Bar Gemels

Background

Bar Gemels is the annual spring event hosted by the Barony of Terra Pomaria. It is the second local event formed in the history of the branch, first organized by Dublin O'Guinn Silverwolf and Vandoral the Merchant while Terra Pomaria was a Canton of Three Mountains in AS XIX/1985.

The Name

Named by Dublin O'Guinn Silverwolf, the title is cleverly deceiving as the base-theme of the event is a tavern setting. The name "Bar Gemels" is actually a tavern-sounding variant of the heraldic term "bars gemelles," a diminutive ordinary charge on Dublin's registered device blazoned "Vert, three bars gemelles argent within a bordure ermine." The annual name of the event has evolved overtime with occasional variance including once carrying the title "tavern night," occasionally the Roman Numeral for the annual age of the event and even one year it had an expanded name (Richard's Return...) as it was combined with another local and typically independent Terra Pomaria event. Overall, the tradition is generally just referred to as "Bar Gemels." Coincidentally because of similarity in sound, the event is sometimes jokingly called "Gargamel(s)" assumingly after the villainous character from the 1980s cartoon "The Smurfs."

Intent and Traditions

The original intent of the gathering was a single social night with food, drink and lots of gaming in a tavern-like setting. Over the years much of the original tavern emphasis in regards to food and drink has evolved merely into an event-hosted "kitchen presence" as the center of the occasion. Beginning in AS XXIII/1989 the event began focusing more on a three-day weekend long experience typically held at a cabin-style campground or a site with at least a central hall/kitchen as the tavern.

The original emphasis on gaming has all but disappeared, replaced instead with other tavern-themed activities such as the "Bar Wench Smackdown" where novice lady fighters fight it out with kitchen-shaped boffer weapons as well as other tavern-brawls involving armored and rapier combat scenarios. It also has become very customary for the branch to hold a bag raffle fundraiser at this event and since becoming a barony, a baronial court. Many annual occurrences routinely had themes that linked to other Terra Pomarian events, especially during the tenure of William and Elspeth 2nd Baron and Baroness of Terra Pomaria or when autocrated by Mhairi mon myn Cymru.

Occurrences

Traditionally the event has been held in mid-to-late April. Since its advent, the gathering has been ongoing almost uninterrupted to the present.

• Terra Pomaria’s Tavern Night “The Bar Gemels” XIX/1985
• 2YC Celebration / Terra Pomaria Tavern Night XX/1986 (This event was cancelled)
• XXI/1987 – No documentation for a gathering this year has been located. It appears it was also cancelled.
• The Bar Gemels Tavern Night XXII/1988
• The Bar Gemels Tavern Night XXII/1988
• The Bar Gemels Tavern Night XXIII/1989
• The Bar Gemels Tavern Night XXIV/1990
• Bar Gemels Tavern Night XXV/1991
• Bar Gemels XXVI/1992
• Richard’s Return to Bar Gemels XXVII/1993
• Bar Gemels (IX) XXVIII/1994
• Bar Gemels (X) XXIX/1995
• Bar Gemels XXX/1996
• Bar Gemels (XII) XXXI/1997
• Bar Gemels XXXII/1998
• Bar Gemels XXXIII/1999
• Bar Gemels XXXIV/2000
• Bar Gemels XXXV/2001
• Bar Gemels XXXVI/2002
• Bar Gemels XXXVII/2003
• Bar Gemels XXXVIII/2004
• Bar Gemels XXXIX/2005
• Bar Gemels XL/2006
• 20-22 April Bar Gemels: Le Jacquerie XLI/2007