[Sca-cooks] Coronation Laurels, revisited ;-) LONG

[Phlip]

As I promised, now that I'm home (delay due to minor car problems) I'm going
to describe, in more detail, what was happening Saturday. It's not every
day, that two dear friends, of mine or of the members of these Lists, in the
same Kingdom, and of our beloved discipline (although somewhat more
officially Jadwiga is considered as the first Herbal Laurel), are Laurelled
on the same day, nor is it usual that I am included in the activities. This
is, however, a very personal narrative, since mine is the only head in which
I am privileged to live, so please, bear with me ;-)

A disclaimer, though, knowing as I do that Certain People may think I think
less of Jadwiga because I will speak less of her- that is not the case.
Rather, I am only one person, and because of the circumstances, with Jadwiga
having a fair amount of time to prepare, through 3 events, and Brighid
having only one day, I focussed my efforts towards helping where I thought I
might be able to do the most good, and that meant helping Brighid survive
all this ;-)

Very early this year, I discovered that Jadwiga's Writ was going to be
announced at 12th Night, so I made the arrangements, and despite hating big
Kingdom events, dragged myself off to 12th Night to see it happen. Yes,
Jadwiga, that is the main reason I was there, although the event also
allowed me to cook with my friend Jaji, and deliver a forge to another
friend. I wound up not actually seeing you get nailed, because, getting
ready to run out the door to the event, I sprained my knee, and was unable
to either sit in the pews in Court, or to continue standing, as long as was
necessary to see you get your Writ. Having had to make that omission, I was
going to do everything in my power to see you made Official at Coronation,
another event that I hate (I have a vision of Hel in which my punishment for
my sins is to go to an Event which is nothing but Court, sitting in an
uncomfortable seat forever, being required to be both quiet and polite, and
not being able to DO anything- I am NOT, by nature, a spectator ;-)

About the same time, I discovered that Brighid was going to ALSO be made a
Laurel at Coronation, and I determined that I was going to have to be at
that event, if I had to walk to get there- no way I could allow two of my
friends to be made Laurels, without doing everything I could to be there and
support them. As it happened, circumstances conspired to help me. I was able
to email Brighid, and ask for crash space, and while she might have been
surprised, otherwise, as she well knows my opinion of Courts and events,
Jadwiga's Laurelling made an excellent excuse to go- Jadwiga, quite
appropriately, you were a stick to beat Brighid with, throughout the
circumstances ;-)

With this in mind, I contacted Pagan, Brighid's baroness, and told her that
I had every intention of helping with Brighid's Laurelling, and she very
kindly directed me to Elisabetta, whom she had placed in charge of the food
aspects of the Vigil. Elisabetta bowed to the inevitable, and was kind
enough to let me help where I could (anybody think you could have stopped
me? This was _my _friend_ BRIGHID!!! , durn it!!!!) Elisabetta and I had
several email conversations, wherein we firmed the details, and I got
permission to allow certain folks from Cook's List know, in order that
Brighid know, and realize for once (she's very shy and humble, unlike others
of us), how much she and her contributions are valued ;-)

In the meantime, my truck broke down, and I was afraid that I might not be
able to get it repaired in time. And, the farm truck broke down, and I
suspect that Rob would not have appreciated it if I had stolen the car he
needs to go to work in order to pay the bills, so I didn't actually know I
could go until Thursday afternoon, right before Coronation. I had had the
Cook's List contributions sent to Elisabetta, in order to make sure they got
there. Fortunately, Rob fixed the truck, so by Thursday afternoon, I could
confirm to Elisabetta that I'd be there, and, also to Brighid, with whom I
had arranged crash space.

Due to other circumstances, however, I was unable to get the shortbread I
had intended to make, made before I left for Brighid's, so I did the fair
thing, and asked permission to make it at Brighid's, using the excuse that
it was a project for Adamantius, who was supposed to be there- yes Brighid,
he was coming down specificly to speak for you at your elevation ;-),
although Coronation is a good excuse for any Peer to show up. This,
incidently, seems to be becoming a tradition associated with Adamantius- the
last major award he was associated with, his lady wife was making the
medallion, and we managed to get the recipient, who is more skilled in that
art than Ceandra is, to give her advice in its making- it is only fair,
therefore, that Brighid helped make the cookies, all unknown to her, for her
own Vigil ;-)

