Ealdormere’s First Master of Defense

For Baron Giovanni de Enzinas

By THLaird Colyne Stewart, December AS 50 (2015)

In northern lands the swords were drawn

And scholars faced epee and foil

‘Til one impressed the sitting royal

Was told to face the coming dawn

In northern lands the swords were drawn

About his neck white collar’s clasped

To mark him as entitled peer

The first, like him, of Ealdormere

While in his hand a sword is grasped

About his neck white collar’s clasped

A man of metal and of art

Who studies words of written worth

And teaches with both joy and mirth

He who has a generous heart

A man of metal and of art

In northern lands the swords were drawn

And scholars faced epee and foil

‘Til one impressed the sitting royal

Was told to face the coming dawn

In northern lands the swords were drawn

A ballata. This poetic and musical form was in use from the late 13th to the 15th century in Italy. It was one of the most prominent secular musical forms at the time.

Its rhyme scheme is usually AbbaA, with the first and last stanzas having the same text. It is similar to the French virelai (not the ballade, as the name would suggest). The first and last A are called aripresa, the b lines are piedi (feet), and the fourth line is a volta. Longer ballate (the plural of ballata) may be found with different rhyme schemes such as AbbaAbbaA. The two b lines usually have exactly the same music, though eventually they would have an open and close ending.

The Hart’s Tale

By THLaird Colyne Stewart, October AS 50 (2015)

To my belt-sister, Wencenedl of Rokesburg, the first Arrochar apprentice to be invited to join the Order of the Laurel.

At Emprise gathered hushed host

To listen to the heralds’ toast

As king and baron took their seat

And called the Laurels forth to greet

A hart who wore the ermine star

A student come so very far

“Our Cenedl,” the king decreed

“You will from contract now be freed

At future date, once all agreed.”

And smiled on her where she kneed.

She went then from that honoured place

Accompanied by Kerrec Grace

And heard proclaim the gathered crowd

Who shouted forth their joy so loud.

Until at last the day came ‘round

To hear what answer she had found

Again she came to royal ground

Before the northern monarchs crowned.

“Our lands are lacking”, cried the queen,

Before those gathered on the green,

“We must amend this tragic flaw

And so we read this writ as law

And call on Cenedl the doe

Well known to all for skills she shows

With needle, thread and fabric bright

Compel us to take pen and write,

Induct her into order fair,

The dragonfly with braided hair

And be a Laurel of our lands.

So take now from the royal hands

Our document that states thereof

How rich you are in regal love.”

She takes the writ from royal glove

And so my sister soars above.

Written in the style of a Breton lai. Lais (or lays), popular in both French and English literature, were short rhymed tales of love and chivalry usually numbering between 600 and 1000 lines. They often involve motifs from the supernatural and Celtic mythology. Arthurian tales were popular. The earliest Breton lais known were by Marie de France and were written in the 1170s.

The Tudor Ivy

By THLaird Colyne Stewart, September 2015 (AS 50)

Dedicated to Lady Jane of Greenhill (whose real first name is Ivy)

Based on an anonymous Tudor-era poem called ‘The Tudor Rose’

I love the ivy that grows green

And so transforms a wicker screen

Into a beauteous summer scene.

Joyed may we be,

For her to see,

How loved she be!

For Helen Grey

By THLaird Colyne Stewart

Amid the rustling banners bold

A tale is told of Korigan

Who fears no one, the wolf red-black,

Who from her pack will never stray.

For Helen Grey she stood the field

With sword and shield, and heavy axe,

To make me wax on honour bought

With how she fought for Helen Grey.

On August 29, 2015, at the Emprise of the Ermine Star, I fought Lord Korigan in a deed of arms. Part of the rules of the list were that if any part of a fighter other than their foot were to touch the ground, they owed a ransom to their opponent. I fell to the ground, and for my ransom Korigan tasked me to write a poem for her wife, Helen Grey.

Written using the aicill rhyme scheme where the final word of one line rhymes with an internal word in the next rhyme.

Her Excellency Ysemay

By THLaird Colyne Stewart, AS 50 (2015)

For Mistress Ysemay Sterling, who was made a Baroness of the Court at Pennsic 2015

A crown upon a noble brow

Bestowed before assembled crowd

To show the worth of one so dear

Oh Ysemay, of eternal cheer,

In glory bright, with honour filled,

Rewarded as the Royals willed.

For Baroness Eleanor von Atzinger upon being named a Vigilant of the Order of the Pelican

By THLaird Colyne Stewart, August AS 50 (2015)

In service she’s known for her toil,

In name of both low-born and royal;

To Crown both loving and loyal;

So El,nor is called with a cheer.

At king’s word she bends down to kneel,

Astonished that this could be real,

And great ones bring treasure to heel,

So El’nor is draped with new gear.

They speak of her virtues with pride,

As of her great deeds they confide,

All true words that can’t be denied,

So El’nor’s proclaimed far and near.

The Queen now she bids her to stand,

And raises her up with her hand,

To show her to all in the land,

And El’nor stands proudly as Peer.

Written as a zéjel, a Spanish form likely originally Arabic in origin. I used the most common four verse form (rhyming aaab, cccb, dddb, eeeb) and the most common kind of line (octosyllabic). 

The Wolf Pack Came South

By THLaird Colyne Stewart, August AS 50 (2015)

The wolf pack came south from the northlands,

The wolf pack came down for the king,

The wolf pack came down from the northlands,

They came down their axes to swing.

The band of ten men went out onto the field,

To meet all in combat, Queen’s honour they’d wield,

The brave band of ten fought and bled in the fray,

In all but one battle they carried the day.

The wolf pack came south from the northlands,

The wolf pack came down for the king,

The wolf pack came down from the northlands,

They came down their axes to swing.

The sky rippled scarlet, the warriors sang,

As swords upon shields in glad victory rang,

Our Monarchs stand tall, raised up high by the throng,

And let the world know that the wolves won in song.

The wolf pack came south from the northlands,

The wolf pack came down for the king,

The wolf pack came down from the northlands,

They came down their axes to swing.

The wolf pack came south from the northlands,

The wolf pack came down for the king,

The wolf pack came down from the northlands,

They came down their axes to swing.

At Pennsic War 2015, Ealdormere’s Unbelted team won the ten-man tournament for the first time.