to the monarchs of the 19 kingdoms at Pennsic War. Another, spearheaded by Jade, was the braiding of cords for order medallions granted by our own king and queen. These cords were made in a number of medieval braiding techniques. Jade, her son Connor, as well as lady Rowan turned out a huge number of the cords which were well received by their Majesties.

Also during this time there were a couple of office changes. Ramona resigned as Minister of Youth, to be followed in her office by lord Michael St. Leger. Lord Ulf Proudhammer also stepped down as Castellan. He was succeeded by lady Katherine Blacklea, who surrendered her Minister of Arts and Sciences post to Cillien Geamhradh-madadh-alluidh^[26].

Spring Crown Tourney

The time to choose new heirs for the Falcon throne had arisen once more. The tournament is always a thing of great gossip and speculation but the fervor was higher then usual in the Moor. Earl Tristram of Lindesfarne was fighting again, so soon after stepping down. This time his consort (and fellow combatant in the list) was HL Caillin Mackenzie. Despite a loss in the first few rounds, Tristram managed to emerge victorious in the list and Standing Stones and the Moor steeled themselves for another reign as retinue, with Katrine as the lady chamberlain. Further, Tristram's victory was not the only good news to come at this event, as Jade and Cillien were ennobled by TRM with awards of arms.

Photos
 

The Third War College

By now this annual event was fast becoming an Amlesmore tradition. The event was a fun, successful affair. Lord Ulliam received his authorization as a marshal. Among some of the other changes in the event were some gifts to our volunteer instructors. These were round leather badges with the heraldic badge of War College worked into the surface, and the words "War College AS XLI - Instructor", in annulo. Bridget Duncan constructed the badges which were well received.

 The Lost Year

It is a harsh lesson that history has to teach, and one that is apparently required to be re-taught from time-to-time. It is that history unrecorded often becomes history lost. So it has been with much of the reign of Tristram II and Caillin MacKenzie.

The shire was so caught up in the events of the reign and providing retinue for Their Majesties, that much of the year has escaped being set to pen and so, I am afraid, will be lost forever. I will attempt to recall some of the highlights and then be more diligent in the future.

After our third War College came the annual shire moot and bloody revolution. Countess Katrine succeeded to the office of seneschal. Her Excellency was also serving as the Lady High Chamberlain to the Crown and as kingdom Largess Coordinator. Lord Roibeard also joined the growing list of kingdom officers, becoming kingdom Web Minister, as well as lady Caillin O’hicdhe who was enrolled in the Witan as kingdom Chirurgeon.

As Gold Falcon Herald, the author indulged in some shire nepotism as well, appointing lord Hendrick von Sievershausen as Harrier Herald and the newly ennobled lord Leopold von Ruhfkar as Quill Pursuivant. The flurry of offices, new responsibilities as well as the new reign brought many a late night and long weekend to the Moor.

As with other reigns, the shire made good its feudal obligations. Soldiers were provided for Estrella and Gulf War. Our artisans continued to labor for the largess. Though enjoying the reign, many of us looked forward to he end of some of our kingdom duties in order to focus on local growth and to make time to pay attention to the needs of some of the newest members.

Other events of note: Lady Ramona gave birth to a baby boy (Justus). Gregory^[27] turned of age and began clamoring for armor and fighter training. His grace, duke Lorell was victorious at crown tournament and Lorell III and Cadfael ascended the falcon thrones in March. As one of the last acts as king and queen, Tristram and Caillin created lord Richard Dale a baron of the court. All-in-all, the year was a very busy one and one in which a great deal more occurred than is reflected in these few short paragraphs. More may be added in the future as people remember and insist on a record. For now, however, we began to look forward to our fourth War College in May in Hallsville, and first big public demo, at the Centralia Anchor Fest in the first week of June.

The Fourth War College

It was difficult to believe that the fourth War College was come again to the Moor.  As usual, the shire pulled it together with seamless ease or, at least what seemed to be ease.  The author, baron Richard and countess Katrine were called to Florida during the week directly before, as lord Bartholomew had been the victim of an assault that left him in need of some medical care.  This shire descended on all matters of “needs to be done” and handled everything flawlessly.  Lady Katherine Blacklea autocrated the event and lady Lily da Vale stepped in as food coordinator.

This event was the first for one of our newest members, Gavin Jameson^[28], and it can probably safely be said that it is at this point that he officially joined the shire.  Lord Robert Wright and his wife, lady Eleyen Scrivener^[29] became members of the shire and were of great assistance.  Gavin also managed to become an authorized fighter at this time.  There were many authorizations that day and the shire added two more to our fighting force besides Gavin.  Lord Leopold and lord Killian authorized as well and Daumantas added a greatsword authorization to his list of qualifications. Court was short and sweet, partly because it was a small event but also, perhaps, due to the king’s broken leg. Lord Freygeirr was given the Order of the Torse for his outstanding service to the shire in the last several years.  Further, the Shire and the Kingdom received a new noble in the person of Lily da Vale^[30], who was granted her right to bear arms for tireless service to the SCA and especially the Moor. 