Got down to Brighid's Friday evening, and discovered that, rather than
merely making the shortbread, and feeding ourselves, and catching up on lots
of chitchat, and getting to bed early, since the day was going to be a long
day, Brighid was also finishing up some hand-stitched embroidery for the
gown she intended to wear to honor Jadwiga, because she wanted to look her
best out of respect for her dear friend. This put me in a bit of a quandry:
on the one hand, I wanted her to get to bed early, so she was well-rested,
because I knew, although she didn't, that the next day was going to be
physically and emotionally exhausting for her, but on the other hand,
particularly underlined to me by a tale she had told me about herself, and
an event, and a godawful pink loaner gown and combat boots, that she would
want to look her very best for her very own Laurelling. We had discussed
what she would do if she didn't get the gown finished in time, but I wanted
to help her feel the best she could about herself- my solution was to sit up
with her until 2:30 AM, and reinforce the weak spots in her very period gown
(yes, folks, I was actually hand-sewing something, a skill at with I am
quite competent, but which I find nowhere near as much fun as hand-stitching
leatherwork ;-) while she was finishing up the trim for the sleeves. I
finished her seams and gores, but she hadn't _quite_ finished her embroidery
when we finally crashed, and of course, she didn't feel quite the sense of
urgency that I did. She thought that throughout the day she would have time
to finish- I knew she didn't...

Next morning we blundered around, waking up and getting ready, and one of
the things we had intended to do on the way to the event, was to collect
Vincenzo, whom I knew really wanted to go (he knew what was happening but
didn't have a ride) more or less on the way. Things might have gone
swimmingly- we found Vincenzo and picked him up, without a hitch, but then
we headed over to the event, and, since she'd never been to the site before,
she handed me the instructions, and I misunderstood what she needed to know
(understand- she and Vincenzo know northern NJ. I don't, but I'm usually
good with directions, and it started to rain, and I, being in the back seat,
couldn't see, and she's desperate to be there on time for Last Court, which
is the first Court of the day, for Jadwiga's Elevation, and with Vincenzo
knowing what's going on, and we missed a turn, which is not easy to fix in
northern NJ- it was an adventure, and an exercise in stress management, but
we finally found the site and no convenient parking, so she dropped us off,
which gave me a chance to check in with Appropriate People without her
catching on, but meant she had to park the truck and hike back in the rain-
it was...interesting).

She went through express check in and headed to the Lady's Changing Room to
finish up her embroidery and get into her dress, and I got snatched by the
Chirurgeon in Charge (who at that point, had no back-up Chirurgeons) and
Pagan, got all my stuff where it need to be in the Vigil room, with the CiC
knowing where I and my jump-kit were. Next thing I know, Pagan is wanting to
know where Brighid is- it seems that they've decided that the new Laurels
are going to be the first order of business of Last Court, in order to give
the assembled Peers as much time as possible to attend the Vigils- and on
any other day, Peerages happen at the end of Court.

No one knew where Brighid was, so Pagan asked me, and I told her I thought
Brighid was in LCR, getting ready (and finishing her embroidery). She asked
me to check and get back so I did, and I found Brighid, still in jeans,
finishing up the embroidery. I asked her where she was at on it, told her,
now I knew where she was, I was going to ask Vincenzo to save us a couple
chairs at Court, ran back up the stairs, told Pagan where she was and what
she was doing, made sure Vincenzo saved us chairs (I never lie, just
sometimes I don't tell the whole truth), and ran back down the stairs to
encourage her to get ready. She had almoist finished her embroidery but
since time was short (for Jadwiga's Laurelling) she basted it onto her
sleeve anyway (she was still about half an inch short) and started to dress.

This is where the surprise nearly got blown. Pagan and another Lady, a
Baroness (I'm pretty tired- I'm getting really wonky on names- please
forgive me) came down, intending to encourage her to hurry (and no doubt
agonizing, because we knew she was going to be first up). I had an excuse to
be there- after all, we had come together, and were sitting together,
intending to celebrate Jadwiga's Elevation, but I was afraid she'd catch on
with those two helping- fortunately, Pagan left when I flagged her off, and
the other Lady helped her with her shoes, while I helped her with her dress
and headdress. We got her up the stairs, into Court, and sat down, as
Vincenzo had saved the seats, and had barely sat, when the Herald said
something and the accoustics were so bad, we could barely hear what he said.
She said, "Did he call my name?" and I said, "I don't know- let him call
again." (I hadn't heard, and I didn't want to jump the gun). He did, and off
she went. She knelt before the thrones, and as it became clear, I couldn't
see her face, but I watched her body language, going through Curiousity as
to why she was called, Realization tempered with utter rejection/disbelief,
and her usual good manners, in spite of the fact that she was sure she was
hallucinating ;-)

Eventually, the Court shtick ended, and she was led off, walking a bit like
someone who has just survived a serious car wreck, on her way to the Vigil.
I caught up, to see what I could do to help- she needed her purse/basket
which had been left by our chairs, so I got that, and repaired to the Vigil
room, and presented it to her.

