Our Lady of Victories: Take 1

Okay, okay, so I have an amazing ability to procrastinate but I half made the due date. Here is the first draft of the Song. My paper is too discombobulated to post yet but I am still working on it. The poetry is a little week and I haven't done syllable count yet but this is a solid first/scratch draft. Let me know what you think and how it can improve and we'll go on to draft 2. Yay! ;)

~Ambra ;)
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Our Lady of Victories
by Samantha A. Moore

Refrain
Be not too bold in your boasting
Victory’s chalice is frail
Though you have won your ease
Look sharply to the seas
Hark! Hear the whisper of Ottoman sails

First in the year fourteen ninety and nine,
When History witnessed unparalleled sight,
Where all who survived saw the Turks truly shine
With ship carried cannon’s to herald new might
And as the Venetian’s great vessels were burned
They bent knee to peace as for battle they yearned

Lepanto was host to a second sea war
Rebellion had sewn the false hope of their skill
Bearing the fruit of a bombarded shore
The coastline once more bowed to Ottoman will
It seemed for a time we could live to see peace
But rosaries sharpened their hate sought release

In all holy tales we find fate falls in threes,
The year fifteen seventy one marks our shame
Lepanto once more witnessed new destinies
But, Ala forgive, twas not one we could claim
The Christian pope Phillip the second decreed
That those who loved God would assemble with speed

Refrain

Genoan, Spaniard, Venetian, and more
Led by an emperor’s bastard, Don Juan
Gathered in numbers near equal our score
With two times the count of our cannons fixed on
Even our allies the corsairs knew well
The day would find Turks facing heaven or hell

Uluj Ali Pasha, of Italy’s shore,
Was honored an Ottoman admiral proud
But once long ago, a slave’s life he bore
In generous oath to his own thralls he vowed
“If I win the battle, I’ll grant liberty
If they win the day it is Ala’s decree.”

The battle was fought by three major details
The north, south, and center each separately led
Their great Holy League facing Ottoman sails
The first blow was theirs in the south when they spread
For trickery guised as supplies dearly cost
Nearly a third of our galleys were lost

Our northern ships managed to outflank their line
Facing Venetians who sailed by the coast
And though Barbarigo on arrow did dine
The Christian’s sent ships to rebalance the host
(As) The Turks saw the battle too lost to ignore
Ali’s sixteen galleys slammed into their core!

From the first shot to the last we sailed true
For five hell-streaked hours our death came in waves
The Gulf of Patras stirred an unholy brew
Both Islam and Christian in unhallowed graves
Ever before undefeated our fleet
This failure was one we vowed ne’er to repeat

Refrain

Constantinople our home-bound retreat
We gathered our numbers spread thin by the fray
Although Ali Pasha would tell of defeat
He offered the Sultan a victor’s display
The Flagship of none but the grand Maltese Knights
Sat now in our harbor still warm from the fight

Our vessels rebuilt we count much we have paid
Our bowmen, our seaman, our oarsmen are few
And though the Venetian’s have won their crusade
They’d not sleep so soundly if they only knew
That we shall return, turn the waters once more
From blue unto crimson from see to the shore!

Refrain +
Our Lady of Victories
Dull well their rosaries
Hark! Hear the whisper of Ottoman sails

First Assignment

And with that, here is the first assignment... this was actually emailed out to Ambra about a week or so ago:

Ok, here is your first assignment, and it’s a duzy. Consider this like me being a knight testing his squires fighting ability on the field.

You are going to write a song about the Battle of Lepanto. I have specifically NOT gone in depth about the history of it beyond knowing enough to steer you on how in-depth and detailed, and important this battle was.

A short Synopsis:  Europe at the end of the 16^th century was threatened by the Ottoman empire, which for all intensive purposes had made the Mediterranean sea a Muslim lake. The Ottomans at this point were threatening to overrun eastern Europe and take back the progress the Spanish had made in the Reconquista. See Map Below:

Philip II (you know, that guy who later would try to send an Armada to England) along with some Italians and the Papal League (including the some of the old military orders like the Hospitaller Knights) drew up an armada of 212 ships with 13,000 sailors and 28,000 troops to meet a numerically superior force of the Ottomans consisting of 13,000 sailors, 34,000 troops and over 278 ships. This battle would decide the fate of Europe and in retrospect was the turning point of the beginning of the European (and the West in general) superiority that lasts to this day.

For the next two weeks I want you to start researching this battle, and the times around it. Who were the major players on each side (both countries and specific people)? What was the political atmosphere? What struggles and battles led to this confrontation? What church is decorated and can be seen today with the gold taken from the Ottoman Fleet? Where can you still see the Ottoman battle standards displayed to remember the victory? Where are they now? Why was this battle so important? What exactly happened in the battle that led to the Christian victory? How much was religion involved, and how important was it? What religious aspects of this battle survive today? Why was the Rosary considered a weapon in the battle? What other fun cool facts have I not found out about by briefly skimming the internet, not just about the battle but the people involved and everything else? I want you to write me a report of the whole history surrounding this battle, with a reference page. Think of it as a college paper, and it should be at least 6-8 pages long.

