Angels Anniversary 1976

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Location: Angels Arroyo Seco Park in Pasadena Date: 10/02/1976

Baron Piers and Baroness Ximena presided with Prince Morven and Princess Bevin in attendance. Also in attendance were the heirs to the Principality, Martin and Arabella.

Highlights

• Martin and Arabella had won Coronet Tournament the weekend prior while Piers and Ximena (Arabella's sister) were on vacation in Peru. The Caidans conspired to keep the identity of the heirs a secret until revealed at opening court. Baroness Ximena said it was the best birthday present she had ever received.
• This was the first appearance of the Dragon of Gorgonoth, who won the championship tournament

Memories

Event Chronicle by Fiona MacGregor from the November-December 1975 issue of the "Fantastically Illegal Communique of Caid Principality:

The sun burned brightly on the tourney field of Arroyo Seco Park as the Barony of the Angels 5th Anniversary Tourney began PROMPTLY with a Grand March. Baron Piers Howells de Cambria & Baroness Ximena Aubel de Cambria were unable to attend due to a much deserved vacation in the Yucatan. Viscount Sir Christian of Orange & Viscountess Denysa de las Mariposas presided in their place. Prince Thomas the Merciless & Princess Elaine the Merciful were present, as were Al Caid, Gregory of York & his lady Vivian Aurore de la Mer. Lady Tirana Wolcott of Glastonbury Mary Taran of Glastonbury & Sir Robert of Westmarch came South for the Tourney. (Poor Sir Robert flew down with a plane full of Oakland Raider boosters! That's devotion!) Mistress Tyra Stuart of Moray was the Autocrat & Lady Gabrielle nicChlurain was her deputy (complete with a "trouble-shooter's kit" & Mistress Tyra's comment: "If it isn't in there, they don't need it!")

At Opening Court, Lord Renfield of the Inland March (Edmund Renfield Wanderscribe) announced that the Barbed Pheon would be presented to the best (???) punster at the end of the tourney, amid groans from among the populace who had been through such a contest before. Sir Morven of Carrick was presented with silver spurs by Fiona MacGregor, Mistress Bevin Fraser of Stirling, & his squire, Ian MacAlister of Lancaster. Mistress Tyra presented Mistress Bjo of Griffin with a coffee mug labeled "Mistress" denoting Bjo's new status after receiving both a Laurel & a Pelican at Crown Tourney & to commemorate Lord John ap Griffin's going North with a wife, only to return with a wife AND two mistresses!

Despite the awful heat, the Lists for Champion of Angels proceeded & the winner was Baron Maihie McFergy, Heathen of Erin. There were challenge matches & several melees (including one in which a somewhat abbreviated version of Patrick of Innisfree was seen to Martin the Temperate a la the Black Knight of Monty Python's "Holy Grail"). After the fighting, Eadmond du Battlemont was carried on the shoulders of his fellow fighters while the populace sang a rousing chorus of "Happy Birthday."

Robert of the Isles, Seneschal of Darachshire, recently returned from a tour of duty with the USN, was abducted under the direction of Lady Eyana bat David nicChlurain & assembled Ladies, including the head of the Chlurain Chlan. A daring rescue was attempted but the abductee was more interested in the 'torture' of being kissed than in being rescued. After this arduous session, Robert was offered a cut of liquid refreshment which--HORRORS!--was poisoned! Princess Elaine was called upon to administer a kiss but the risk of poison remaining on Robert's lips was too great for her to attempt to revive him. However, the Shade of Fiona MacGregor (assassinated at an earlier tourney) was called from Beyond; she was of course immune to any further poisoning & so could administer the necessary osculation, restoring the gentleman.

At Closing Court, Baron Maihie McFergy was presented with the Baronial Favor which will (eventually) be embroidered on by all of the Ladies of Angels. At present it is designed as an "ongoing art project." Robear du Bois presented Martin the Temperate with a bar of pure oatmeal soap (did we hear Martin say "COOKIE!"???)

Mistress Tyra sponsored an herb-guessing contest that was extremely challenging (read: HARD) & the winner was Lady Vivian (we'll bet the cooking at her house is fantastic! She was presented with a bottle of rose-water & a book on cooking with flowers. A special award was presented to Robear du Bois for his ingenious list of herbs (Merde du Lapin??? We can imagine what the cooking at HIS house i like!!!)