The Three Day Demo

From the scuttle of activity at War College, came our demo at Anchor-Fest^[31].  Lord Freygeirr had taken up the charge to get us a spot at the yearly festival located in Centralia, Missouri.  The town celebrated for Friday, Saturday and Sunday with carnival rides, a parade, bands, and general festivities.  The shire created a large banner and marched in the parade.  Additionally the Moor set up a large medieval pavilion belonging to countess Katrine, and a number of people came out to display woodworking, armor, weaving, illumination, etc…, to show off what the SCA does.  The fighting demonstrations on Saturday were a particular hit with the crowd.  It was at one of these martial displays that Ingebord Ulfsdottyr earned her soubriquet “Axebreaker”, when Daumantas destroyed the famed Calontir Can-Opener^[32] on her helm.^[33]  Numerous folks from the shire put forth a great amount of effort to pull off the Centralia demo and it served us well gaining recognition in the community.  It remained to be seen what persons, if any, we would recruit from the effort, but everyone seemed to agree that the fun and exposure was worth it.  It seemed that at some point we had added Amy to our numbers, as she was an integral part of the demo and was showing up helping for other projects as well.  When she became an “official” shire member is a bit fuzzy, but it was around this date.

The Summer of Heat, Followed by Hotness, Heat and more Hot

July 2007 was unpleasant, yet most of our fighters braved the heat of Lilies War and the occasional fighter practice of doom.  Lilies War this year was an interesting theme – Kings against Queens.  Since the Moor had a former queen all its own, there was a plan to create a heraldic unit dedicated to countess Katrine.

In the unit, fighters and support staff alike would wear tabards divided down the center.  The right side of the tabard was white, with countess Katrine’s red crescent badge emblazoned over the heart.  The left side was constructed of the major color or colors of the individual, with a badge derived from their armorial bearings. The result was a splendid unit both on and off the field.  We were not the only ones to think so, as the unit caused Amlesmore to win the “Best Heraldic Dsplay” prize at the war for the second year running.  The heraldic display was not the only accolade to be gained by our folk at Lilies.  Ingeborg Axebreaker’s original song won the award for honoring past queens.  Additionally, this lady’s demeanor during the war caused the Sovereign to honor her as one of the Virtues of Chivalry, Truth, and placed her by Royal Decree just behind the Royal Family in any Order of March for the duration of the reign.

It seemed that Lilies spent most everyone’s energy this year and for the first time in our history, not one member of the shire was planning to attend the Pennsic war.  This, however, did not stop our artisans from contributing to the largess effort.  Personal banners and heraldic boxes were sent as part of the kingdom’s gifts to the kingdom of Trimaris.  As always, a number of our folk pitched in to make this project work.

Summer continued on with heat sucking the interest of most fighter practices, but with occasional get-togethers and impromptu visits to County Downs lake^[34] taking place on a pseudo-regular basis.  The author stepped down as Gold Falcon Herald and was trying not to hold another office for a while and we all were looking forward to the fall ahead.

For photo credits please see the photo gallery.

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^[10] Trimaris is the kingdom comprised of the majority of Florida, and Panama and Antarctica.

^[11] Gleann Abhann consists 90% of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and extreme western Tennessee. It is soon to be a kingdom.

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^[13] “Autocrat” is the SCA slang term commonly used for the person in charge of the overall administration of an event.  This person also serves as the fall guy/gal if anything goes wrong…

^[14] “Troll” is another SCA slang term.  It is used to reference both the place where people check in or “troll in” to an event site as well as a reference to the persons working the check-in.

^[15] Michael Jackson

^[16] ?

^[17] Geoff Foster

^[18] This realm was elevated from the status of a principality in the kingdom of Meredies.  The new kingdom encompassed about 90% of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and extreme western Tennessee.

^[19] Both underwear items belonged to two different, yet equally patriotic ladies.  The names of these good gentlewomen have not been set down by this author as some uneducated and coarser individuals might attempt to, in some way, stain the honor of noblest of women.  The anemone was the property of Her Majesty.

^[20] This young gentleman, Michael Corey, is the son of lady Katherine Blacklea mentioned earlier in this history.

^[21] Mark and Nancy Krejci.

^[22] Killian Winterwolf was his SCA as well as mundane name.

^[23] Rob Schuster. This person was a long time SCA member and a big help to the founding of Amlesmoor. He supported us in fighter practices as well as fundraising and general moral support.

^[24] Norsa is a group similar to the SCA, but focusing on Nordic, Viking age culture. Additionally, the group tends to be more concerned with historical accuracy than the SCA in general.

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^[27] Gregory Kimsey, son of Robert Scott (Scott Kimsey)

^[28] Bryan Cleek

^[29] This couple originally were from Caid and had immigrated to Calontir

^[30] Susan Knisely

^[31] Anchor –Fest is a yearly celebration in Centralia.  It’s rather curious name comes not from a traditional naval anchor, but from a device invented and marketed by the A.B. Chance Company.  Chance was the major employer in Centralia for years and the sole provider of a construction/architectural anchor that made the company, and thus the town, considerable amounts of cash.

^[32]  The “Can-Opener” received its name in the dim past from lord Hendrick von Sievershausen.  The thing was an ungodly construct that was too big to wield one-handed and not big enough to be a useful two-handed weapon.  It was, however, very heavy and dense and hit very hard if you could manage to strike someone with it.  Doubtless there will be others who disagree with the author’s assessment of this weapon and will ascribe to it wonderful traits.  Much like one does to a distant relative who has passed on that no one liked when they were living.

^[33] The blow knocked Ingeborg to the ground like a tent-peg and put a very respectable dent in her helmet.  It must be mentioned that is did not take the fight out of the young lady as she bounced back up ready to go.

^[34] This subdivision was an old boy scout camp turned real estate development.  Amy’s (referred to back in the Three Day Demo section above), parents lived in the subdivision and she was therefore able to wrangle us an invite to the private lake.

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