Court and Pageantry and Processionals and Stuff.

.....Yesterday at Honey War we rallied the troops of Dragon's Laire and essentially marched into Court with much proverbial pomp and circumstance. It was a rather inspirational, albeit short, moment that came together with little real forethought or planning. But since then I've been thinking quite a bit about it. Over the past couple of years TBT and I have given a lot of thought to processionals and ways to make them more pageantry filled at June Faire. The Honey War march, plus a few things we did at this last June Faire are giving me ideas and clues on how TBT and I can make this work. We are not outgoing, boisterous, people. We are more on the quiet side. So what worked for Cedric and Brighid wouldn't necessary work for us.

.....At Honey War, we started speaking to those present about gathering together as a group to offer our services to Blatha An Oir officially. As the fighters gathered their fighting gear, THL Conchobar and THL Richard spoke to others to ensure they were in on a gathering to march into Court. We wanted to use the Dragon's Laire standard, but the fighters were loaded down with their fighting gear so we asked Mistress Gwenllyn to carry the banner for us.

.....THL Conchobar suggested that we organize the troops into a marching unit or into columns. Which was an excellent idea. Conchobar went ahead and organized the troops into two columns. He asked about a herald and immediately volunteered to perform the service. We hadn't thought of any formal words, so we asked him to speak whatever came to mind. So the line up had Conchobar out in front to herald the march. Then TBT and I followed as the Baron and Baroness. Following us was Mistress Gwenllyn carrying the standard of the Barony. Then, finally, a double column of Dragon's Laire troops and allies who all agreed to fight under the Dragon's Laire banner.

.....Conchobar started heralding in a loud voice the entrance of the Barony of Dragon's Laire. He spoke of TBT and myself and spoke with pride of the strength of the troops. We stayed in formation as we marched around the perimeter of the Erics and ended our march at the Glymm Mere Baronial Pavilion. As Conchobar marched and heralded, everyone around the Erics stopped whatever it was they were working and watched as the Baronial forces marched by them. It was quite a moment.

.....This was actually the next step in something we been slowing ruminating over for over a year now. Something that has been extremely slow, to be honest. But I was intrigued and kick-started at June Faire just last weekend. We had planned on walking a couple of processionals in order to recognize people for the things we were doing and to award people with scrolls we did not have the time to give at Saturday evening Court. We had a number of things rolled into that plan, but Saturday proved to be so busy that we never had the opportunity to implement anything. On Sunday though, we had some time.

.....We decided at that time to pull out all the scrolls we had and ensure they had all the proper accompaniment (necklaces, tokens, etc.). Tsuruko Sensei acted as our traveling Court Herald. M'Lord Brian Devereaux acted as our Standard Bearer. The pageantry of carrying the standard made a big difference in the moment. It had flair and a certain amount of regalness to the occasion.

.....We circled the site, starting with the Arts & Sciences Village, moving through the Marketplace and Demonstration Camps, down through the Archery and Thrown Weapons Ranges, and ended back on to the Erics.

.....We would stop place to place and admire and comment on what we saw. We'd observe artisans in action, fighters in combat. If we ran into one of the people for whom we carried scrolls, we'd stop and create a mini-ceremony. We'd ask them to take a knee and then Tsuruko would launch into the ceremony. We'd take hands and do our best to make it a meaningful moment for the recipient. As we worked through each one we found that it created a little 'mini-event' amongst all the other happenings at June Faire. The Modern Public would stop and watch in curiosity. Those members of the SCA in the area would stop and watch, applauding at appropriate moments. The whole approach worked out even better than I thought it would.

.....So, next year, I'd like to take it maybe a little further. I don't want it to seem too staged, but maybe a few more people in our party. To create an instant audience if nothing else. We would get banners, standards and pennants for themselves to carry as well. If we could get even a couple of Her Excellency's Guards in their livery to walk with us, along with a musician or two, the scene would be set! Something to definitely put on the wish list for next year.

.....Something we had wanted to do this year was a 'Grand Processional' into evening Court. This would involve the banner, a cup bearer, multiple guards, the Champions, musicians, the entire works! The Grand Processional itself would be at least ten minutes in length as it would also involve heraldic pronouncements procedural entrances into Court. AS we neared the time for Court this year, the entire idea was set aside. Primarily because it was actually Their Majesties' Court, but also because of the chaos of the day and how much effort it took to get things as organized as they were. To do something of this scale would definitely require a bit of preplanning and staging. Maybe even a dress rehearsal. Doing something like this off the cuff is a disaster in the making. But, can you imagine how it would look!

.....Pageantry is something that has taken a little bit of a back seat over the past year and a half. I think it is time to nudge it forward a little. Not overpoweringly so, just so that people are aware of its importance. There just isn't enough time to do everything you want to do. :-)

.....Aaron / Arontius.