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Westermark Madness "Brue and Bransle" - July 14-16th, 2006
It was that time again, the time where Madness was not only allowed, but encouraged!
Vikings landed on the shores of Westermark and from what we heard, the Saxons were properly raided.
From our majestic mountain top perch we enjoyed sunny days from which we could see far and wide. Odin
blessed us with spectacular sunsets laced with streaming fog.
At morning court, a messenger from Sir Geoffrey Scott relayed his missive
explaining why he was unable to attend and assist His Excellency with the selection of the new Thug.
Saturday many noble fighters took to the field to vie for the chance to be Westermark's Thug, now Sir Geoffrey Mathias
and Shepherd now Count Sir Veniamin Nafanovich Medvednikogotev!
Members of the Rapier Guild held a Tournament their rapiers flashing so brightly
and quickly in the afternoon sunlight that her Excellency was so impressed that she named the winner, Lord Jack, as Her Champion of Rapier!
An IKAC tournament was held and the winner will be posted shortly.
Many brewers came and results will be posted shortly.
The Westermark Auction was quite successful, as we had amassed quite an array of items to chose from!
For our Saturday evening entertainment we had plenty of dancing, but after dark beware, the assassination game began!
Loki, lover of chaos ran amuck, and Thor wasn't much of a help. The Game Rules!
The potluck dinner was excellent!
Westermark's bardic competition the "Marquee" had many great stories and songs, including a
surprise appearance by an old Westermarker Lady Catherine of Umbria, aka The Bard of Cybidium and her bardic
presentation of The Rhyme of the Ancient Westermarker! It was
quite difficult selecting a winner! But Lord Jarod with his rendition of ... asshole ... was quite the song!
Sunday, we were graced by the presence of Barons Catalan and Corwyn to join Baron Martin to enrich Westermark's
coffers by "Pie the Baron." That's right! A face full of schmutz for the Barons! The most humorous pie'ing was of
Baron Corwyn, two auction winners decided to join forces and tried to pie the Baron... Baron Corwyn ducked... Truly
a Three Stooges moment!
Special thanks goes to all those members of the Barony who assisted in making this event a success!
The Autocrat was Angino Di Vincenzo and Co-crat was Morgan de Cutaigh.
Any additional comments or corrections, please forward to the Webminister.
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Madness Photos:
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Kingdom of the West, A&S Tourney - July 21-23rd, 2006
Kingdom A&S was a hot and sadly not-blustery weekend, but beneath the rays of the sun there was much learning, laughing, and cooking!
The theme for the Siege Cooking Competition was thus: Your liege lord has just shown up at your gates and demands a feast. Make the best
feast you can with what you have on hand.
We were given: Chicken, Eggs, Brown Rice, Flour, Endive, Red Carrots, Spring Onions, Prunes. Currants, Lemons, Almonds, Parmesan Cheese, Olive Oil, Honey, and Goat Milk
We brought: Sage, Rosemary, Thyme, Cinnamon, Mace, Long Pepper, and Spinach
Sadly due to the heat we lost half our spinach, and portions of our currants...but we persevered!
The day began at 1pm when we went to retrieve our ingredients. We were given all, and an apology - the chicken was still frozen! They had
assumed that with the heat it would have defrosted but not so. Evaine offered to carry the chicken - and soon discovered that frozen chicken
was the best thing in the world to be carrying on a 115 degree day! Once we got back to camp, Juliana babysat the frozen wonder while Ida and
Mairghread went to collect a pot of water to defrost it in. Thyri and Evaine were the only ones who had experienced goats milk before, so
there was a quick taste test by the rest of the team to get an idea of how that would flavor the meals.
We gathered in a circle with Mairghread holding the Joy of Cooking and her years of period cooking experience. We each suggested possible
recipes with the combination of ingredients we had, and Mairghread led us in the right direction. We settled on a Mediterranean theme and
began the grunt work. Mairghread began making a stock while the rest of the team bent to cutting up the vegetables. Juliana laid the currants
in ice water to stiffen them enough to remove them from their stems. Thyri and Evaine chopped the onions and carrots, and then everyone cut,
crushed, and pinched the herbs into small bowls.
Eventually the chicken was defrosted enough to work with, and Juliana went at it with a long knife. She beat it into submission in time for
Mairghread to add the random bits into our stock.
About this time Thyri and Evaine had to leave to teach a class. While they were gone Ida got to work on our custard. Sadly Ida discovered
that the eggs they'd given us had been left out - and were now slightly poached! Luckily we had other eggs with us that had been on ice.
Mairghread and Ida did the bulk of the final preparation. Juliana was the first of us to fall - she was sent to the showers after starting
into a full blown case of heat stroke!
At just after 6pm we were graced with the presence of our judges. We had no table, so were unable to present the entire feast at once, so
instead served them on individual plates. The chicken and rice were well received - but the currant sauce that topped them was the overall
winner. It was a fantastic mix of tart and sweet that has replaced cranberry relish in our hearts (and Thanksgiving tables) from that day
on. The cool salad that followed was cherished. The mix of lemon juice and olive oil as a dressing was just what was needed on such a day. We
finished with our custard - which sadly due to heat didn't set, but turned out to be one of the best dessert drinks you may ever try.
