Category: Tidings

Salve accolens, from the new Baronage!

Dearest neighbors,

Yesterday’s Investiture was absolutely amazing. Even though we didn’t get to partake in all the festivities, we’re so happy that you enjoyed yourselves and had so much fun. We felt strongly about it not being a day just for us, but for the whole Barony to come together and celebrate the wonderful years we had under Brandubh and Hilda, and to look forward to the years to come.

The list of people who contributed to the event yesterday is tremendous, and we feel so blessed that so many people stepped up to help make the day special.

But first and foremost, we want to thank Their Majesties Gareth and Juliana for their kind and gracious presence. We are so honored that you were the ones to invest us in this office.

And once again I want to thank Brandubh and Hilda for their years of heartfelt service, and for setting the bar so very high for us as we step into the role of the Baronage. We aspire to the show the same levels of love and care you showed the Barony during your tenure. Though the stars may not shine as bright as the sun, they strive to do their best every night, and so too shall we.

And with Barony like this, how can we not shine? I’d love to put a period-appropriate quote here, maybe something by Seneca, but the best quote I can think of right now is one from Helen Keller: “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched — they must be felt with the heart.” Yesterday was heart-felt, and it was beautiful.

So here is a very long list of the wonderful people who made it so:

Dorothea Stark Schutz and Ceindrech verch Elidir, the event autocrats.

Elss Augsburg, who ran the kitchen, and her staff: Alastar Scott MacCrummin, Blanche, and Elsa Taliard.

Luceta DiCosimo for the Barony themed gingerbread cookies.

Gwendolyn the Graceful for leading the dancing, as well as the talented folks who provided live music: Alaric MacConnal, Arianna of Wynthrope, Willow, and Kieran MacRae.

Jorundr hinn Rotinn, Robert MacEwin of Thornhill, Kieran MacRae, and William Colbert, for their gladiatorial battles to entertain the populace. As well as the Debatable Choir, and i Genesii (The Greatest Commedia del’Arte Troupe in the Known World), for their wonderful performances.

Cadence Mayberry for arranging for the period gaming, and Byron of Haverford for creating betting tokens.

Elle (Elinor Walden) and Kate (Catherine O’Herlihy), our wonderful Head Retainers, and the volunteer retaining staff and guards: Cerva, Michiharu, Thomasyn, Reinhard, Isabel, Yacob, Kit, Faye, Agnella, Etienne, Cassiano, Godzimir, Sebastian, Niall, Jiro, and Dagon.

Tsveea for my beautiful gown, and Nicola Beese for helping make sure the show could go on until we were able to get me into said gown. Also Ishiyama Gen’tarou Yori’ie for his timely donation of award favors.

Finally, congratulations to the first recipients of the first new comet awards: Etienne Renault and Emrys Eustace recipients of the Amber Comet, Bran Riddl recipient of the Hematite Comet, and Kara Ivarsdottir recipient of the Jade Comet.

This list feels too short, and I’m sure I’ve missed people. Any error or omission should be corrected, so please let us know if any are needed.

Lady Rowan – Final Arrangements (Dec 4th)

As we announced previously, Lady Rowan ni Naradhaigh sadly passed away on November 12th. Here are the details of her final arrangements, from her husband, Lord Ffynthcor:

A memorial will be held for my wife, Dawn FitzGerald-Swidal, on Saturday December 4th at 4pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church of the North Hills (2359 W Ingomar Rd, Pittsburgh, PA 15237).

This event will also be live-streamed on youtube for anyone who would love to attend but can’t, and there is already a placeholder for it at this address:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrLGAIS1hyYbeLVG_hjnreg

Masks and vaccinations are required (per the venue, and she would ardently desire it be respected). As such, children, unless fully vaccinated, are sadly not permitted. All will have the opportunity to share a thought or a story, and I hope that you will.

If you desire to make a donation in honour of Dawn, please consider https://tinykittens.com/ Though not a local organization, it was one she enjoyed very much, and was typically found with one of their live-streams up. Oh how she doted on new kittens as they came in, and on kind behavior of older cats caring for them. If you would prefer to donate more locally, we encourage you to do so. https://humaneanimalrescue.org/donate/ and https://www.facebook.com/pittsburghcat/ are both wonderful options, but there are countless others.

