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by Lady Sorcha MacLeod
Presented at the Outlands Heralds and Scribes Symposium,
al-Barran, Outlands, on 23 March A.S. XXXVI, (2002)
Unto all who come by these letters, Greetings! In this work, I intend to discuss ways to write ceremonies and the other documents - charters and scroll texts - which relate to awards within the Society for Creative Anachronism both on short notice and at leisure. Oftentimes, the people responsible for the various documents are able to spend time to produce each item individually; however, there are times when last minute work is required to present an award to a deserving gentleperson.
Ceremonies are important to us in the SCA, because they give us a public way to thank people for their work - work that allows us to enjoy our re-creation. They may be humorous or serious, but they are one of the central occurrences of our events. When Court is called, we gather eagerly to see who will be honored with what award. I urge the authors of ceremonies to keep this in mind as they work, for it is important work, and should lend dignity to Court.
Like most everything we've been taught to write, a ceremony has an opening, a body, and a closing. The opening part of a ceremony serves the purpose of telling the audience which award is being given, what that award is for, and establishing the tradition of the award. When writing the opening part of a ceremony, be sure to include all of these elements. For instance, if we are to write a new ceremony for an old award for excellence in horseshoe hanging, known as the Golden Nail, we might begin by saying:
In times long past, it was recognized that our fair Kingdom did have several individuals of a great talent in the fine art of horse-shoe hanging, and it was determined that an award should be created to honor those gentles learned in that art. Thus the Order of the Golden Nail was made.
The body portion of a ceremony identifies the recipient, explains why that person was chosen to receive the award, and includes the reading of the scroll, if applicable. If we continue our ceremony to grant this award to Lady Anne the Groom, and we know she researched and documented an unknown period manner in which to hang horseshoes, we could continue with:
It is our duty and our privilege to recognize these fine individuals for their efforts, and this day we are minded to create Lady Anne the Groom a Companion of the Golden Nail for her research and advancement of her craft. [Insert scroll text here.]
The conclusion of a ceremony includes any final instructions for the recipient - we all can chant in unison at the end of an Award of Arms ceremony when the herald recites, "and we further charge X to consult with Ourselves and Our heralds to determine suitable and unique arms" This section may include an opportunity for the award holder to be greeted by the previous companions of that order and a cheer for the recipient.
We charge you this day to bear in mind the responsibilities of your station, that the knowledge of your craft be preserved and disseminated to the populace, for the glory of our kingdom.
Now, we have roughed in the basic parts of the ceremony, and we have set down the formula by which any ceremony may be written. So, how do we make it sound like a ceremony, instead of a laundry list? With flowery speech.
Ceremonies require a dignified arrangement in order to create the atmosphere of a solemn and important occurrence. There are a few do's and don'ts to bear in mind when writing ceremonies.
I also recommend reading the articles, "The Art of Writing Forsoothly" by Mistress Elfrida of Greenwalls and "Speaking Forsoothly" by THLy Aurelia of Ashton, found in the Known World Handbook, which is available from Free Trumpet Press West.
When you write a ceremony with a charter in front of you, most of the job is done for you. If you are lucky enough to be a baronial herald or the Protocol Herald for your kingdom, you may be involved in the process of writing the charter first. How involved will depend on your ruling nobles and how much of the process they wish to handle themselves. It may fall on you to write the charter and present it to them for their approval before it is finalized.
An award charter should typically contain the following:
Charter (or Constitution) for the Golden Nail
I. There shall exist in the Kingdom of Shangrai-La an Award, known as the Golden Nail, which may be given by the King and/or Queen, in their sole discretion, to those individuals who have given of their time and effort to learn and promote the art of Horseshoe Hanging.
II. The holders of this award shall be styled the Companions of the Golden Nail.
III. The insignia of this award shall be a badge, to wit: Sable, a horseshoe nail Or.
IV. Precedence
A. This award shall carry with it, subject to the pleasure of the Crown, an Award of Arms,and companions of the Order shall take precedence after simple Grants of Arms, but before simple Awards of Arms, and equal to other specific Orders bearing an Award of Arms.
B. If the award is given to a person who bears an award of greater precedence, his or her precedence shall remain unchanged.
C. If the award is given to a person who bears a simple Award of Arms, his or her precedence shall date from admittance to the Order.
V. Amendments to this charter shall be made by the Crown of Shangrai-La, at their sole discretion.
VI. The companionship of all previous recipients of this award is hereby confirmed.
Done by Our hands on this date of March 16, A.S. XXXVI, being 2002 in the Common Reckoning of Years.
