Cover of the March Gatekeeper

A Word From the Baroness

Greetings: When browsing some SCA correspondence, I was reminded of something I thought might interest those of you new to our society, particularly those who were at coronet tourney and saw their first peerage ceremony when Viscountess Alicianne was elevated into the Order of the Pelican. The society's roots are diverse, and literary as well as historical. The following quotes were posted by Sir Veniamin, to remind us of just that:
"The old man laid the sword along his lap, and Pippin put his hand to the hilts, and said slowly after Denethor:
'Here do I swear fealty and service to Gondor, and to the Lord and Steward of the realm, to speak and to be silent, to do and to let be, to come and to go, in need or plenty, in peace or war, in living or dying, from this hour henceforth, until my lord release me, or death take me, or the world end. So say I, Peregrin son of Paladin of the Shire of the Halflings.'
'And this do I hear, Denethor son of Ecthelion, Lord of Gondor, Steward of the High King, and I will not forget it, nor fail to reward that which is given: fealty with love, valour with honour, oath-breaking with vengeance.' Then Pippin received back his sword and put it in its sheath."
--J.R.R. Tolkien, ""The Lord of the Rings"
See you at the Collegium!
Morgana, Baroness Winter's Gate

- News, etc. -

Weekly Dance Practice is booming, we're typically getting 12-15 people out to dance (though over 20 different people participate)! Varakreivitär Kareina teaches the dances each week, so new people are always welcome. We're still, more often than not, long on Lords and short on Ladies, but it's been great. Come and join us to socialize even if you don't dance. "Geld the Devil" is a real spectator sport! Other dances are "Glory of the West" (in two speeds), "Gathering Peascods", "Easter Thursday", "La Belle Pavane", "Strip the Willow", "Mannschaft Pavane", "Bransle Official", "Earl of Salisbury" (the story one), "Horses Branle", "Heart's Ease", "Washerwoman's Bransle" (if we cannot avoid it), "Jenny Pluck Pears", "Female Sailor", "Irish Circle Dance" (Otherwise called "Irish Aerobics"), "Road to the Isles" (the Scottish Dance) and of course, "Karabushka" !

Please, if you haven't renewed or sent in your membership forms, this is the time to do it! The Principality needs the numbers processed and countable by Beltane, and the paperwork takes several weeks or more to be counted. And remember, only "Sustaining" memberships count toward our numbers. The difference between Associate and Sustaining membership is that Sustaining Members receive newsletters. And this is something you may not have known: The magic minimum number to form a Kingdom is 400, due to the fact that 400 is the number of addresses needed to obtain a bulk mailing permit from the USPS. UAF Student Activities is in fact having their 2nd Annual Renaissance Faire on Saturday, April 12. Details are posted elsewhere in this issue. A great chance to get into garb and show off any learning from Collegium.
Watch for A&E's new -SERIES- called Ivanhoe, starting April 20th of this year. The trailer promises attention to 12th Century details and lots of action and intrigue. Set those VCR's to record!

Events

Winter's Gate Spring Collegium
March 29-30 UAF Copper Lane House & Hess Commons
Winter's Gate is holding a Spring Collegium on the UAF campus. There are a plethora of classes, and more to be announced. We have the Copper Lane house, which provides several small rooms and two largish rooms for different classes. We also have the Hess Commons for classes and activities on Saturday, and room for dancing in the evening. Confirmed classes: Medieval Armor Myths and Armor tolerance Demonstration, The History of Oertha, Alternative SCA Combat, Medieval Sex Education, Basic Garb Design & Construction, Period Recipes & Cooing, Blackwork Embroidery, Juggling,. There will be a Pot luck feast with a main dish made during the Period Recipe class. A dance will follow in the evening. Instructors are still needed. Unconfirmed Classes: Medieval Spices, Runes, and a Bardic Circle. Random (Dustin Grimes) is keeping track of teachers, contact him for information [info removed].

UAF Renaissance Faire

April 12, 1997 UAF Wood's Center
UAF Student Activities is holding their second Annual Renaissance Faire at Wood's Center. If it's anything like last year, there's sure to be many clever and interesting activities, as well as static display's. Our Fighting Demo was a feature in 1996, and there's no doubt we'll have an audience again this year. We will likely be keep a table with activities, Info or items for sale.

Historical Costume Ball

May 3, 1997 UAF Wood's Center Ballroom
The Students for Creative Anachronism and the University Contra Dancers invite one and all to a celebration of May at our Historical Costume Ball and Contra Dance on the 3rd of May AS XXXII (1997) beginning at 8pm at the Wood Center Ballroom on Campus. There will be live music by Queen's Penny! The dance is free to all, and costumes from any period in history are encouraged. We will be doing both familiar period dances (which we practice every Wednesday) and Contra Dances (which are fun and easy).