Lord John ap Griffin sponsored an heraldic contest to design arms for William Tell. Mimeographed sheets with a shield-shape already on it helped non-artistic designers. (See list of winners & what they designed elsewhere.)

Mistress Bjo of Griffin sponsored both a Costume Design Contest & a Children's Drawing & Coloring Contest. Actually she had not intended for the children's activities to do any more than interest & amuse the kiddies, but the whole thing turned into a contest on the spot, delighting everyone. The design contest was aided by full-page figures (male & female) mimeographed ahead of time for contestants to use.

The winner of the cooking contest(1) was Dana of Coleraine for herbed bread (everything smelled so good: glad we didn't have to judge!) The Potluck Dinner held after Court had plenty of delicious food for all.

The three finalists in the pun-off were Rupert Fairchilde MacChlurain, John ap Griffin, & Lady Käthe Willig von Mainz(2). After what seems an interminable time, the award had to be decided by a trial by combat (of wits) between Käthe and John. The competition was close until a comment from one of the populace destroyed Lord John's concentration & subsequent brute strength & Lady Käthe was declared the winner (??).

Mouice Negra Khan & Rondal Negra Khan received their Awards of Arms which had been presented at Crown Tourney(3). There were other Herald(4) awards--can't for the life of me remember what they all were--only the comment from Rupert: "Gee, it has my name on it!" Our local scribes are finally at work!

Mercifully, the heat subsided & we all drifted home with varying degrees of sunburn, full tummies & pleasant memories.

NOTES

• (1) This was the Hester Spoon contest
• (2) Known then as Käthe von Munchhausen
• (3) Given at Purgatorio (West Kingdom) Coronation
• (4) Refers to distribution of completed scrolls
• Parentheses and question marks were in the original article for added emphasis

ANGELS ANNIVERSARY ARTS CONTEST WINNERS

Heraldry: Design a device for William Tell.

• First Prize: Azure, an Imperial Eagle displayed with an arrow d'or piercing the heart, gules, the badge of Switzerland in dexter canton. Alewaulfe the Red. The prize was a tidy li'l book on heraldry.
• Second Prize: Vert, seme apples proper under a chief argent an Alpenhorn or. Joscelyn Fitzharry of Gillyflower
• Third Prize: Argent, seme teardrops gules, crossed barbed arrow & torn tree-trunk proper: the arrow splitting an apple. Eoin MacChlurain of Northmarch

Costume Design: Choice of any of three categories:

• Morgan le Fay as a historical or fantasy character. Marina Ariadne ni Chlurain won for a grey & moon-silver fantasy gown with Druidic overtones. She chose a dark purple & gold brocade as prize.
• Eleanor of Aquitaine on Crusade as an 'Amazon'. Frances of Dragonsforge won with a striking leather & chainmail outfit. She chose some trim as prize.
• Jester for Queen Elizabeth's Court Mistress Tyra Stuart of Moray & Frances of Dragonsforge tied on this one. Tyra designed a 'wild Irish lord' costume for her Jester; Frances came up with a grape-twined Satyr. Tyra chose a 'Hobson's choice' selection of trim as rpize. Frances chose some textile as her prize.

Drawing & Coloring Contest (from Bjo of Griffin)

• Best Dragon: Kate of the Silver Dragonfly, the Fair, who chose fancy trim.
• Princess: Karen of the Silver Dragonfly, the Sweet, who chose a color book.
• Castle: Lorissa du Griffin (nepotism!)

Then, because we just had people who generally enjoyed the coloring & drawing, we had a few more prizes: Roxanne of Orange and Terence of Nottingham did some nice art so they took home some brocade or trim as prizes, too.

And because it was MY contest, I picked out a VERY FAVORITE PICTURE: an intricate illustration of a castle with turrets, waving flas, a princes son the battlements, and a large apple tree growing beside the building. Attacking the castle from one side is a fire-breathing winged dragon, while a witch on a broomstick (with a cat, too) is flying around the highest turret. Neither party seems to have thought of just going to the large blue front doors, but perhaps the door-knobs are too high to reach. Anyway, Kate of the Silver Dragonfly drew it and gave it to me and I love it!

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More Information

This event on the History of the Kingdom of the West website

Events 1976

Events of Caid
Events: 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s Event Types: Tournament, War, Collegium, Revel, Court, Arts & Sciences Competition Other Information: Results