Gate's Edge
Location:
Gate's Edge is located in Houston, Texas.
Gate's Edge was previously a Canton of the Barony of Stargate.
Leadership
Please see Gate's Edge Officers for a list of our Shire Officers past and present.
Founding Members
- Alanna of DownPatrick
- Barrett of DownPatrick
- Fenris of Twycross
- Fedelm ni Uidhir
- Talmon Wilbanks of Twyce Holey Wood
- Adelicia Brabent
- Patrick of Kilkenny
Group History
Gate's Edge was founded as a Canton of Stargate in February 1989.
Chapter 1 - The Beginning
by Annes Clotilde von Bamburg
Our History begins long ago in 1990. A small group of people in the northwestern area of Harris county truly enjoyed playing in the Barony of the Stargate. However, most of the activities of the time were deep in the heart or southern part of the Barony. The people in the north had gotten tired of driving so far away and some had small children which made traveling difficult.
So they met and discussed forming a new group which would be a Canton of the Barony of the Stargate so as to cut down on the travels they endured in order to play in the Society. The people who met were Alanna of DownPatrick; Barrett of DownPatrick; Fenris of Twycross; Fedelm ni Uidhir; Talmon Wilbanks of Twyce Holey Wood; Adelicia Brabent and Patrick of Kilkenny. At this meeting, they decided on a name for the new group which they called Fyreamptewealde. This is Welch for "Fire Ant Meadow" due to the real problem that year with our local fire ants.
There were a number of other meetings as the little group tried to get off the ground during the next year. They did achieve incipient status but made little progress otherwise. They did hold an off calendar picnic which drew a goodly number of folks at Spring Creek park in Tomball, TX. But the storm clouds were beginning to gather...
Shortly thereafter, Alanna of Downpatrick suddenly stepped down as seneschal and the office defaulted to the hospitalier at the time...who happened to be me. Please keep in mind that I was about 6 months into being a member of the Society at this time.
The learning curve was steep. While I was very proud of our young group, I learned that the canton was not in good favor with the Kingdom level officers. Everyone up the chain of command was very polite but it was made very clear to me that the first order of business was to get our officer's reports up to date (yes, there was paperwork even then). The second order of business was to get a **calendar** event onto the schedule and to carry it through. The third order of business was to change the name of the group since the Kingdom Seneschal had been told by the Kingdom Herald that our name was not a name that could be registered. I was given no doubt that if these 3 items were not taken care of, and quickly, that our nascent and incipient canton would be ....to put it politely....dissolved.
Needless to say, we were hard pressed to get all this done. We had several emergency meeting of both the officers and the populace. At the officer's meetings we all worked together to help each other get the necessary paperwork done and turned in. At the populace meetings (which at the time were at Molly Malone's Pub) we discussed alternate names such as Northgate (sounded like a development community) and Northern Marche, we finally settled on and voted for Gatesedge...for we were still part of Stargate. We also liked the idea that we were on the "edge" of the Barony which brought out the visualization of being at the front edge of things. Our herald of the time, Fedelm, started filling out the paperwork to get our name passed and registered. Simultaneously, a number of the populace submitted designs for our arms. The final design was the brainchild of Adelicia Brabent.
As for the first event, called Midsummer Faire, was held on the weekend of June 21, 1991. I was the autocrat as seneschal and I chose it for two reasons.
First, it was a clear date on the calendar with no conflicts. At the time, we were not limited to just one event and the calendar was exceedingly full. There was no calendar secretary, no regions and lots of groups.
The second was more personal. It was the weekend of my 39th birthday and I wanted to celebrate in a big way.
Our First Event: MidSummer Fair - June 19, 20 & 21, 1991
by Annes Clotilde von Bamburg
Our first full-fledged event came about because if we didn't have one, the kingdom seneschal at the time said our group would probably be disbanded. We were just an incipient canton of Stargate at the time and were already in a bit of trouble for officers not reporting. I was the brand new seneschal having taken over from Alanna who dropped out to do scouting with her children. I also had only been in the SCA for about a year.
EEEKKK!!! (I said in my head) An event! Oh, no! What do I know about putting on an event! Nothing! <run around in circles waving my hands>
After I settled down a bit, and chatted with people in the canton like Patrick of Kilkenny, Adelicia & Talmon, and Caitlin, we decided to put on a Midsummer Faire event. Mainly because that was about the only open date on the calendar and yes, I admit it...I pushed it a bit because it was my birthday weekend.
We were all pretty much in accord that we wanted something different than the usual event where one big guy beat up everybody and walks off with all the loot. So we thought up our Fair format.
We designed our event so that *anybody* could be our champion. To be our champion, you had to enter at least 5 events and win at least 3 of them. That first event we had heavy weapons and light (we didn't call them chivalric and rapier back in the day), bardic, dance, gaming, A & S (judged by popular vote) and archery.