We were all thrilled when Mairghread was able to take our fumblings in the kitchen and describe them in a plausibly period manner (We didn't
know we'd done that research! That's why we pay her the big bucks). She had an answer for every question the judges posted, and the rest of us
just smiled and served.
After the judges left we all descended on the meal, since none of us had actually managed to taste the meal prior! We then made our way to court
to hear the results of the competition. Shortly before the announcement Ida was informed that the winner was responsible for making the
competition happen the next year! Ack! We all gently held our breath and cheered louder than all when it was proclaimed that the Silk Road
had won the competition.
Despite the heat, it was a wonderful way to spend the day and we would all do it again. We did spend some quality time discussing how we could
do better in the next competition...but still lose!
The recipes are:
Rice with Herbs and Almonds
Salad - Variation on Salat from Stefan's Florilegium
Currant Compote
Lemon Pudding
Chicken with Prunes
Chicken Veggie Stock
Here are the recipes we would have made if we hadn't lost or forgot some of the ingredients:
Spinach with Currants and Almonds
Cariota (Roasted Carrots)
To Dress Carrots
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A&S Siege Photos:
Sorry No photos available at this time!
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St. Sebastian's Archery Hunt - October 15th, 2006
The seasonal wheel turns once more around to gentle times, cool breezes and great fun!
Cold evening mists wandered slowly through Westermark’s forests, moved and stirred by the warmth of a slowly rising sun.
Alas, the sun’s fight with the mist was lost and the day stayed grey, cold, and wet. A thick layer of moisture, at
times light, at times heavy, but thank St. Sebastian it did not rain! Upon the field of archery where a person’s mettle
is tested in a contest of sharp eye, strong body, and smooth confidence, gathered the flower of the West’s archers. Their names
are recorded so all may know of their deeds at this great event, under St. Sebastian’s watchful eye.
Diane de Winchester, Phil, Iosef Braun, Susannah of Ely, Dauid Ap Morgant, Svienn Ulfsson, Mark van dem Felkensfenn, Michael of Foxwood,
Bjorn of Novgrrod, Geoffroi Bonfils, Elynor Palmer, William, and Megan Wecke
Three offerings were presented to challenge and entertain these lords and ladies:
1. The inter-kingdom archery competition (IKAC)
2. A hunt of 7, 3-d animals representing the noble quarry of the forest: wolf, bear, dear, boar and one very mean, toothy, evil snipe
which was threatening the King’s venison!
3. Baron Corwyn’s testie-monial shoot: Archers were called upon to shoot only 2 arrows, at decreasingly smaller (sacked) tomatoes.
Winners in all IKAC categories would be represented. Hunt was rolled into the IKAC for an overall grand prize.
The winner of the Baron Corwyn testie-monial shoot would be awarded a handsomely designed, hand-painted and gilded athletic support cup impailed by an arrow.
After shooting in weather inclement and challenging to hands and wood arrows are listed the victors of the day:
In IKAC
In the category of Archer:
1st place: Michael of Foxwood with 145 points
2nd place: Bjorn of Novgrrod with 96 points
3rd place: Geoffroi Bonfils with 95 points
In the category of Yeoman:
1st place: Diane de Winchester with 145 points
2nd place: Phil with 134 points
3rd place: Iosef Braun with 74 points
In the category of Master:
1st place: Dauid Ap Morgant with 215 points
2nd place: Sveinn Ulfsson with 158 points
3rd place: Mark van dem falkensfenn with 139 points
Each archer was sent into the woods armed with only two arrows with which to bring down game for the high table. All archers safely returned with no injuries
to record. Gratefully the bothersome snipe was defeated and put to flight!
The Hunt:
The victors of this section were:
1st place: Dauid Ap Morgant with 125 points
2nd place: Beatrice Herself with 115 points
3rd place: Sveinn Ulfsson with 105 points
The grand prize of a period arrow bag and a period longbow bag went to Dauid Ap Morgant with a total IKAC and Hunt score of 340 points.
Under pressure from the gallery, two archers reached the final round of Baron Corwyn’s novelty shoot – Dauid Ap Morgant and Svienn Ulfsson!
Each bravely faced the sacked tomatoes, smaller and smaller, and yet each time they managed to peg the fruit to the butts! In the end one archer
was able to steel his nerves, focus his vision and nail the final bag: Sveinn Ulfsson, of Darkwood who was awarded the much coveted Golden
Cup Award. Sveinn was charged, as victor, to add décor to the award and return it, or send it to the next Westermark event.
In true Westermark fashion the feasting tables were overflowing with many wonderful dishes!
The Baron and Baroness were surprised by the Barony's gift of Westermark's first Baronial Thrones!
Hand-made by Lord Angino.
Baron Corwyn joined the ranks of the Purple Pearl Heart of the Westermark (P'Pow), for sacrificing his ankle (gratefully not his other
parts this time) in entertaining the barony's children.
