[Bryn-gwlad] Report to Bryn Gwlad - Part 2

[Thomas]

REPORT TO BRYN GWLAD - Part 2

LAND COURTS
The tradition of a Land Court as part of a revel was popularized 
by Baron Pendaran and Baroness Jehanne and I wanted to continue 
this tradition. A Land Court collected “taxes” (gifts) for lands 
held in the Barony of Bryn Gwlad.  People who had been awarded 
rights and privileges by the court could petition the Baron 
for land within our barony.  However I wanted to include more 
people, so I opted to give land to anyone who considered themselves
members of Bryn Gwlad.   Lady Dior served as the land steward for 
a couple of years, then Lord Douglas served as my land steward and 
helped me redraw the maps.  I also created a map of the barony 
within the city walls so people could also have houses in the city, 
as it were.  I also created special deeds of land ownership.  This
provided a lot of enjoyable personae play.   Many people also gave 
fine gifts to use as prizes later.  

EVENTS
Every group experiences some burn out when they try to do 
too much with not enough people.  I tried to encourage our 
barony to have more specialized events rather than trying to do
everything at each event.    Bryn Gwlad had 18 major events 
during my 56 months as Baron:
 
2003 – Investiture at Castleton
2003 - Fall Baronial Event – The Six Wives of Henry VIII
2004 – Candlemas (Miguel & Conal attended)
2004 – KWAR 
2004 – Fall Baronial Event – The Cloth of Silver
2005 – Candlemas (Cateau attended)
2005 – First Equestrian College (with Tir Medion)
2005 – Fall Arts Symposium
2005 – Fall Baronial Event – Venice  (Mahdi & Valeria)
2006 – Candlemas
2006 – Kingdom Dance Symposium
2006 – Lysts at Castleton  (Mahdi attended)
2006 – Fall Baronial Event – Life is Good
2007 - Coronation & Queens at Castleton  (Romanius & Deanna)
2007 – Candlemas – Eleanor of Aquitaine (Deanna attended)
2007 – Lysts at Castleton
2007 – Fall Baronial Event – Harvest Fair (Ulsted & Egergardis)
2008 – Saxon-Danish Candlemas & Investiture (Aaron & Vanessa attended)

DRAMATIC COURTS
Making court interesting has been one of my challenges.  Court
proceedings are fairly standardized in our Society and many people 
always do them the same way.  One of the ways of making court more
interesting is to include more people.   I often conducted courts 
with music and percussion.  I invited bards to praise people in 
the courts.   I also held court in different settings.   I opted 
to be invested on one side of the castle at Castleton.   I also 
held an evening court on the ship for our Venetian event and in 
front of the baronial manor one morning for our recent Harvest 
Festival event.   I also encouraged processions before courts 
in Castleton.   At the request of Queen Valeria, I organized 
a period birthday celebration for King Mahdi at one court.  
Baron Conor and I also carefully scripted our courts so we 
could quote Shakespeare, Beowulf, and great films like 
Excalibur, Kingdom of Heaven and Conan the Barbarian.  

CANDLEMAS COURTS
I started having two courts at Candlemas to help reduce 
the length of the evening court; this hasn’t always worked, 
however the last few Candlemas evening courts were less 
than an hour long.   Shorter courts help keep the proceedings
interesting.    

TINY TOURNEY COURTS
I also started holding courts at each of our tiny tourneys 
as well as many of our revels.   This allows us to have more 
fun with court AND also educate newer members about how court 
is done.   I was also able to conduct some official business 
at these smaller courts.  During my time as Baron, I held 
over 50 courts.   

CASTLETON
Our barony is so fortunate that Don Shamino is able to offer 
his property, resources and imagination in create a magical 
setting for many of our events.   Although Bryn Gwlad began 
enjoying his property during the time of Baron Pendaran and 
Baroness Jehanne, the village of Castleton really came alive 
during my time as Baron.   I was able to fund two improvements 
to this property:  Lord Garreth and I planted rosemary around 
the Baron’s Manor one year; Lord Thomas, Lord Jehan and his son 
were able to build wooden stairs for the front of the theater 
stage – both of these improvements were done without cost 
to the Barony and were gladly donated to the site.  I am sure 
Don Shamino would welcome our continuing improvements. 

DEMOS
Demonstrations of our historical knowledge and skills are one way 
of educating young people about the past.  They can also serve to
encourage new members.    Bryn Gwlad continued to present a number 
of well-received demos at schools as well as at one of a Pirate movie
premiere.   We also organized two all-day demos in coordination 
with the Wells Branch Community Center – which was a good way 
of thanking them for sharing their facilities with us throughout 
these recent years.  

WAR EFFORTS
When I started as Baron, the Bryn Gwlad War Company was in disarray 
and there was a serious challenge with leadership; I personally 
believe this was because no knights were able to serve as leaders 
at that time.  I was initially unable to find a solution that 
most people liked.   Rather than dissolving the company, I opted 
to let it run its course.  Then about two years later, I created 
a new concept (with permission of the Crown):  the Bryn Gwlad Army!  
This newer model honors everyone who helps with the war effort, 
not just our chivalric fighters.  This army included many captains, 
one for each area of endeavor:   chivalric, rapier, archery, 
equestrian, arts, youth, service, war gifts and livery.  I also 
created a position of commander to coordinate the captains – 
a position that I appointed, rather than have elected.  The 
commander and I then found dedicated captains.   Sir Gideon 
served two years as the Bryn Gwlad Army commander, and Sir Lyonel 
served one year.  War Gifts are always a challenge and I salute 
our many artisans who worked together to make many fine gifts 
over the years. 

BARONIAL AWARDS
When I started as Baron, I discovered that no one had kept any 
records of the non-armigerous baronial awards (i.e. Muse, Golden 
Martlet, Cross Fleury, and Chalice).  There was also no up-to-date 
record of the Dreigiau Bryn.   I carefully reconstructed these award
records, then kept them up to date.   I worked closely with our 
virtual scribes to make sure this information remained on the web. 
I also created another baronial award to recognize the contributions 
of our younger members:   the Dragon’s Egg.   

(to be concluded)