Sad Tidings – Lady Rowan ni Naradhaigh

Friends and Neighbors,

We are heartbroken to tell you that Lady Rowan ni Naradhaigh (Dawn Swidal) passed away suddenly early this morning, of pneumonia.

Lady Rowan was a valued member of our Barony for two decades. Though a little less active in recent years, you may remember her as the site liaison (along with her husband Lord Ffynthcor) for one of our favorite event sites, the Unitarian Universalist Church of the North Hills. The site was last used for our Baronial Investiture, where Lady Rowan was recognized for her service to the Barony and the Pennsic Barony camp with a Keystone.

We will best remember her as an active and valued member of the Baronial encampment at Pennsic, where she and her family camped every year in recent years. We will remember her sweet smile and her gentle-yet-strong demeanor, her cooking and her friendly laughter, her eye for aesthetic decor, and her willingness to help out the camp, any campmate and neighbor. She was a joy to camp with and talk to. Our friend Rowan will be sorely missed.

Please join us in offering condolences, strength, and peace to Rowan’s husband, Ffynthcor, their family, and their friends and loved ones in the coming days. Should final arrangement details be made available, we will share them.

In Caritate,
Baron Brandubh and Baroness Hilda

Happy 47th Birthday, Debatable Lands!

Hello Debatable Lands! Salve Accolens!

Today marks our 47th birthday of being a Barony! Enjoy this apocryphal tale of our founding: http://debatablelands.org/history/short-cultural-history.php

And a few songs of our Barony! http://debatablelands.org/songs/

And a wonderful display of the Barony’s history set up by our Historian, Mistress Ts’vee’a: http://debatablelands.org/history/display.php

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Remembering John the Artificer (Stories and Pics Requested)

As reported by the Aethelmearc Gazette, Master John the Artificer (mka John Robert Rose), an important member of the the SCA and long-time contributor here in the Debatable Lands, passed away in November.

His family has requested that we share stories and pictures for a virtual memorial. The website to do so is here: https://memories.lifeweb360.com/john-robert-rose

Additionally, for those with Facebook accounts, you can join his memorial Facebook page to share memories and get updates on a planned virtual memorial: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1040029753186736/

There will be a small funeral mass this Friday in New York. As he niece writes:

“A small funeral mass will be said on Friday, February 26th*, at 11am at Sacred Heart Church, in Highland Falls, NY. It will run live feed from [the Facebook page noted above], any who wish to attend virtually can sign on … at 11 am to catch the live service.

*If you would like to send Flowers for his Mass on Friday, you can contact Lilies of the Valley, in Highland Falls, NY. Their phone number is: 845-446-4446.*

We are currently planning a larger, virtual memorial to honor my uncle’s memory more in detail, and to invite friends and family to share together. The date of this is to be announced, anyone who wishes to be a speaker, or share pictures please let us know and we will gladly add you to the program. Thank you!!“

Baron Brandubh and Baroness Hilda will be sending flowers to the funeral on behalf of the people of the Debatable Lands (no official SCA funds) in remembrance of the incredible impact he had on our Barony, the Kingdom, Pennsic, and the entire SCA. Feel free to contact Hilda to contribute to this unofficial gesture, if you wish.

*Note: The original version of this post had the date of the funeral mass on the 19th, but since it was delayed until the 26th due to inclement weather, the date was updated to the 26th.

Thank You Baroness Isabel

Thank you Baroness Isabel for serving as our Barony’s Minister of Arts and Sciences. In the beforetimes when we had events, it was good to see you and your deputies there, reaching out to newcomers and established artisans in the Barony to organize us to work together. In these times when we are all more isolated for safety, it is more difficult to band together in the same ways that we used to.

During my term, I hope to provide direct support to both individual artisans and guilds, to draw out our best work and try to draw us together in spirit. We will do what we can for each other and for the Barony, like the friendly neighbors we are.

I am grateful for this opportunity to serve the Barony. Please, all of you, feel free to reach out to me if you think there is any way I can help you with your arts and research.

Shakespeare Movie Night

Greetings All!

This coming Friday, February 12th we’ll be showing As You Like It, directed
by Kenneth Branagh, starting at 7:30pm, followed by a chat until 10:30pm.
All the world’s a stage and we’re bringing the stage to your living room
via the AEther.

