Mistress Arianna of Wynthrope, Lord Magnus de Lyons, and Lady Miriel du Lac, and Baron Caleb Reynolds report on the happenings at Summer’s End.

The Canton of Beau Fleuve held its annual Summer’s End event on September 12th. It featured the usual fighting, fencing, and thrown weapons, as well as an A&S competition.

The heavy weapons portion of the event began with melees. Sir Aengus MacBain, the autocrat of Summer’s End, recorded the fighting from above.

– Video by Sir Aengus MacBain.

After the melees, the “Beer Pit” tourney began. To enter, each fighter had to supply some quantity of beer, whether alcoholic or non (root beer, ginger beer, etc. were acceptable), and then the combatants fought a standard bear pit with one point for a loss and two points for a win. One observer noted that you could tell the beer contributions came from Scadians, as there wasn’t a “light” beer to be seen.

The winner of the “Beer Pit” tourney was Duke Sven Gunnarsson, newly arrived in Æthelmearc from Drachenwald this summer. He generously shared the beer with his fellow combatants, taking only a single mixed six-pack as his “loot.” His Majesty, King Timothy, placed second, with Sir Finn Marland O’Shannon third.

Thrown Weapons

Despite the drizzly weather, 15 throwers braved the elements to throw axes, knives, and spears. All competitors threw a Royal Round with axe and knife followed by a left/right target: thrower’s choice of weapon. The thrower had to hit a pair of griffins; first the one on the left, followed by the one on the right. To round out the competition, each thrower then had six spears to make the best poker hand. Throwing four spears at 15 feet, and two spears at 25 feet, throwers had to hit randomly placed playing cards on a sheet: jokers were wild. Madoc got the highest score (20) on this target: with 5 points for sticking five times plus an additional 15 points for getting three of a kind. But the winner of the overall competition with 108 points was Lady Aemelia Soteria of BMDL, who threw like a champ in spite of the weather and the long drive. Vivant to all the throwers!

Fencing

A challenging fencing tournament was run by Lord Alexander du Lac and was attended by many eager fencers including HRH Prince Magnus Tindal. The tournament was a reverse bear pit, which at least for some of the newer fencers, was a fresh experience. In a reverse bear pit, two fencers enter the list to fight a bout. After the bout, the winner leaves the list and scores a point while the loser remains in the list to fight another bout until either winning a bout or reaching a maximum of three losses (at which time two new fighters entered the list). The format kept the action flowing and the blades flying, lasting a couple hours with only an occasional break. Finally, as sword-arms tired and the list dwindled in number, a final series of bouts was fought between Don Behrend von Elmendorf and Lord Robert MacEwin of Thornhill, with Don Behrend emerging the victor. Aside from all the points, the tournament was a wonderful display of fair play with many fine examples of courtesy and chivalry, showing once again that the Society is more about friends than it is just winning the day.

Lady Mirel du Lac vs. Don Behrend von Elmendorf. Photo by Mistress Arianna of Wynthrope.

Arts and Sciences Competition

The theme for the A&S competition at Summers End this year was “What I did on my Pennsic Vacation”. All entries had to be a project made at or learned in a class taken at Pennsic 44.  No formal documentation was required, however the entry had to include the name of the class and the instructor. Handouts from the class could be displayed with the entry. Scoring was by a populace bean count. There were five entries this year, and here they are in no particular order.

One was a red pillow embroidered in black, gold, and white based off the class Inlaid Patchwork, Embroidered Work, Embroidered Stitch, Rag Rug or Intarsia taught by Baroness Kaleeb the Green

A second was a set of wire wrapped rings in silver and copper based off the class Quick and Easy Handmade Largess by the Lady Droen O’Rourke.

A third was an example of a Medieval Mustard based off the class Dijon Vu.

A Fourth was an example of silk banner painting done in red and black based off the class Silk standard/Banners by Madame Cynthia du Pont.

In the end the winner by a large number of votes was the red pillow embroidered in black, gold, and white by Lady Alime bint Yorgi.

Kingdom and Baronial Courts 

Their Excellencies, Carolus and Isolda, Baron and Baroness of the Rhydderich Hael, held their baronial court where they recognized the tourney winners, and bestowed awards on numerous deserving gentles. They also thanked the autocrat, Sir Aengus MacBain, for running an excellent event.

At Royal court, Their Majesties, King Timothy and Queen Gabrielle called forth the Kingdom Seneschale, Mistress Cori Ghora, and thanked her for her years of service in a difficult job. They then summoned Duke Christopher Rawlins and confirmed that he was willing to take the reins of the Kingdom from Mistress Cori, to which he agreed. His Grace swore his fealty to the Kingdom and accepted the key of office. The populace cheered the past service of Mistress Cori and the work to come by Duke Christopher.

Their Majesties went on to bestow awards on many deserving gentles. A sad moment came when They apologized to one award recipient because her scroll was not there — because it had been assigned to Countess Aidan ni Leir. Their Majesties then bade the populace observe a moment of silence in honor of the passing of this pillar of the Society, and further exhorted them to reach out to friends, as one never knows when they may be taken from us.

The highlight of the court was the bestowing of the Jewel of Æthelmearc on Maestro Jacopo di Niccolo for his many years of service to the Kingdom, most especially to the archery community. The Jewel is given to those gentles who the Crown believe exemplify all that is excellent in their populace. Maestro Jacopo is the 39th Jewel of Æthelmearc.

The Feast

This year’s feast was cooked by Lord Robaird Michael Patrick Timothy James O’Suilleabhainn, better known as Brother Bobby. The feast consisted of two courses and a dessert.

Course 1
Assorted Rolls with Maple & Parmesan Butters
Moroccan Bean & Vegetable Soup
Autumn Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

Course 2
Thracian Chicken
Apple Pork Pie
Mushy Peas
Roasted Rice

Dessert
Shortbread Cookies with Lemon Cheesecake Dip

The Populace that had assembled for the feast set heartily to all of the food. At one point little speaking was being done as every mouth was busy enjoying the delicious victuals before them. Much was made of the tasty butters, used to enhance the soft rolls and when the soup arrived more then a few people dunked their bread into the warm vegetable and bean laden soup (and sometimes rice). The salad had cubes of fresh apple, raisins, and crisp lettuce.

When the second course arrived the populace enjoyed the smoky and flavorful Thracian Chicken. The Apple Pork Pie served cold helped to sate the hearty appetites of the people assembled; its tender pork chunks wrapped in flaky crust were devoured almost as soon as they hit the plates. The sides of Mushy Peas and Roasted Rice were a welcome addition to the meal, both flavorful and winning over more then a few people who had stated they were not big fans of “green things”.

Finally the dessert course was served and people happily dipped Shortbread Cookies with and without gluten into the tart Lemon Cheesecake Dip. Some were so enamored with the dip they asked for containers of their own.

The people, now full and happy, declared the feast a success and raised their cups to Brother Bobby in praise of his wonderful meal that day.