Greetings, Heralds of Northshield!
This month I am writing about Court Heralds.
The Court Herald is the Voice of the Crown; thus, it is a prominent and rewarding job. It requires a loud voice and a certain amount of dignity. Court can be the highlight of an event and the herald plays a critical role in making it go smoothly for everyone. We’ve all seen what the herald does during court: opening and closing court, calling people in for recognition, reading scrolls, and saying, “Vivat!” and “Vivant!” What one doesn’t see is what happens behind the scenes, both before and after the event.
There is usually a pre-court meeting a few days before the event. This is when you will meet with the Crown to go through the court list, put it in their preferred order, work on name pronunciations, and sort out any procedural questions. If the event has a Herald in Charge, they may also be at the meeting.
On the day of the event, there will be another meeting before court. If there are changes to the court list, the Crown will tell you what to update. At this meeting, you will have the chance to read the scroll texts – not all calligraphy is easy to read straight off the page. When you’re acting as Court Herald, you get to see all the amazing artwork up close – it's a fantastic perk of the job! The scribes of Northshield are incredibly talented and dedicated, and you get to see and handle every scroll in the pre-court meeting before you hand it to the Crown in court.
Then you will open court, shout quite a bit, and close court. Afterward, you submit the court report and you’re done! (Remember that it is the Herald in Charge’s responsibility to make sure the court reports are submitted – the HiC may choose to do the Report, or may ask you to complete and submit it.)
Congratulations, you were a Court Herald!
If you believe that court should be special and memorable for the people being called up; if you like public speaking, or want to improve your public speaking skills; if you want to add to the pageantry of an event; if you are proud of your excellent shoutiness; if you want to prove to your knight that you can do more than just swing a stick; if you have any reason at all, then you should try it!
Get in touch with your local branch or regional herald for more information, or talk with the Court Herald of an upcoming court and let them know you’d like to learn. As always, feel free to ask me if you want to know more.
The sign-up sheet for courts is at https://tinyurl.com/nsheraldeventroster.
I look forward to hearing you!
Ysolt