Autocrat: Custodia de Montemor
Hunt Photos:
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Westermark Meeting -- November 18th, 2006
Baron Martin finished his last spew by singing "so long and thanks for all the fish!" But the capper of the evening by far was Baron Martin vs 7 Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans. For those who don't remember,
during Baron Martin and Baroness Chiara's reign, Westermark's crafty Exchequer Muirenn, devised a cunning plan to increase the Barony's coffers. Based on the amount of funds donated at that meeting,
Baron Martin would voluntarily eat, for the enjoyment of the Barony, a Bertie Bott Every Flavor Bean of their choosing. Sounds fun right? Nooooo... this is the Westermark! These special beans included
favors such as sardine, dirt, worm, pepper, soap... Baron Martin claims the combination of soap and beer is the worst, as the combination actually foams in the mouth. (Warning, do not try this at home!)
When the hat was passed the Barony donated over $70.00 to watch brave Baron Martin eat 7 of these "yummy?" beans at one time. The photos and video, (as soon as they come in) says it all!
Meeting Photos:
Coming Soon!
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Westermark Ladies Sewing Baronial Garments
The talented seamstress, Aurelia d'Ouessant, volunteered her time, talent, and fabrics to design wonderful
garments for the current Baron and Baroness and their Heirs. Assisting her in this huge task was Ida, Juliana, and Alys. Also assisting were Countess Linda, Jeffery, and Chiara. The each garment included
at least 70 hand-made buttons!
Sewing Photos:
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Baronial Changeover at Mists Investiture - November 11th, 2006
Mists Investiture was an exciting celebration for the Barony of the Westermark! Baron Martin and Baroness Chiara retired to a life of leisure (as much as chasing a one-year-old can afford) as
the reigns of the Barony were passed, by permission of their Majesties and overwhelming support of the populace of the Barony, to Jeffery of Jarrow and Countess Linda of the Lakelands! The day started off with a final, final court by Baron Martin and Baroness Chiara.
The Captain, Guard, BBS/Bard (Baronial Babysitter), and Household where finally released! Ladies Aurelia, Ida, Juliana and Alys were heartily congratulated for creating truly splendid garments for Martin, Chiara, Jeffery and Linda! After the last, last court, soon to
be Baron and Baroness took the members of the barony through a run through of the ceremony. After many hours of waiting, the Barony was finally called forward to their Majesties to release Martin and Chiara. His Majesty then called for the heirs. Lord Angino
beat out a familiar cadence on his snare-drum (the knighting ceremony from the Danny Kaye film "The Court Jester"), Lady Acelin proclaimed Jeffery and Linda forward with Baron Catalin di Napoli, the First Baron of the Westermark, proudly carrying the Westermark Banner.
After each refrain of Acelin's speach, the populace of the Westermark responded with "Yay Verily Yay!" The hall burst into laughing, and King Rolf replied, "It is afterall the Westermark!" Many of the Barony remained for the feast, ate, drank, snarked at each other,
and peppered each other with food (okay, it was paper food, but all were thoroughly pelted!) More event commentary as soon as it is made available!
Baronial Changeover Photos:
Getting Ready
Bordered photos are courtesy of Ellen Finch, click on the link to see the entire photo gallery.
The Last, last, court of Baron Martin and Baroness Chiara
Bordered photos are courtesy of Ellen Finch, click on the link to see the entire photo gallery.
The Now and Future Baronet
Bordered photos are courtesy of Ellen Finch, click on the link to see the entire photo gallery.
Jeffery and Countess Linda discuss the upcoming Ceremony and Procession
Bordered photos are courtesy of Ellen Finch, click on the link to see the entire photo gallery.
Waiting in the Hall
Bordered photos are courtesy of Ellen Finch, click on the link to see the entire photo gallery.
The New Baron and Baroness of the Westermark Jeffery and Linda!
Bordered photos are courtesy of Ellen Finch, click on the link to see the entire photo gallery.
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Westermark Demo - November 17th, 2006
Friday, November 17th, at 1pm, Odyssey School, members of the Barony did a demonstration of armored combat.
Acelin commented about the event, "I’m still working out one last visit for the kids at the school we have been working with. I asked the teacher how the fighting demo went and his answer is below.
Westermark has earned it’s “educational” brownie points for the year!"
Rick's comments, "The fighting was great. When I had to end the presentation and cut off questions due to time, there was an audible "ohhhhhhhh." So, the kids lined up and spoke to the guys afterwards on their own. I handed out a good number of SCA info packets that Morgan was kind enough to pull together."
"As with my first experience with the SCA so many years ago, this one was another very successful enhancement to the curriculum. Many thanks again to you for your part in that." Rich
Demo-crat (Chatelaine): Morgan of the Westermark.
Demo Photos:
If you have photos of this event, please contact the Webminister
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Click Here: Westermark Previous Events and Photos to go back!
Do you have event information or photos for this year that you would like to contribute?
If you do, please contact the Webminister!
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