Websites of Interest

SCA.org/ is the main website for SCA stuff and there are many and sundry links from there, but here are links recommended by Patrick, April, Logan and Heather that are worth visiting; listed thusly:
From Patrick: http://www.sca.org.au/agaricus/index.html
Shire of Insula Draconis http://www.soton.ac.uk/~roy/sca/
Cariadoc's Miscellany http://www.soton.ac.uk/~roy/sca/
Dark Horde http://www.soton.ac.uk/~roy/sca/
You Might be in the SCA http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~rodmur/sca/youknow.html
Fun Stories http://emporium.turnpike.net/Z/zen/SCA/Auntie.html
Rialto Archive http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/rialto/rialto.html
Medieval books http://host.interloc.com/~medieval/
Grey Company http://www.iinet.net.au/~bill/gcpics.html
Arts and Sciences http://www.falconsafety.com/~GildPerl/
Costume http://vger.rutgers.edu/~tempest/costume.htm
Mary Rose http://www.synergy.net/homeport.html
Celtic clip art http://celtic.stanford.edu/clipart.html
Byzantine http://www.bway.net/%7Ehalsall/byzantine.html
Medieval Sites http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/med/medweb.html
Medieval Sites http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook.html
Byzantine http://www.nexaxs.com/~blktauna/byzantine.html
(SCA) Byzantine http://www.uky.edu/ArtsSciences/Classics/gender.html
"Best" Links: http://www.georgetown.edu/labyrinth/
15th Century Richard III http://www.webcom.com/blanchrd/other.html
Helge Ask Vikingship: http://www.iau.dtu.dk/~lh/helge/helge.html
Int'l Heraldry: http://www.rsl.ox.ac.uk/imucal.html
http://orbs.rhodes.edu/index.html

Find "Flight of the Valkyrie" (SCA poem) by Grimr at Grimr's Grim Grimoire

From the New Deputy Baronial A&S Officer

Kmart Damask: The Art of Illusion

Cheap damask tablecloths can be a great shortcut tool. On our first, and so far only, stint at autocrating (Yule) Patrick and I decided that we must have a Lord and Lady of Misrule. They must have ostentatious robes of state, we reasoned. Inspired by Sunday paper sales inserts, we prowled the aisles of Kmart. Of course, it being just past Halloween, Christmas goods abounded. A nice, conveniently located end display held several sizes of cotton-poly damask tablecloths, red and green. Aesthetically, I liked the green better, but Patrick correctly observed that the Lord and Lady of Misrule would look more the part in bright red. We bit.
We chose just one tablecloth, five by seven feet, to cut in half for shoulder capes. By chance, we had picked an oval tablecloth instead of oblong. Thus our capes had rounded ends, which suited them very nicely. Also, no corners to finish! Thanks to the serged factory edge, we only had to make one straight hem for each half, yippee!
We also purchased gold metallic rickrack and red and gold cord to finish the capes. The total cost? Less than $20. I folded the tablecloth in half and cut along the fold. I then hemmed the cut edge of each, using a zigzag stitch to keep the damask from fraying, which it desperately wanted to do. The gold rickrack hid the edge of the hem and lent a touch of garish opulence, in keeping with the roles of Lord and Lady of Misrule.
We folded back the hemmed edge about six inches to make a collar, and ran a row of stitching about a half inch in from the folded edge. This created a tube to thread the cord through, to provide a drawstring for the collar of the cape.
A couple of finishing touches, like a jingle bell on each corner of the collars, and the capes were done. With pressing and finish work, they took all of an hour, maybe.
How did they work? Great! Patrick and I spent more time posing in them than it took to make them. No kidding! The Misrulers seemed to like them. Our Seneschale, Heather, was lucky enough to be Lady of Misrule. She said that once she got over the embarrassment, it wasn't so bad. Matsubayashi Korudai (Patrick Bratton), the Lord of Misrule, liked his cape so much that he didn't seem to want to take it off after the festivities ended. I urge those with little sewing experience or skill to explore the possibilities of cheap tablecloth damask. It is no substitute for authentic garb material, but it has one great advantage over the same: it is much, much cheaper.
Better quality tablecloths can also be had for reasonable prices. Over Christmas break, many stores were carrying such cloths. Fred Meyer even had theirs on sale. The tablecloths there had a nice abstract scroll pattern and came in forest green, ivory and burgundy. The 72 by 60 inch size was less than $20 on sale. (The damask I bought at a local fabric store was only 36 inches wide and cost $12 a yard.)
The irony of buying a pre-made tablecloth to cut up for clothing is that the material is so much cheaper than off the bolt. The fabric store might have a wider selection, but at $12 a yard or more, I'll continue to haunt the home decor aisle at dear old Fred's. I am making a sarafan (Russian overdress) with my Fred Meyer damask, and it looks very impressive. My husband Patrick is going to make a jerkin of his burgundy piece. Matsubayashi also bought some, and he is using it as the covering for his sode (Japanese padded sleeve armor).
Those sewing by hand may be especially troubled by damask's tendency to fray along cuts. All edges should be either pinked or folded under when sewn to prevent this. A bottle of Fray Check4 from the craft store is a good investment.

