Ruby Joust
My Squire Brother, Marcus de Rath, was Knighted! Which was the whole reason I went. Ruby Joust is not usually on my calendar because it’s always ridiculously hot and miserable, and usually longer than a day trip drive that I’m comfortable with. I was not about to miss this event. So, under the guise of celebrating Sir William’s 5th anniversary of Knighthood, I grabbed the niece (who is also in the Household), the little old pupper ladies, booked a hotel room, drove 6 hours and proceeded to help hide EVERYTHING going on from Marcus until he could be put on Vigil on Saturday afternoon.
Traditionally, Ruby Joust tends to have god-awful weather; it’s usually swelteringly hot. 5 years ago, at Sir William’s Knighting, it was so oppressively hot my niece got heat stroke, and my phone died in the middle of recording the ceremony because it over heated. So when we were told, “You don’t want to miss Ruby this year” (which is code for get your ass to this event/Court, something is happening in our Household) I knew I was gonna book a hotel room. I wasn’t going to mess around this year.
My biggest concern was the dogs. Because of extenuating circumstances, I wasn’t able to leave them behind and so at 15½ and 14, they went to their first SCA event. I knew Tipitiwitchit would thrive, because she is social, curious and everyone is friend-shaped. Daisy is the one I was concerned about. Daisy is skittish and shy around people, even if she knows them, and will sometimes try to intimidate other dogs (she was attacked once and had 12 stitches), and so she sometimes barks and charges other dogs when she first meets them. When we meet new dogs, we always take precautions with her for that reason. She’s never hurt anyone, but we aren’t willing to risk that ONE TIME she does.
At home, Daisy is so noisy and bossy and has such a BIG personality; we joke that she is secretly a Mafia Boss. Around people or in new places she gets shy, reserved, hesitant, sometimes quiet, and will usually just hide in my lap or want to be carried everywhere. Going into this, I knew she would need extra care. I had prepared her own space so she could be comfortable, I warned folks I would be going to the hotel if things got too hot or too much for the dogs, and everyone who knows Daisy knew that she would be a little bit overwhelmed.
I don’t know what dog I brought to Ruby Joust, because it was not Daisy.
This. Bitch. We had literally JUST arrived on site and she walked straight up to people she didn’t know. She let complete strangers pet her without shying away or me having to stand with her. She FOLLOWED people like she was going with them. “Bye mom, gonna hang out with my new friends,” kind of followed. She let people HOLD HER. And she didn’t try to get away, wiggle to be let down, or try to stretch to me to take her from them. I have never seen a guy hold her, and she let TWO of them do it while being perfectly content. She didn’t bark once. Not once. She is a yorkie/jack russell mix. She ALWAYS barks. I don’t think I heard her bark once from Friday morning to Monday morning.
She THRIVED. And in the process made me into a LIAR. “She’s skittish she won’t let you pet her,” LIE. “She won’t come to you if you call her,” LIE. “She doesn’t let other people hold her,” LIE. “She might bark at your dog,” LIE. If I had known she was a born Scadian, I would have brought her to events sooner!
She and Tipi also got to be part of the procession into Court when Marcus was summoned, which was a lot of fun. Now I wish that I had made them SOME sort of Household garb or a bandana at the very least. Next time, I guess, because they had a lot of fun and so I will definitely take them to another event soon (when the weather is more comfortable for them).
Speaking of the weather, we had GORGEOUS weather. There was a cold front pushing through, so it was in the low 70’s with no humidity, some cloud cover, and a nice breeze the whole time. We broke down early on Sunday morning so none of the canvas got wet in the anticipated rain, and then I left after the Knighting. If I stood still for longer than a minute, both dogs were asleep on the grass – so I knew they were done. We were probably about 20 minutes on the road when the rain hit, so it was a good call to break down when we did.
The Knighting was beautiful. Marcus and his Lady looked incredible. The speech for the chain, the spurs, and the belt (the sword presenter left ahead of the anticipated rain), were beautiful. He received a belt that had belonged to our Knight’s Knight – Sir Kane. It was an emotional time; the culmination of years of hard work and growth, and I am so honored to have been able to witness it and to be a part of it. I am so proud of him and deeply grateful to be able to call him my Brother.
Vivat, Sir Marcus de Rath.
OH. Nearly forgot one of my favorite parts: THEY PUT A BATTLE YORKIE ON HIS SCROLL. I have to get a picture of it, because I died a little when I saw it.
