April 2003.
Cruise Director -- When things are running too smoothly and the Militia is starting to
look a little too organized, it is the task of the Cruise Directors, Catherina and Collin, to send us
off in a new chaotic direction to deflect suspicion. It might be an inter-Kingdom practice,
an intrepid trek to the far end of the universe, or
just a party with Jungle Speed, one never knows.
Red Charity Flint, Captain o' the Apple Arky, was described thus by the test:
Passion is a big part of your life, which makes sense for a pirate. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!
Red Charity is a rowdy, 16th-century pirate wench with a past chaotic enough that she could be English or Scottish. She commands her own vessel but is continually foiled by the stupidity of her crew, giving rise to the phrase: "Arrr. That sucked."
The Apple Arky is one of the fleet of improbable fruit vessels commandeered by members of the Militia. As Tadcaster in northern England is landlocked, we're obliged to lift the hulls of our ships like skirts and run with little feet when no one's lookin'. This gets us to Wharram Percy, where there's water. Or something like that.
Award of Arms (a couple times. Just like Bruni and Collin.)
Recipient of the Queen's Order of Courtesy (Geneviere II)
Companion of the Pelican (Kenric & Avelina)
Companion of the Silver Crescent
Member of the court staff for Andreas III and Gabriella; Konrad and
Brenwen; Darius IV and Alethea; Andreas IV and Gabriella II
Deputy for EK Precedence,
Deputy to the Branch Polling Deputy
Member of the Guard of Queen Geneviere II
Rapier Marshal at large
Past Rapier Champion, Barony of Bhakail
Selected as a Pennsic Rapier Champion (alternate) for Pennsic XXXIV
Honorable Mention for her Canton newsletter, "In a Nutshell" (William Blackfox Awards, AS 38)
The Pride of Lanark
And maybe Tarragona
Catherina, Senyora de Sant Marti (whoever she is/was), iz Catalan. Katerine, though, is from somewhere they speak Middle English.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here's the story for one of the old personas, Katryne Blak:
It fell about the Lammas tide,
When muir-men win their hay,
The doughty Earl of Douglas rode
To England for a prey:
He chose the Gordons and the Graemes,
The Lindsays licht and gay;
But the Jardines wad not with him ride,
And they rue it to this day.
The Battle of Otterburn (1388)
Maver's Collection of Genuine Scottish Melodies
Edited by George Alexander, Esq.
Robert Maver, Glasgow (circa 1900)
In the same year of my birth did the Scottish King James III die to a stabbing (oops) after tumbling from his horse at the Battle of Sauchieburn. That's okay, we're not short on Jameses.
In that year, also, did James, the 9th Earl of Douglas, die in banishment at Lindores Abbey. Sweet James was the last of the infamous Black Douglases as we know them. (Well, I can't vouch for his sweetness -- but Sir James "the Good", the original Black Douglas, was a hotty. Perhaps not in face, but in deed. H'damn! Anyways...)
After the murder of James III, James IV succeeded to the throne of Scotland. As he was 15, Archibald Douglas (a "Red Douglas", a branch strong in Angus on the eastern coast) hung around for a while and told him what to do. In King James IV's time, the Scottish economy would grow, her arts would flourish, and mainstream Catholism would have the grip while religious reform brewed elsewhere in Europe. James IV's time is my time, and I like Jameses.
My mother was Marioun Douglas, of the Red Douglases of Angus. Quickly married and widowed, she afterward kept with James IV's Royal Appointees at Threave Castle until gaining her modest inheritance. (Threave Castle in Kirkcudbright was long a stronghold of the Black Douglases. At the 1455 Battle of Arkinholm, James, the 9th Earl of Douglas, had been defeated by George Douglas, the 4th Earl of Angus and a Red Douglas. This same Sweet James fled to England with his brother Balveny... which did nothing to prevent him from being imprisoned later, alas. Black Douglas holdings were forfeited or attacked -- including a 2-month siege of Threave Castle by James II, who punched nasty holes in the wall with the unwieldy cannon Mons Meg, but still lost the siege. Margaret, Countess of Douglas, controlled Threave during the siege. I tell of my mother, a Red Douglas, living at Threave for a while because... well, it's funny.)
My mother eventually married James Blak, a horse merchant and erstwhile fighter, born 1450. He took my mother to Lanark in 1487, but was away again fighting at Sauchieburn at my birth. Isn't that how it usually goes?
As was custom in my time and place, my mother kept her surname, but I took my father's. In 1502, when I was 14, she took me to Threave Castle when King James IV went there on a hunting trip. Her intent was to fix my marriage to some worthy guy in attendance -- but whether through my sass or her judgment, it was not to be. Still, I got a mad crush on King James IV. "Endure fort!"