Meeting Notes 2/6/97

Spring Collegium Random (Dustin Grimes) is keeping track of teachers, contact him for information [info removed]
The Calendar from now until March 29, and from then until May 24 is mostly open for anyone who wishes to hold an event. An Autocrat is needed for Spring Captaincy and also for all of the fall events.
We have set the date for the Public "Historical Costume Ball/Contra Dance" to be held May 3, along with the University Contra-Dance Club. We have reserved the Wood Center Ballroom for the dance, as a thank you to the contra dancers for reserving Copper Lane House on our behalf for another day (each campus club is entitled to reserve it once each term). The next Ivory Thimble Tea is at Magda's on March 21. The Next Baronial Meetings will be 2/27, 3/27--Collegium organization!
Officers reported generally positively about status and participation in all areas. There is much interest in fighting and armouring, as well as the gentler arts and sciences. Finances are good compared to recent history.
The Calendar for the remainder of the year was hammered out. Discussed were the possibilities of purchasing up-to-date Heralding books, including West Kingdom ceremonies and a Pic-Dic. Also looking into inexpensive metal to help fighters put together shields or necessary metal armour parts.
April MacMorn (April Woolery) has graciously taken on the position of Deputy Baronial Arts & Sciences Officer. Status of Collegium classes and arrangements were reported by Random. He seems to have the task well in hand. More teachers will be contacted, flyers made and banners commissioned. A bardic will likely occur the Friday evening before the event.
The Students for Creative Anachronism Campus club plans to re-institute the SCA branch name of "College of St. Boniface" previously used by the UAF club, with official status beginning in the fall. (Both the current and future names are used herein for ease of transition.)
There is a Cub Scout demo on 2/21, (and one for Eielson Jr. High also), reports to follow in this issue. (Report in this issue!) Random is working up a website for St. Boniface, and it should be up and running in a week or two.
The February Tea is at Magda's on 2/21, opposite the demo.

From the Baronial Chirurgeon

I would like to request that everyone in the Barony submit to the office of the Chirurgeon any pertinent medical history that they or their family may have. This would include any medications you take on a regular basis, any medical problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, epilepsy, etc. and any allergies of any kind. I feel the Chirurgeon should have this information prepared and readily available in the event of an emergency. Any information you give will be treated with the confidentiality and respect it deserves. This information will not be distributed to anyone other than the proper medical authorities as needed. No one else will have access to this information. When I step down as Chirurgeon, I will transfer all information to my successor unless you specify otherwise.
Yours in Service, Lord Taran de Montfort

Cub Scout Demo Re-cap

On Friday, February 21, thirteen SCAdians rallied to the Call of the Demo. Kareina, Rutger, Taran, Grimr, Gavin, Briana, Logan, Leif, Ariana, Ronan, Annora, Patrick and April attended the Annual Cub/Boy Scouts Blue and Gold Awards Banquet. The first thing that we did was to make a good impression by helping to tape down the table covers. (We ARE in the SCA, after all. We certainly had duct tape.)
During the feast, the intrepid SCAdians mingled with their hosts, answering all manner of mundane questions. During the handing out of awards to the scouts, we anachronists melted quietly into the shadows. The five fighters, Kareina, Rutger, Taran, Ronan and Grimr, donned their armor in preparation for a demonstration of arms.
The eloquent Annora was mistress of ceremonies. She allowed all SCAdians present to introduce themselves. All were well received by the enthusiastic boys. Grimr, who had already made a favorable impression by wearing an axe at dinner, garnered even more audience approval with his colorful introduction. "I have raided London!" Grimr announced. "I have raided Paris!" (Etc.) "And I LIKED it!" which conclusion brought laughter and cheers from the boys.
It was noted that five of our number: Taran, Gavin, Leif, Grimr and Logan were eagle scouts. Annora cannily put this fact to good use. She asked all SCAdians who had been cub scouts to raise their hands. Six hands went up. The boys roared their approval. Their roars increased in volume as they discovered that many of the fighters had attained the exalted rank of Eagle. When the fighting commenced, the boys cheered even more. Ronan was soon named the "Black Knight" for his armor. The boys likewise dubbed Kareina "Princess Leia". Grimr continued to shamelessly play the crowd, beating his shield before his matches and leading the assembly in chanting: "GRIMR! GRIMR! GRIMR!" Taran's armor was fortunately pronounced "red" by the youthful company. Rutger looked especially spiffy in his medieval pot helm and tabard, not to mention the beard braid. The scouts howled at each fight. Caps were flung ceilingward at each dramatic death. Many fighters even twitched convincingly, which earned much laughter from the audience.
Finally, the finale. All of our intrepid fighters knelt to brave the band of boys, now armed with swords and allowed three shots each. Some boys took a few liberties, but it was all in fun. More dramatic deaths followed as some boys made helm contact. More than a few promising fighters could be seen among the bloodthirsty band.
One boy, having had a turn at all five fighters, (and presumably tapping each on the helm,) was heard to cry, "Now I've killed all of them!"
Needless to say, great fun was had by all. - April MacMorn

To Teithiau Prydeineg Part II: Caer Dydd having been included in this Issue of the Gatekeeper.

To Teithiau Prydeineg , Guernin's "Wanderings" page.

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