The first words out of her mouth, when she looked up and recognized me were,
"You Bitch!! You knew all about it all the time, didn't you!!!" which told
me that yes, we had in fact, well and truly surprised her, and after several
hours of keeping a straight face, I could finally let loose of all the
giggles, chuckles, and smirks I had been repressing, with the goal in mind
of making this the most memorable day in her SCA career.

The Vigil Room, was great, primarily due to the efforts of Lady Elisabetta.
The Arms of Settmour Swamp were up, arranged so that there was a special and
private space for the Peers to assemble as they waited to speak to her, an
even more special and private place for Brighid to speak in privacy with the
Peers, and an area for we mere assisting peons, to be, stash stuff, and stay
out of the way, and Elisabetta's wonderful arrangement of the Sideboard,
which included:

Salmon Cheese Pie
Poppy Seed Cake
Spice Cake
Orange Honey Bread
Cigars a ala Viande (Morrocan meat cigars)
Veal Meatballs

There were also a few, um, special items, that need a particular emphasis:

Since One of Brighid's Things is baking bread for her feasts, and her colors
are blue and gold, there was a bright blue bread, specially baked into one
of the charges of her arms, called a "bowen knot crosswise".

Elisabetta had also prepared Radish Mice, and Sausage Cattails, a couple of
mini-subtleties that Brighid had helped make known. I was particularly
impressed with the arrangement of the cattails- not only were they there
(and Adamantius wasn't, for shame) but they were presented, very beautifully
embedded in fresh apples, significant not only of some of her work, but of
Settmore Swamp, her home Barony- very cool ;-)

And, let me not forget the contributions of members of SCA Cooks, whom I had
contacted, to give a heads up- Johnna's Candied Ginger (two batches) and
Olwen's beautiful rendition of Brighid's Arms in Marzipan (not to mention a
small box full of personal gifts). And, a lovely note from Lucretzia, over
in England- all things that, I hope, will let Brighid really realize how
much she has affected so many of us, even if we had really little time in
which to express it.

Incidently, at this time it's only fair to explain that Brighid's Vigil was
limitted to Peers, not because it was desired to be exclusive, but because
there was very little time, and Pagan wanted to make sure that every Peer
who wanted to, could speak to her. Initially, Pagan wanted to limit it to
Laurels, but I threw a fit- had I been blocked from seeing my friend on such
a momentous occasion, I'd have crashed the Vigil. We compromised- Vigil
itself was open to all Peers, I was allowed in as an assistant, and the
Vigil Room was opened up after the Elevation for a reception for anybody who
wanted to stop by and congratulate her ;-)

We had asked a friend to promise to observe Court, so that we could make
sure we didn't miss Jadwiga's Elevation, and we got the call. Brighid and I
went flying off to Court (the Vigilant escaping for a while is a long
tradition) to see Jadwiga made Official. It was beautifully, done- Ladies
strewing herbs and rose petals preceded her. Jadwiga had an entourage as
they processed into Court, and, what the rest of us saw, but fortunately
neither Jadwiga nor the Royalty realized at that time, a Lady with a train
was the last person- she was cleaning up the herbs and rose petals as she
followed them in- Jadwiga, being ecologically conscious, had managed to
bring her own street cleaner ;-)

Afterwards, Brighid and I retired to the Lady's Changing Room- her head
piece was a new thing to her, and she was having difficulties getting it to
stay properly, and garb intricacies are something that I know absolutely
nothing about. Fortunately, I saw a friend of mine, whom I know understands
garb- Lady Patricia (she's also an excellent Cook). I flagged her down.
discovered they'd never met, despite both being Cooks, and longtime
residents of the EK, and within 100 miles of each other, introduced them,
and then Pat got Brigid's headgear organized so it stayed together- Thank
you Pat, and reading this, I hope you understand why I was such a space
cadet that day. I think I gave almost no one the attention they deserved,
because I was so focussed on helping make it Brighid's day.