Here is the link to the schedule for the movie nights scheduled through May:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EhlgwgRZ923RhRJrCPIXsHEhWI1eJJigCv2YRLEavrE/edit?usp=sharing

Please contact Alaric at alaric (at) pobox (dot) com for the Zoom room
information.

Hope to see some of you there!

Alaric & Elsbeth

Sad Tidings – Master Remus Fletcher

Salve Debatable Lands,

By now, most of you have heard of the passing of Master Remus Fletcher (Ron Schwoegl), or as he liked to be called, Uncle Remus. He died Friday, December 18th, after a short battle with pancreatic cancer, at home with his beloved family.

You can read his lovely obituary, which includes some SCA notes, here: https://obituaries.post-gazette.com/obituary/ronald-michael-schwoegl-1081267348

Remus was one of the first people we met when we became active in the Debatable Lands, in the late 90s. His presence and voice would fill the room, and he was always eager to lend a helping hand wherever needed, but especially to us newer folks. He had a keen wit, and his eyes rarely stopped sparkling, looking for the next sly joke or terrible pun. Hilda remembers him introducing himself as “Remus T. Fletcher… the ‘T’ stands for ‘the’…” followed by his full laughter. Her favorite memory of him is the moving and romantic aria he sang as the processional to his wife, Mistress Amaryllis’, Peerage elevation ceremony. Brandubh remembers his great love of music. He was always happy to fill the halls and Courts with music.

We would be remiss if we didn’t remark further upon Remus’ incredible influence here in the Barony-Marche of the Debatable Lands. For literally decades, he was crucial to the substantial musical community here in the Barony – and also the Kingdom and Pennsic. His actions helped found our musical ensemble, the Debatable Consort, and encouraged many an individual to follow their own love of joyful noises. He was quick to share and let folks play his myriad and oddly wondrous collection of period instruments. His powerful singing voice filled every hall. And who can forget the spinning plates and the bear suit?

Remus filled our Barony, our feast halls, the Courts, the dancehalls, the Loud Band, our camps… and most especially our hearts… with a unique and awesome beauty. Our world is dimmer, and more silent, without him.

Our hearts, thoughts and wishes for peace go out to his wife, our friend, Mistress Amaryllis, and to his son Daniel, daughter-in-law Nicole, and all his family and friends.

As stated in his obituary: “Ron was very adamant that everyone remains safe during the COVID pandemic and therefore there will be no visitation hours. A Latin Funeral Mass will be held on Tuesday, December 22, 2020, 10:00 a.m. at St. John Baptist Catholic Church in Plum.” Please see the link above for more information on donations. The Mass will be live streamed for all who wish to attend, likely at this link: https://holyfamilypgh.org/weddings-funerals-covid-19

Rest In Peace, Uncle Remus. We will miss you.

In Caritate,
Baron Brandubh and Baroness Hilda

Sad Tidings: Master John the Artificer

Salve Accolens, Debatable Lands,

We are deeply saddened to announce the death of Master John the Artificer, who passed away November 25th in his home.

We met Master John in the late 90’s when we first joined the SCA in the Debatable Lands. He was an incredible wealth of knowledge and generously offered himself as a resource to all who knew him. More than that, while recent years saw less of him, Master John was an important part of the community of the Debatable Lands, especially in the early days. He was a consummate artisan, and created items of Baronial regalia, such as the hefty ancestral Seneschal’s key.

Most will remember him as the owner and proprietor of the Stave Church at Pennsic. Master John bought the structure from some industrious CMU students, who had built it for the University’s annual Carnival. The stave church was one of the earliest and most impressive structures in Merchants’ Row – certainly the tallest! Master John’s vision and work allowed many artisans over the years – especially Debatable Lands artisans – to sell their high-quality wares to eager SCAdians – years before the internet is what it is now. Master John was a great man who improved the lives of thousands. He will be greatly missed.

Take a look at this lovely memorial article, written by Mistress Arianna of the AEthelmearc Gazette, to see pictures and read more memories of a few of the people whose lives he touched: https://aethelmearcgazette.com/2020/12/08/in-memoriam-master-john-the-artificer/

Final arrangements are not known at this time.

In Caritate,
Baron Brandubh and Baroness Hilda