During the reign of Siegfried and Ragni, they wanted me to help correct an oversight -- Menken Brechen had been knighted in the Midrealm twenty years ago on the field of Pennsic, and for whatever reason had no scroll to hang on his wall. So they asked me to arrange for a writ. The fact that it was the twentieth anniversary of his knighting tied in nicely -- rather than write a 'back-dated' scroll, as sometimes happens, I decided to focus on the celebration of his years as a knight.
One of Menken's absolute favourite things is the Crispin's Day speech -- he would point out to all of us the Crispin's Day each year as a real holiday, and would often quote or write about the famous address of Henry the Fifth to his troops. So, I wanted to work that into the scroll wording. After doing my digging, to my pleasant surprise, I was able to use a period text -- although not something from the 14th or 15th century!
Apparently Shakespeare's inspiration to his play Henry V, written in 1599, was the play 'The Famous Victories of Henry the Fifth' by Richard Tarleton, written in 1583. This was a great source to base the scroll wording on, by using key phrases and verse/paragraph structure, and tie in one verse of the Crispin's Day speech without being corny or making a two-dimensional pastiche of something held in incredibly high regard by Menken and other members of the SCA.
Ironically, I could have a scroll quoting Tarleton and Shakespeare, mentioning that I was quoting Tarleton and Shakespeare, in the context of a review as playwrights rather than considering the event s of Henry V as a historical event.
Below is the wording I used. If you would like to see the source material, an online version of the Famous Victories of Henry the Fifth can be found here. And if you would like to see the Kevin Brannagh version of the famous speech, you can see it here:
People of Ealdormere, know
That the hand and seal of a King, and his word is all one, And a Queen's hand
guides his words And instead of a hand and seal, Menken Brechen has toiled by
hand and sword These past twenty years. And we hear tell that King Finn of the
Middle said it, And Oathbreaker did dub him, And Menken has delivered himself
through prowess and conduct To this day, in our court, a knight bearing all
rightful trappings but one.
Now my Lords, if we called to Armes, He would gird his sword, as he always has, And serve as champion without praise. And We would vow by heaven and earth, That the proudest man in all the Midrealm, Shall rue the day that they did not treat Menken, With the seal of the kingdom and words to paper.
And like Tarleton and Shakespeare And those others who write and play the quartos We commit verse to proclaim this man's noble deeds.
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot, But he’ll remember, with advantages, What feats he did that day. Then shall his name, Familiar in our mouths as household words: Menken Brechen, Knight of the Realm, Queen's Champion, And all that is right in the pursuit of Chivalry Properly receive his writ.
Put to writ by Siegfried and Ragni, King and Queen This 27th day of September, Anno Societatis xlix, But 28 days before St. Crispin's Feast.
(Based on verses from the 1583 play, The Famous Victories of Henry the V by Richard Tarleton, which inspired Shakespeare's Henry V in 1599, and snippets of the St. Crispin Day speech because we know it's what's inspired him these past twenty years).
Now my Lords, if we called to Armes, He would gird his sword, as he always has, And serve as champion without praise. And We would vow by heaven and earth, That the proudest man in all the Midrealm, Shall rue the day that they did not treat Menken, With the seal of the kingdom and words to paper.
And like Tarleton and Shakespeare And those others who write and play the quartos We commit verse to proclaim this man's noble deeds.
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot, But he’ll remember, with advantages, What feats he did that day. Then shall his name, Familiar in our mouths as household words: Menken Brechen, Knight of the Realm, Queen's Champion, And all that is right in the pursuit of Chivalry Properly receive his writ.
Put to writ by Siegfried and Ragni, King and Queen This 27th day of September, Anno Societatis xlix, But 28 days before St. Crispin's Feast.
(Based on verses from the 1583 play, The Famous Victories of Henry the V by Richard Tarleton, which inspired Shakespeare's Henry V in 1599, and snippets of the St. Crispin Day speech because we know it's what's inspired him these past twenty years).
If anyone has any questions or suggestions based on scroll wording with a 16th century style, I'm always willing to hear your opinions.
Cheerfully slaving for my feudal masters,
Brand