Squires

[S. Kirkpatrick]

I may not be aknight, but I am a Baroness and was a knight's lady. A
squire's belt by tradition is given to the squire by the knight, therefore,
the knight should make it. I used to weave the belts for my lord's squires.
Some were embroidered, others left plain. You may put artwork on the belt;
it is very appropriate for the knight to put both his and his squire's arms
on the belt. Usually there is a ceremony; not nearly as elaborate as a
knighting, but after all, it is the first step to the gold chain and white
belt, and does deserve some recognition. As for what to look for in a
squire, I guess that depends on the knight. Some are just looking for more
people to wait on them. Some are looking for the prestige of having a lot of
eager young people around them answering their every beck and call. One
knight I know here, an arch-Duke, looks for those who have the heart to
become a knight. He doesn't look for skill, he looks into the candidate's
heart and sees whether the belt and chain are there. Unfortunately, my lord
just wanted bodies. He didn't even bother to really oversee their training.
It was a terrible waste of both a good knight and a lot of people with
strong potential. As for how many are too many- How many squires can you
oversee without having any one of them lack? That to me seemed to be the
best rule. The knights that I admire the most followed that dictum. 
Now you have an answer from not a knight and not general populace. I am a
founding Baroness and ex-Kingdom officer (twice). I was also lady to knights
from at least 2 different kingdoms and found that traditions are pretty much
the same. I would have been squired myself, but since I outranked in
precedence the knight, we decided that that would not be a good idea.
Probably for the best. 
Good luck in your quest-
Morag NicGhille Eoin, Baroness Raven's Fort.
 
>I have a question first directed to Knights and then to the general populace. 
>Do you make your squire's belt or do you ask them to make it themselves?
>What kind of artwork do you put on the belt, your device - their device -
kingdom?
>Do you have a ceremony for the belting?
>What do you look for in a squire?  
>How many squires do you limit yourself to? 
>How do you feel about Knights that have too many squires?
>And, what constitues too many squires?
>If you rather that the general populace not know your answers please email me 
>privately.  I am Knight in another of the many LARP's out there and wish to be 
>informed beyond the books and letters I have read on the subject before I
squire 
>someone.  From the general populace I would like to hear how you *perceive* 
>these things occur.
>-------------------------------------
>Ciao
>Ches
>E-mail: Ches at io.com
>This message was sent by Chameleon 
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"An ath bhliadhna, anns an Alba"