We held the event at the Stones of Ravensfort and the weather was as hot as the middle of June can get down here. Everybody who came thru the gate was given their own hand painted and calligraphed scroll for coming to our event. Everybody was given a string of beads to give to their favorite combatant or entrant. People who entered got 1 bead; people who won got another bead and they could be given populace beads also. Our overall winner was the one who not only entered and won but also collected the most beads from the populace for their fighting skills or the beauty of their art or voice.
For our feast, we invited folk to bring their favorite dish and we had a pot luck. It was great!
Our first champion was Lord Yoshi (I can't do the rest of it) also known back then as "Ice" and who now just stepped down as the Baron of Ravensfort and now is known as H.E., Brian du Val. We recognized others but they weren't our champion. His Excellency spoke with me a while back and reminded me that he was our first champion. My that was a fun event!
We continued this basic format for a long time but eventually started to get away from just a single champion to having multiple champions. I know I'm an old fogey but I did like how ours was so different from everybody else's. We stopped doing it at Midsummer because the summers just got hotter and hotter and now our event is in the fall and often has a different theme from year to year.
But it was fun and we all laughed a lot and pulled together as family.
As I remember it...
Heraldry
Device - Registered in September of 1992, as shown above.
Badge - Registered in January of 2002: (Fieldless) A sinister gauntlet vert within and grasping the top of a closed fetterlock argent.
Champions
Reoccurring Events
Group Specific Awards
The Guardians of the Gate:
The Guardians of the Gate is a non-armigous service award created when our Shire was only a Canton. We wished to recognize those members of the populace who have given above and beyond the call of duty for the betterment of our group. The Premier Members of the Guardians, given on June 29, 1995, were Annes Clotilde von Bamburg, Talmon Wilbanks of Twyce Holey Wood and Adelicia Brabent.
The Bella Luce:
The Bella Luce (meaning: The Beautiful Light) is a non-armigous award created to recognize those artisans among us who bring beauty to our Shire with their talents in many different areas.
Populace
Peers & Nobles
Fallen Stars
(Text by Annes Clotilde von Bamburg)
- Baroness Adelicia Brabent: H.E. Adelicia is still remembered fondly by the many whose lives she brightened in our Shire. She was a fierce supporter of our group, having been at the first meetings at its formation. Her art work graced dozens of our newsletters covers for many years. Many still recall with longing her famous "beans with ham" that she provided at the many archery practices held in her backyard. She was grandmama to all of us. She is still missed by all who were lucky enough to know her. Rest in peace, sweet Baroness. Your shire still remembers you.
- Lord Blaan Wilhelm von Bamburg: Lord Blaan had left our group many years ago to live in Loch Sollier. While he was here, he was a supporter of all the martial arts we enjoyed at the time...chivalric, archery, and rapier...serving several terms as our Knights Marshal. He worked hard to help our group in all of its endevors, helping set up and take down events, attending populace and officer meetings, providing security at the gates and generally helping wherever he could. While he has been long gone from our group he is still spoken of by those who knew him. May you rest in peace, friend of our Shire.
- Don Christoforo Antonio Passavanti: Don Christoforo played in the area of Gate's Edge and Stargate for many years. He was so beloved by so many people. He served our shire as our Rapier Marshal and was ever a supporter of our group. A senseless accident on the way home from his mundane work took this incredible friend and wonderful gentleman from us, leaving his young wife and child behind. We miss you Christoforo. Know that we loved you and thank you for being our friend.
- Lord Dolfin of Cork: Lord Dolfin was our Knight's Marshal. A member of both Kiersted and Rolling Thunder, squire to Sir Kief av Kiersted and Father to Tidal Thunder, he was a friend to many. He loved to cook and fight. He loved his Lady, Aylwyn and he loved this Kingdom. We will miss him greatly for his laughter and his kindness and wisdom.
- Lady Clara Marshall: Lady Clara was our seneschal, stepping down due to the ill health that eventually took her away from us. Her gentle smile, shy laugh and quirky sense of humor endeared her to many. She was always ready to help and was a staunch supporter of our Shire. Sleep well, dear Clara. The Shire you loved carries on and remembers you.
- Baron Talmon Wilbanks of Twyce Holey Wood: Baron Talmon was a founding member of our group, being at the first meetings in 1990. He was husband to Baroness Adelicia. A much loved member of our family, he was father and grand-father to so many of us. Like his wife who preceded him in death, he was a driving force for our canton and then our shire. After her passing, he continued to be interested and involved. He was instrumental in helping get Archery as a part of what we do in our Kingdom and was our Archery marshal for over a decade. As his health faltered, his deputies took over most of his duties but when he could he attended the archery shoots and all other Shire activities. He was a fount of wisdom and knowledge that we turned to in order to drink from his experience. An artist in his own right, he taught many to scrimshaw, a passion of his. Our Shire is poorer for his passing but we take comfort that he is again reunited with the love of his life. Farewell, beloved Talmon!