In 1508, I am twenty, and living in Lanark with some comfortable inheritance probable on my parents' deaths, as I have no brothers. My marriage to James Forrest, a shipping merchant of Edinburgh, born to a family at Lanark, has lately been arranged. (He's just dashing, for an 800-year-old man. Excuse me, I think I see a cute shepherd... )
In just a few years, James IV and many Scottish nobles would be killed at Flodden Edge, in England, fighting against the English. In the same year of our Lord, 1513, my husband James Forrest would die of the fever, leaving me in title of his business. This I would sell, and by 1515, have left naught in Edinburgh but a rumor that I sailed from port in a strange gown from southern Europe...
But that was a story of fancy. In truth I would die in 1515 to English Border Reivers, after a life of small consequence but, I hope, much spirit.
In modern times, I still keep company with Jameses -- Captain Mad James Bonney is often nearby, and talking of melons. But that's another story.
Katryne Blak (formerly Katrine Lyndesay)
A.S. XXXVIII (June 2003)
Persona Name References:
A List of Feminine Personal Names Found in Scottish Records
Katrine is (among other things) a Lowland Scots variation of Katherine. Talan Gwynek (Brian M. Scott) has listed these sources for the name's use on the Academy of Saint Gabriel site: 1499 [YALLOWER, 826]; 1512 [AUCHENROSS, 35].
Early 16th Century Scottish Lowland Names: Women's Given Names - By Instances
On her Medieval Scotland site, Sharon L. Krossa has documented a 1513 instance of a nickname I sometimes use, Katty. Other variations of Katherine include Catte, Kitte, Katering, and Katring.
Early 16th Century Scottish Lowland Names: Surnames - By Instances
Also on Medieval Scotland is a 1548 instance of the surname Lindesay, from the Aberdeen Council Register for 1500-1550. I'm not from Aberdeen, but that's okay.
Scottish Documents
A search for Lanark in old Scottish wills shows more Hamiltouns (Hamiltons) than members of any other family -- but the Lindsays have a healthy presence!
A search for the forename and surname John Lyndesay gives a reference to a will of John Lyndesay of Covyntone, Glasgow Commissary Court, 1551. Thus do I justify the spelling of my surname (or something).
Persona History References:
Scottish History Time-line (14th and 15th Centuries) and Scottish History Time-line (16th Century)
Here they are: some cut and dried factoids.
The Battle of Otterburn
The first verse of this song was an inspiration to use the surname Lindsay. There were lotsa Lindsays in my chosen burgh of Lanark documented in the 16th century (see Scottish Documents note) -- but being once penned as "licht and gay", even for a rhyme, was good.
Battle of Otterburn, 1388
This is from History of Scotland, by John Hill Burton, Historiographer-Royal for Scotland, Vol II pages 304-371. An interesting read, though it makes no mention of the infamous bracken to which Percy, in legend, surrendered.
Lindsay: Clan/Family Histories
This page has a summary of the Lindsays and the leaders they've chosen to support over the years. Also has the meaning of "Endure fort!"
Tiny note: Enduring isn't really my thing -- I'm a little better at lighting fires under people's chairs (which is better than sawing the legs off, I think). Still, I hope others will overlook this and recall the "licht and gay" thing.
The Lindsays: History
More family history, from the USA Lindsay Clan. Is this not a fabulous plaid?
Clan Lindsay
Electric Scotland has a nice take on things, and more detail. Notably, it mentions that the Hamiltons of the Lanark area became powerful from the downfall of the Black Douglases. (And the Lindsays had ties with the Hamiltons.)
Douglas History
A handy site on Douglas family history that I used extensively for background on both the Black and Red Douglases. The badge of Douglas displays a salamander on a burning hat. I only steal hats, though. ;)
Douglases: Great Historic Families of Scotland
Some information on (historically) important Douglases (including Sir James Douglas "the Good" and James, the 9th Earl of Douglas) can be found here.
Sir James Douglas "the Good"
From Significant Scots: Sir James Douglas. On Sir James's looks: "Barbour, the poet, dwells fondly upon this period in the life of Douglas, whom he describes as cheerful, courteous, dutiful, and of a generous disposition, insomuch, that he was esteemed and beloved by all; yet was he not so fair, adds the same discreet writer, that we should much admire his beauty. He was of a somewhat grey or swarthy complexion, and had black hair, circumstances from which, especially among the English, he came to be known by the name of the Black Douglas."
Hamiltons: General History
The Hamiltons were powerful in the vicinity of Lanark, my birthplace. This site provides a cursory look at their ties with the Douglases. I'd be interested in seeing more.
Mons Meg, "unwieldy cannon"
Mons Meg is one of a pair of giant siege guns called "bombards". She was built in Mons, of modern day Belgium, in 1449, and given as a gift to the Scottish King James II in 1457.
Threave Castle
This site, while poxed with little hearts, has a timeline of the Black Douglases and their connection with the castle. It also has a decent plan of the interior.
Threave Castle: Traditions and Stories
Some account of the wrath of Mons Meg on Threave Castle may be found here.
Threave Castle Overview
Once upon a time, the valiant Apple Arky might have moored at that riverside harbor. |
