[Ansteorra] Re: Letters of Marque - was pirates v vikings

[Duncan MacNamara]

>A Letter of Marque has been granted in Ansteorra.  TRM Miquel and Conal 
>granted one to The Phantom Hounds at Gulf War in 2004.  We simply asked, 
>paid the appropriate bri...um, taxes and made sure to present a "show" in 
>court.  Perhaps you're not greas...uh, petitioning the right people?


I've requested one from two different sets of TRM, and from two different 
Baronies. Places me and members of my crew have done and still do service 
for... Course, we haven't tried the um... direct... approach, showing up 
with a chest full of bribe, er, I mean largess goodies, but was thinking of 
doing that next. ;)

Someone asked me at the last SCA function I attended... "Why don't you just 
portray yourselves as Privateers anyway?" Here's where we hit the honor and 
chivalry part of it. (wait, I can hear it now, "pirates have no honor" 
right?) I tend to be a perfectionist... In my eyes, claiming to be a 
Privateer crew in service of TRM of Ansteorra without a letter of marque is 
an act of Treason, misrepresenting one's self as being in the official 
service of the King and Queen, when one is not. Not a very honorable way of 
doing things, sez I.

Once I have a LoM in hand, I will happily call our crew Privateers, and fly 
the Ansteorran Flag over our ship's flag. But until then, I do not feel 
justified in mis-representing ourselves.

And I was at the Gulf Wars of which you speak... it was very entertaining.

Captain MacNamara of the Iron Lotus