Pomp Circumstance
King Queen
Harold
Green Tabard Herald
If you are truly "under siege" and must quickly provide a ceremony, especially for a new award, you may find yourself doing double-duty as a scribe and developing a scroll text for use during the ceremony itself. If you can, ask the kingdom or baronial scribe to write the scroll text and submit it to the ruling nobles for their approval. If you must write it yourself, try to get the approval of the appropriate scribe before you submit it to the nobles. At the very least, try to let them know before the ceremony that you had to rush out a sample scroll text, and that you would appreciate their help if it needs any adjustment.
A scroll is a letter from the noble to the populace at large that tells them who, what, when, (where), and why. Set it up much as you would a simple letter, keeping in mind the ceremonial language used in such decrees, and it should work out well.
We, Pomp and Circumstance, King and Queen of Shangrai-La, unto all who come by these present letters, send Greetings!
Know all that Lady Anne the Groom has this day been admitted into the Order of the Golden Nail in recognition of her service to the kingdom, especially for her research. Henceforth, she shall have all of the rights and bear the responsibilities of a Companion of the Order. We further grant Lady Anne the right to bear the badge of the Order, to wit: Sable, a horseshoe nail Or, that all may know of the esteem in which We hold her.
Done by Our hands on this 23rd day of March, A.S. XXXVI, being 2002 in the Common Reckoning of years.
Pomp, King Circumstance, Queen
Once you have all of the pieces, you need to glue them together with the stage directions necessary for anyone to be able to herald the ceremony (not you, unless your ruling nobles ask you - you're tired from all this work!) and for the ruling nobles to know when their lines are coming. Our finished ceremony might look like this:
HERALD: In times long past, it was recognized that our fair Kingdom did have several individuals of a great talent in the fine art of horse-shoe hanging, and it was determined that an award should be created to honor those gentles learned in that art. Thus the Order of the Golden Nail was made.
TRM: It is our duty and our privilege to recognize these fine individuals for their efforts, and this day we are minded to create {Lady Anne the Groom} a Companion of the Golden Nail for {his/her} research and advancement of her craft.
[TRM may have personal words they wish to say here. Wait until they finish, then continue with the scroll. If there is no scroll, use the sample text included here.]
HERALD: We, Pomp and Circumstance, King and Queen of Shangrai-La, unto all who come by these present letters, send Greetings!
Know all that {Lady Anne the Groom} has this day been admitted into the Order of the Golden Nail in recognition of her service to the kingdom, especially for {her research}. Henceforth, {she} shall have all of the rights and bear the responsibilities of a Companion of the Order. We further grant {Lady Anne} the right to bear the badge of the Order, to wit: Sable, a horseshoe nail Or, that all may know of the esteem in which We hold {her}.
Done by Our hands on this {23rd} day of {March}, A.S. {XXXVI}, being {2002} in the Common Reckoning of years.
Pomp, King Circumstance, QueenTRM: We charge you this day to bear in mind the responsibilities of your station, that the knowledge be preserved and disseminated to the populace, for the glory of our kingdom.
[TRM make any presentation and They may have personal words they wish to say. Wait until they finish, then continue with the cheers as instructed by TRM prior to court.]
HERALD: For {Lady Anne the Groom}, hip, hip...
When printing ceremonies for inclusion in the Book of Ceremonies for your group, there are two very helpful things to keep in mind. First, print in at least a 12 point font that is easy to read. A 14 point font is best for ease of reading, and Times New Roman, Courier, or Arial are excellent fonts. If these fonts are not available to you, or you are so besieged as to necessitate handwriting the ceremony, use the plainest large typeface or hand-printing you can. Second, if the ceremony will take two pages in the book, punch the holes on the right side of the first page and the left side of the second page, so the herald does not have to turn the pages while reading the ceremony. This helps reduce the distraction that can be caused by motion behind the thrones that the audience is supposed to be watching.
The author, Lady Sorcha MacLeod, modernly known as Tammy Ackerson, grants permission for this work to be reprinted in whole or in part, by members of the Society for Creative Ananchronism, Inc. for use in the SCA, so long as the author is granted due credit, and an effort is made to notify her of any publication, and how she may obtain a copy of publications in which it is reprinted. All other uses require written permission from the author, who may be contacted at: ackerson@gmail.com. E-mailed permission to reprint constitutes written permission.
This document is not an official publication of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc.
©2002-2012 Tammy Ackerson