For the following two weeks, you are going to write a song about it in 3^rd person or a mix of 3^rd/1^st but not totally 1^st person. I am not concerned about period style, but more about this being a popular sing-able song. A pattern you might consider, but you should not feel restricted to, is the basic battle formula of build-up (why this battle happened/who was involved {either just by country and/or personalities}) – Engagement and what those people/groups did in battle – Aftermath… Some examples of this are “The Bloody Sarks”, “Stirling Brig”, “Roland”, “Montgisard Victoris”,  and “Blue Lion of Percy”.

I also want you to place the religious aspect of this battle into the song. This was not just a secular battle, but a battle for the supremacy of Christendom. It was so important, religion HAS to be at least a part of, if not the center of this song. 

A sing-able draft will be due October 7^th, the  437^th anniversary of the battle, also known as the feast of “Our Lady of the Rosary” by the Catholic Church to this day (and in the paper, why is this?). After that we will polish the Paper and the Song.

The end product, even if it’s not a  SCA top 40 hit, will be your first (or at least I think it will be your first) “educational” song, that will include as part of the performance a rundown of the history to your audience, since no one really knows much about it. And part of A&S excellence is teaching of historical fact to everyone.

 This is not the easiest challenge, and really I am not sure it should be the first assignment, but you have the mad skills.  I am giving you a month, but do not procrastinate! I am judging you on commitment, research and paper writing skills, and song writing skills (to include acapella performability not only for you but the rest of the world). Do your best, that’s all I ask *grin*

“Ah! The glory of technology!”

Greetings unto all who visit this site!
I have been a member of the SCA since birth and enthralled by song not long after that. This tool will provide a myriad of different purposes as described below. Suffice to say, you are viewing a resource that will catalog my work from start to end. You can see how my music/poetry ignites, finds its footing, and hones its prose. You can learn from my mistakes, comment for mutual benefit, debate perspective, and more. You will also be able to view the perspectives, roles, tasks, and executions of both student and teacher.

Enjoy!

Objective:
It is my desire to someday achieve a greater level of mastery over my craft and do the best at what I do. While I have enthusiasm and OCD to spare, I have many miles yet to tread before accomplishing that goal. This will serve as a guiding ramp and a testament to lessons past.

Format:
In my quest and through this online format, it is my hope that others may learn from my soon-to-be-advertised mistakes. Be you one of many or one alone on your own road, it is my intent to share my experience with you that we may all come out the wiser for it.

While I am certain this format will evolve, the basic premise is as follows:
-Niall gives Ambra assignment and step breakdown/timeline
-Ambra exceeds expectations
-All embrace the simple truth that Niall and Ambra ROCK!

Okay, but seriously, you will get to see from start to finish the academic, poetic, and musical aspects of many a bardic assignment. SAVE THIS PAGE as it may become a useful resource in your own research.

Teacher & Student:
Contrary to what I am certain you must have heard, even ‘I’ am not perfect. I know, I know, shocker that it is, I assure you this is the simple truth. One of my greatest failings is often noted as being my focus on the future to the neglect of the present. In my struggles to achieve my goals I find that a teacher-less existence equates a path of wisdom-oriented ignorance. While I could ask for no better an example of a peer than my father (Sir Forgal Kerstetter currently in Trimarus), composition does not write itself nor do talents hone to skill without wizened crafting.

Niall, many years ago, offered me a belt and a place in his house. Through circumstance and misfortune, we went our separate ways. While our official status stands in perpetual flux, he has always been open-handed and kind-spirited in his teachings and friendship, and for that I am grateful.

While many laurels of Atlantia (and beyond) have been generous with their wisdom and advice, Niall and I have a history which has forged this more focused attack on my bardic studies. He has agreed to serve as a dedicated teacher and taskmaster, though the ideal will be for both of us to eventually become such for each other.

Eye toward the Future:
We live in a time of technology. I myself am a graphic designer by trade and thus work with computers regularly. I attend school online, full time, seeking my BS in GD. And in this time we are more nomadic with opportunities and economies being what they are. Thus said, I am quite intrigued by the concept of long-distance teacher/student relationships and their ability to endure and prove of merit to their craft. I hope to take the lessons of this form of tutelage as well as the content of the assignments themselves, and apply them to my own someday teacher/student experiences.

Cheers!
So here we are. Pens poised, minds sharp, and ambitions high. Shall we begin?

~Ambra ;)