PERSONAL HISTORY OVERVIEW



Baron Laertes Blackavar McBride

“Master Laertes McBride has been active in the SCA since May of 1990.  For his first six years in the society, he lived in the kingdom of Ansteorra.  During that time, he started the path that has led him to where he is today.  He learned rapier combat with his comrades in arms, became a charter member in a fledgling household and embraced the idea of helping others enjoy the experience as much as he did.  When the time came to leave Ansteorra for the distant lands of Caid, Master Laertes had received several awards and recognitions, including being made a Companion to the Order of the White Scarf.  In addition, the household had grown to a dozen members, he was one of the few authorizing rapier marshals in the kingdom, and, most importantly, he had made scores of friends. 

After moving to Caid in 1996, Master Laertes found his kindred spirits among the populous of the kingdom.  Along with being welcomed with open arms by the rapier community, the kingdom as a whole seemed a wondrous and fun playground.  In addition, he found was fortunate enough to have moved into the Barony of Altavia.  Highlights of his service though the following years include serving a two-year term as the first Kingdom Rapier War Commander, completing his warrant as the Kingdom Rapier Marshal, being the Altavia Rapier Marshal and autocrating several kingdom events.  In addition, he has been a member of the Queen’s Guard for several reigns, served as the Queen’s Rapier Champion for five reigns and has twice had the honor of being the Altavian Rapier Champion.  He has also had the good fortune to serve on the Altavian Guard for the past several years.  Perhaps the most challenging position was serving as the Kingdom Rapier Marshal.  Along with dealing with the safety issues throughout the kingdom on a regular basis, the position is also the chief representative for Caid during the initial negotiations for rapier at Estrella.  Along with protecting the interests of our kingdom, the KRM must respect the traditions and needs of three other kingdoms to find a common ground.  Also during his tenure, he instituted a rewrite of the combat rules for rapier, worked with the Earl Marshal, the Crown and the Society Earl Marshal to lower the minimum age to 14 for combatants and completely revised the reporting structure of the rapier marshallate (which was later adopted on a Society level).

In 2003, Master Laertes was invited to join the Order of the Pelican in recognition of his service to the kingdom.  (For those interested, a complete listing of awards is appended after the end of this letter.)

A noble in the very, very late 16th century, Master Laertes hails from Ireland, but lives in exile with his companions from Portugal.  When he is not on the field in some capacity (i.e. fighting, marshalling, purposely mispronouncing names as a field herald), he spends his time teaching, sewing garb, spending time with his household and helping spread the fun that is the SCA.

Arms: VE, on a saltire Or 5 quatrefoils slipped vert

Awards

Patent
Order of the Pelican – 5/31/03

Grant
White Scarf of Ansteorra – 05/27/95
Crescent – 06/10/00

Armigerous
AoA – 01/09/93
Dolphin – 05/15/99
Harp Argent – 11/21/99 (Costuming)
Duellist – 05/19/01

Non-Armigerous Kingdom level
Queen’s Rapier (Ansteorra) – 01/08/94
Legion of Courtesy – 11/14/98
Signum Reginae – 06/03/00; 06/03/02
Signum Regni – 05/31/03
Augmentation of Arms – 10/08/05
Corde de Guerre – 04/29/06

Non-Armigerous Baronial level
Ars Alta - 05/17/97
Sable Fret – 05/16/98,05/19/01; 12/13/03 (Augmentations)
Flamme Soliel – 06/17/00

LIKES, DISLIKES AND ALLERGIES

Likes :
Green things, cavalier items, sharp pointy things, cookies (oatmeal raisin & chocolate chip), pumpkin pie and good jokes.

Dislikes :
Coconut, Thia food, seafood, coffee, overly long courts & people not having fun.

Allergies:
Raw tomatoes, Raw onions, mushrooms, animal dander, tobacco, nuts (excluding peanuts), shellfish.