Pinning this. This was not written by me but I don’t want to lose this information.
Here is an outline of how to write letters to the Crown. Please
feel free to add any additional comments — and start writing!The King and Queen (Prince and Princess) are wonderful people. However, no one is able to
have intimate knowledge of all the members of the entire Kingdom. The Crown
relies on the populace to write letters of recommendation. In essence, it is
our responsibility to bring deserving individuals to their attention so they
can be recognized for their efforts.A letter of recommendation simply means you have observed an individual (or
several of them) working hard, helping, teaching, doing any A&S activity,
cleaning, serving, working troll, sewing for newcomers — on and on and on —
and you feel they deserve an award. So how do you do this?Ok, lets start at the beginning 🙂
The Salutation:
There are several options. I have always found it best to identify to whom
you are writing as well as state whom the letter is from. Something like
this:Unto Their Royal Majesties, Fred and Wilma, King and Queen of Bedrock, does
Lady Pebbles of the Quarry send greetings and warm wishes,OR:
To Their Most Royal Majesties, Ricky and Lucy, doth Lord Junior Babbalou send
greetings.There is also nothing wrong with simply saying:
Your Majesties,
Your Royal Majesties,
My Lord King and Lady Queen,The Body of the Letter:
This is where most people struggle with what to say and how to say it. The
following are tips taken from THL Morgan Morcheartaigh article “How to
Recommend Someone for an Award in the SCA.”
~~~~~~~~~~
1. Make it clearly understood WHO the candidate is.
Always include the following in the first paragraph or so:
a) FULL SCA name (properly spelled if possible)
b) Legal name
c) Home shire or Barony (this provides the Crown with someone
else to contact for information)
d) How long the candidate has been a member of the society.2. Make certain the award is appropriate.
It is not a good idea to recommend someone who has been in the
Society
for less than six months for a Pelican or other peerage. As a general rule,
begin small.Does your candidate possess an Award of Arms? If not, you might begin there.
If they are involved in several areas of interest, where do they shine the
most? (Anna Grace here: If you have no idea what type of awards exist or if
it’s appropriate, check with your local Baron and Baroness, Seneschal or
Chatelaine. You can also check out this link:http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/jessa/caid.html
It is a wonderful page that lists Caids Orders and Awards. I have it
bookmarked.)3. Include as much information as possible. Few Crown Heads are willing to
bestow an award on someone when the only information they have is “So’n’so is
a nice person.” Although you candidate may be very nice, Their Majesties
will likely wish to know more about the person – especially if they do not
personally know the candidate. (Anna Grace again – Be specific. Say things
like: “SpongeBob has taught needlework classes at the last three Collegiums
(give dates and class titles if possible) and holds monthly meetings in his
pineapple for those in Bikini Bottom who are interested in increasing their
needlework skills. In addition he has offered his skills at newcomers
meetings when A&S activities are presented. SpongeBobs work can be seen in
the beautiful borders of his tunics, that are always hand done. It is my
honor to recommend him as a candidate for the Order of the Harp Argent of
Caid, in needlework.”)4. Keep the information relevant: If the award is for service, focus on that
aspect of their activity, likewise for fighting or A&S awards. (See above, I
didn’t mention SpongeBob is also a heavy weapons fighter! 🙂 )5. Be polite and courteous. (Anna Grace again. Teacher Mode ON: Please use
spell check, proper punctuation, and good grammar in your letters. Their
Majesties will not only think better of the candidate, they will think better
of you as well. Teacher Mode Off. ) In general, be pleasant, informative and
accurate.The Closing:
(Hi, I’m back again. It is my OPINION you should always thank their
Majesties for their time. Be respectful of the fact they (hopefully) have
many letters to go through and occasionally tough decisions to make. Say
something like: “Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.”Again, there are several ways to close your letter which make it sound both
Medieval-sih and polite. Examples:Yours in Service to Crown, Kingdom and Society,
I remain your servant in all matters,
Your servant,
Yours in service to the Dream,
With regards,
Yours humbly,
(My favorite) Done by my hand this ____ day of ________, AS ________.The Signature:
You should include your own full SCA name, legal name and address/contact
information. This way, if the Crown wishes to know more about your
candidate, they can contact you.
~~~~~~~~~~Now you’ve written your letter and you have no idea where to send it! You can either E-mail it to the Crown or check in the CP for the mailing address of the current Crown and do it the old-fashioned way, by post.
I hope this helps! Again, feel free to comment or ask questions.
Yours In Service to the Crown and Kingdom of Caid,
Lady Anna Grace MacKenna
