by Amanda Martel
The opening invocation of a court in the Society is something that, while important, can sometimes blend together from court to court. It can, however, have more variety in it than you may think. It all depends on the exact circumstances of the court.
For the purposes of discussing the ways it can be modified, I’ll be considering it in four sections: the Call, the Command, the Introduction, and the Leave. These names are entirely arbitrary and created for this discussion, but I’ve at least refrained from putting them in Latin for reasons of pompousness.
Every one of these sections can have several variations depending on the circumstances, which the cunning herald can use for best effect. For each, I will give some useful examples of variations that can be used, with notes as to why each might be useful. It’s important to match the options to not just the situation, but also the intended feel and mood of the court.
It should be noted that picking the wrong combination of these options is not going to be a disaster. The worst that could happen is a brief moment of confusion which might turn to humour (“Draw nigh? If we get any more nigh, we’ll end up in someone’s lap!”).
For any of these, rephrasings suited to culturally-themed reigns can be formulated, but the general concepts should still apply.
To make the phrasing less awkward, I’ll be writing the article as for a court of the Crown of Lochac, but aiming to have it adaptable to the various Baronial courts (and perhaps other Kingdom’s courts) as much as possible.
The Call
The first part of the invocation is mainly used to get the populace’s attention to the court, and the rest of the invocation.
“Oyez! Oyez! My Lords and my Ladies, good Gentles all!”
The all-purpose classic of the herald’s repertoire, this call will sound out across an open field, or silence a crowded hall. If in doubt, it’s hard to go wrong with the standard. It can also be abbreviated somewhat, to just the Oyez calls.
“All Rise!”
Somewhat blurring the line between Call and Command, this brief option is best when you mostly already have the attention of the populace. Setting up the thrones for court will get some attention, and a sharp-eyed member of the populace might announce the approach of the Crown, so people will get themselves ready with less effort from the herald.
The Command
The second part of the invocation is the formal instruction of what the populace should be doing about the court that is commencing.
“Pray gather for the court of…”
We begin again with the all-purpose option, which can usually be regarded as the default for most situations. It’s especially useful if the populace are somewhat scattered around the area — they will need to actually gather, after all.
“Pray gather and attend to the court of…”
Essentially a more fancily-phrased version of the above, the extra time it allows might be useful to cover what would otherwise be a gap in the flow of court. Say there is a particularly large flow of nobility and retinue who need to make their way to the thrones, a slightly longer invocation can be useful to make it seem like less of a pause in the proceedings.
“Pay heed to the court of…”
Has the populace already gathered? That’s half your job done! Best to tell them to at least pay attention. Best used in feasting halls and similar environments where people are going to be staying where they are for the most part.
“Pay heed and all due reverence to the court of…”
This is, for all intents and purposes, a combination of the above two options. It best suits a court where the populace have already gathered, but some extra time would make it better for the flow of proceedings. A slight warning, this one is a bit pompous (well, we ARE heralds). Not necessarily a bad thing, when used for effect, but match it to the court and the Crown.
The Introduction
The third part of the invocation is where you name those whose court you’re invoking. This is always part of the invocation, but is most informative at those events where more than one set of landed nobility might be holding court (such as large events, e.g. Rowany Festival).
This part is the one most commonly adapted for culturally-themed reigns, but overall there are fewer standard patterns in common use.
When you’re preparing for court, make sure that you’ve got their names, including pronunciation, well-practiced. Getting the names wrong, or the titles, is highly embarrassing.
“…their Majesties, Felix and Eva, King and Queen of Lochac!”
Once more unto the easy all-purpose default. It adapts well to different courts: replace Majesties with Excellencies, the Royal titles with Baronial titles, and Lochac with the name of the appropriate Barony, and you’ve prepared a Baronial court invocation.
“…their Majesties, Felix and Eva, your undoubted King and Queen!”
A small variation on the above, with a somewhat more formal tone. It adapts a little less well to Baronial courts, but adds an excellent flavour to Royal occasions.
If you want to make the Introduction more ornate, it’s possible to add an adjective before their epithet. For example, “their Royal Majesties” for the Crown of Lochac, or “their Griffin-Borne Excellencies” for the Baronage of Politarchopolis, and so-on. I’d caution against multiple epithets, and if there’s something more artistic that you wish to use, then in the name of everything heraldic, check with those whose court it is before using it.
At Pennsic courts, the Crown of Lochac are sometimes introduced as “their Antipodean Majesties”, but I wouldn’t recommend that for courts within this Kingdom (it’s the rest of the SCA that are on the world’s antipodes, after all).
The Leave
The last part of the invocation, which happens after the landed nobility have seated themselves and indicated that the populace has their leave to make themselves comfortable. There are, for the most part, two variations.
“You have their Majesties’ leave to make yourselves comfortable.”
The standard version of the phrasing, this lets all those who’ve scrambled to their feet find their way back to their seats. You may find sometimes that people take the “make yourselves comfortable” as a challenge, and will begin a small round of competitive lounging. It’s best to calmly ignore these people.
“You have their Majesties’ leave to draw nigh and make yourselves comfortable.”
You’ve already told the populace to draw nigh once, but they’re still too far away from the thrones. Bid them to draw nigh again. There may be some reluctance, which usually it’s best to leave to the Crown to call for them to draw closer still. It has happened, in a relatively relaxed environment, for there to be a second call of “More nigh!”.
As with the competitive lounging I mentioned before, sometimes you have the opposite problem, where a jokester in the populace decides to draw TOO nigh. That situation is NOT the herald’s problem. The Crown employs guards for a reason.
Conclusion
To illustrate the above ideas, I present the following examples. One of them is for a brief court, perhaps the official opening of an event with no formal business to be conducted other than words of welcome, and the other for a more formal court, full of pomp and circumstance, perhaps where a peerage ceremony is to be conducted. Which of them is which is left as an exercise to the reader.
Example the First:
“All rise! Pay heed to the court of their Majesties, Felix and Eva, King and Queen of Lochac!”
“You have their Majesties leave to make yourselves comfortable.”
Example the Second:
“Oyez! Oyez! My Lords and my Ladies, good Gentles all! Pay heed and all due reverence to the court of their most Royal Majesties, Felix and Eva, your undoubted King and Queen!”
“You have their Majesties leave to draw nigh and make yourselves comfortable.”
I hope this has been enlightening as to the range of small variations available to the court herald at the opening of a court. A final word of advice, which can apply to most branches of voice heraldry, is that one of the herald’s main tasks is to set the tone of proceedings. Make sure that, when putting together the ideas above, the tone you’re setting is an appropriate representation of the Crown or Coronet you serve.