Selected Articles from
The Gull Archives

If you would like to submit an article for The Gull, please contact the Chronicler.

Southern Shores Trivia

What is the history behind Southern Shores' preface of Ancient, Mighty and Populous (/Revered/Honorable)'?

courtesy of Thomas Buttesthorn

It actually began at Twelfth Night AS XII when the Seneschal, Lord Benjamin von Ermantrodt, led the members of the Province in the Grand March that was then a Kingdom tradition. (This was a procession in which the members of the Kingdom were introduced to the newly crowned King and Queen.) That night King Paul and Queen Carol were crowned at the Richmond Civic Center. When Benjamin reached the throne, the members of the Province were still coming through the door. Queen Carol asked him "Where did they come from?" Benjamin turned, seeing the multitude, replied "Your Majesty, the Ancient Mighty Province of Southern Shores."

Move ahead to Twelfth Night AS XIII.

It was my and Hclyn Brownberry's first Twelfth Night. We knew we lived in Southern Shores but hadn't attended any meetings and knew nothing about the province (and little about the SCA). The Grand March was being organized for King James and Queen Verena. The only people we knew were marching in with the peerages; the Provinces and Shires were being lined up elsewhere. The Vesper Herald handed a person in each group a 3x5 card to write down the name of their group. We wrote down Southern Shores and looked around to see where groups were being organized, but we were the only group that had come up to march. Oh well! A flash of inspiration popped into my head and (not knowing the events of AS XII) wrote "the Ancient, Mighty, and Populous Province of Southern Shores". When the herald announced this in the Grand March and only two people stepped forward there was a long silence, and the hall erupted in laughter. King James lost his dignity for a moment and nearly fell off his throne. And so the Province became the "Ancient, Mighty, and Populace Province of Southern Shores". Ian McAngus later added "Revered".

NOTE:

Copyright of each article belongs to the original author. Reproduction rights are not given by virtue of their appearance here.

If you wish to reprint any of these articles, in whole or in part, in any medium, you must first get permission from the the author. Please contact the Chronicler, who will forward your request to the appropriate party and respond to you.