Lucy Holgrove

Lucy Holgrove making bobbin lace.

Lucy Holgrove joined the Society in 1985 as a teenager, and met her future husband Edward Holgrove later that same year. She is a lacemaker, apothecary and is active in the Barony of Seagirt in the Principality of Tir Righ.

Persona

Lucy Holgrove was born outside of London in the late 1500’s, the only living child of an apothecary. She later married a stationer and moved to Norwich, the second largest city in England. She studied herbs with her father and later became a respected midwife in her parish. Her husband is unhappy in Norwich, and seeks to start again by moving to New Amsterdam in the New World, but all Lucy wants to do is return to London, and help her aging father translate foreign herbals into English. She is currently thinking about slowly poisoning her husband so she can return to the life she always wanted.

Earlier Personae

Lucy has gone by a myriad of names since joining the Society as a teenager in A.S. XX. Her friends often tease her about what her next persona name might be. Here is a partial list: Catherine of Iona, Caitlin ní Briain, Kajsa Asbjornsdöttir, Giovanna Lucrezia Giulia Ferrari, Beatrice Cairistine Fraser and Elinor Holgrove.

Interests

Lucy's interests include bobbin lace and filet lace (she is a Journeyman in the An Tir lacemaker’s guild), midwifery and medieval medicine, and women’s writing and receipt (recipe) books. She has sponsored, entered and won numerous competitions over the years, and served as Seagirt’s A&S Champion in AS 37 and has competed in the Tir Righ A&S championship. She is current a Scholar’s candidate with most projects completed and serves as Seagirt’s A&S Minister, scheduling activities and classes for Allthings for the past 18 months. Lucy worked on the initial section of the Seagirt Tapestry and her next big project is to organize its completion.

SST 1986 with Maistresse Yolande Chastellain, Erik Thorvaldsson with Lucy on the right.

SCA History

Lucy's first contact with the SCA was at Beacon Hill park where she watched them having and vowed to find and join them when she was older. Years later she attended an Alternate Realities Day in James Bay in the spring of 1985 and jumped in with both feet, attending everything from dance practice to council to fight practice. Later that summer she attended her first event with three other young women and founded the Household of the Helpless Waifs at Sergeant’s Trials in the Barony of Lions Gate. They didn’t remain helpless for long. At her first Daffodil Tournament, she tried field heraldry, waterbearing, and served at the feast and at her first Bitterwaters War in AS XXI, she fought as a combat archer, and received her Award of Arms from Arthur and Melissa. Later that year, at 17, she stewarded her first event - a Guy Fawkes Revel.

Awards and Achievements

• Award of Arms (An Tir) June 7th, 1986 / AS XXI from Arthur and Melissa.

• Order of the Seagull (Seagirt) November 7th, 1989 / AS XXIV

• Magistrae Ithra (University of Ithra) November 6th, 1992 / AS XXVII in Basic Dance.

• Goutte de Sang (An Tir) January 9th, 1993 / AS XXVII

• Fellow of Saint Giles (Saint Giles) March 22nd, 1996 / AS XXX

• Lector Ithra - Scientiae (University of Ithra) October 25th 1998 / AS XXXIII

• Silent Harp (Seagirt) August 26th, 2001 / AS XXXVII

• A&S Champion (Seagirt) August 26th, 2001 / AS XXXVII

• Order of the Rock (Seagirt) December 3rd, 2016 / AS LI

• Etoile d'Argent (Tir Righ) August 26th, 2017 / AS LII

• Princess’ Talon of Favour (Tir Righ) August 26th, 2017 / AS LII

• Princess’ Talon of Favour (Tir Righ) December 9th, 2017 / AS LII

Offices Held

Barony of Seagirt

Head Waterbearer (Aug 1986 - May 1988)

Chatelaine (Apr 1987 - Oct 1988)

Dance Minister (Apr 1987 - Dec 1989)

Chronicler (Sep 1989 - Mar 1991)

Lists Minister (Sep 1993 - Aug 1995)

Arts & Sciences Minister (Feb 2017 - Present)

Saint Giles College

Seneschal (June 1995 - June 1996)

Chatelaine (June 1996 - June 1997)

Event Stewarding

Guy Fawkes Revel 1986

Christmas Revel 1987

Daffodil Tournament & Feast 1990

Tavern Night 1991

Yule Revel 1993

St. Giles Convocation 1995

Daffodil Tournament & Feast 2018

Frost Fair 2018 (upcoming)

Classes & Degrees

After attending her first University of Ithra, Lucy discovered the joy of taking classes, and received her Lector Scientiae in 1998, the second person to complete the degree. She started teaching formal classes for Ithra a few years later and was awarded a Magistrae Ithra in Basic Dance after receiving permission to teach the required class even though she was not a peer. Since then, she has taught formally for both the University of Ithra and the The University of Tir Righ. Some of these classes have included: Basic Dance, English Country Dance, Advanced SCA Dancing, Introduction to Filet Lace, Introduction to Bobbin Lace, History of Lace, Introduction to the SCA, Basic Juggling, Yule Confections, How to Make a Bruise Balm, and Midwifery, Birth & Babies in the Middle Ages.

External Links

• Lacewyfe Lucy Holgrove's Receipt Book project & research blog (includes fandom articles as well).
• Lucy Holgrove's Receipt Book on Facebook.
• An Tir Order of Precedence
• Early Period Lacemakers An international Facebook group of mostly SCA lacemakers, created and maintained by Lucy. It currently has nearly 600 members.