Court herald

"Court herald" is a generic job title. At events, the court herald collects business for the next court, arranges the order of business, and calls the populace to assemble at the time appointed by the court's ruling nobles (crown, baronage or seneschal). Throughout the court, the court herald acts as "Master of Ceremonies", calling individuals or groups into court at the appropriate times, making announcements, and speaking on behalf of the court's ruling nobles through various award ceremonies.

If interested in working as a court herald, an individual should speak with their local herald or seek the help of other experienced court heralds. It is best to start with smaller courts at local events as these tend to be lower-stress. Also, it is wise for court heralds to watch carefully other court heralds as they work, learning from their successes or errors.

Typical Caidan Court

• Herald gathers business by speaking with the ruling nobles and making public requests (sometimes the court herald will receive business prior to the day of the event, though typically some to all business will be arranged the day of the event). Individual items of business can be recorded on 3"X5" cards or, for smaller courts, all business may be listed on a single sheet of paper.
• The court herald places the business in the order they will be presented. Typically, higher precedence awards are scheduled later in court. Some effort should be made to "mix things up", with awards interspersed with presentations and announcements.
• The court herald asks the ruling nobles when they will be ready to start court, and publicly informs the event attendees when to gather for court.
• Occasionally, the ruling nobles will process into court, preferably each with a herald announcing their arrival. Otherwise, the herald should call court to order, ask the ruling nobles if the audience may be seated, and inform the audience of this ("You have their excellencies leave to be seated")
• At the start of court, the ruling nobles are given an opportunity to directly address the audience. This is done in precedence order from higher to lower.
• The items of business are announced, in the order the herald scheduled them.
• Once all scheduled business has concluded, the ruling nobles again are offered an opportunity to address the audience.
• At closing court, the herald typically calls a "recessional" (see below).

Recessional

The recessional consists of a series of verbal salutes which honor the ruling nobles as well as the local groups. The herald calls, for example, "Long live X and Y, King and Queen of Caid" or "Long live the Barony of Z!" and waits for the audience to respond in kind. The ruling nobles are saluted in order of higher precedence to lower (for example, King and Queen, then Prince and Princess, then Baron and Baroness...). Following this, the herald calls for salutes of the local groups in order of lower precedence to higher (for example, Canton, then Barony, then Kingdom). The recessional should always end with "Long live Caid!" and three cheers.

As the name implies, the ruling nobles should "recess" as their salutes are called. This practice is observed only occasionally, however, for practical reasons.

More Information

• For texts of the various award ceremonies, please visit the College of Heralds Official Web Site.

Officers of Caid
Offices: Crown, Arts & Sciences, Chatelaine, Chronicler, Constable, Exchequer, Herald, Lists, Marshal, Seneschal, Webwright, Youth Officer Groups: Army, College of Heralds, College of Scribes, Collegium Caidis, Crown Prints, Newcomers Guild, Water Bearer Guild Other Information: Caidan Law, Greater Officer of State, Lesser Officer of State, Guilds, Officer Hierarchy, Privy Council