We were running out of time, so I got Brighid back to the Vigil, and went
walkabout for a smoke break. Had contacted Petru, when he said he was going
to be there, to let him know about Brighid, and, he and I wanting to meet,
had been sending each other smoke signals all day, through mutual friends,
as in ,

"I'm in Royal Room, come see me."
"I'm in Vigil Room, come see me."
"Can't come to Royal Room- I'm tied up in Vigil."
"Can't come to Vigil Room, I'm tied up in Royal."

And so forth.

Finally, I got some time to go look for him (and, of course, he had finally
gotten out of Royal Room to go look for me) and, after more smoke signals, I
got a Guide, who knew him on sight, and proceded to help me find him. I took
one look at him, and decided that if there was to be an exception to
Brighid's Vigil Rules, he was to be it.

Ladies, not only is Petru a very nice guy, with a love and grasp of Medieval
Cookery, involving intelligence, smarts, and practical skill, and not only
is he someone who, although he had never previously met her,   respects and
understands Brighid's culinary efforts and accomplishments, as well as
someone whose efforts Brighid understands and respects, but the young man is
DAMNED good looking- definite eye candy ;-) I felt that Brighid (she'd been
in situ again for a while) needed to meet him, if only as a break from
grumpy old Peers ;-) So, I checked the scene, found that there was no one
there that I could insult, and slipped him in to meet Brighid- and
apparently, they had a lovely chat ;-)

Now, understand, throughout all this, Brighid is being her usual kind and
courteous self (autopilot). I knew, beyond question, that she was a Peer,
when shortly after her husband's death, when I know she's dying inside, that
her first thought was to thank those of us who had expressed our
condolences. Anyone, who like Brighid, can ignore their own pain to make
someone else's day a bit better- well, that's part of my definition of a
Peer. And yet, it still hadn't quite penetrated to her that all this fuss at
which she was the center, and was dealing with because she is the sort of
person who deals with such matters, rather than because she was the sort of
person who causes such matters, was happening because she is such a special
and loved person.

It became time for her actual Elevation. And she was shaking- inside and
outside- I saw her, and I was talking to her. She was still in the throes of
disbelief- " I'm getting through this, but this isn't for me, we're
practicing for that other person who really deserves this, this is a
mistake, and they'll find out, omigawd, it's the King, the new King, why am
I here, I need to be sitting in court, trying to hear what they're saying,
that cloak must be silk it has a funny smell, and why is the _KING_ dressing
me omigawd, it's for real... are they sure?....i'm good enough to be a
laurel?...nah, not me, it's a mistake...but I better be polite, after all
this trouble.. oh thank heavens, it's all over and I can get out of
everyone's way and think about this... me, a laurel...nah...maybe?"

We got things organized- the Vigil room had to close, property had to be
moved, and feast had to be sat, and eventually we dropped Vincenzo off, and
got home to Brighid's. She wanted to chatter and talk, but we were both dead
tired, and crashed early-ish, so we chatted in the morning, and went over to
join Vincenzo, at his invitation, for a celebratory break///brunc///lunch///
well, more accurately, a meal, and as we parted Sunday afternoon, she
wearing her medallion, as instructed as part of a tradition for the first
meal after Elevation, I think it was finally sinking in to her, that yes,
she was Really, a Laurel ;-)

Now, I could have told you that without going through all this verbiage, but
I was there, and, unfortunately. most of you were not. Throughout this day,
while I helped where I could, I got far more back than I gave out to these
two most wonderful Ladies (and Mistresses ;-). I have come back from this
event, admittedly rather tired, because helping make things happen is rather
hard work, and really, the harder, when you're trying to act simply as
support staff (although, I have good training- like Brighid, I, too, suffer
from CATS).

But, between the two of them, as well as the other people involved, I have
been refreshed in my love of the SCA, and really, isn't that the _real_ job
of a Peer? Their elevations have already affected one person for the better
;-)

VIVANT,
   VIVANT,
      VIVANT !!!!

( HOOBAH!!!!)

Mistress Brighid, and Mistress Jadwiga ;-)


Saint Phlip,
CoD

"When in doubt, heat it up and hit it with a hammer."
 Blacksmith's credo.

 If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is probably not a
cat.

Never a horse that cain't be rode,
And never a rider who cain't be throwed....



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