Date: Wed, 09 Feb 1994 11:13:23 -0500 (EST)
From: Caleb Hanson <CHANSON@LUCY.WELLESLEY.EDU>
Subject: "Who wants to be king..." quote
To: carolingia@bloom-beacon.mit.edu
Message-Id: <01H8OH7RHM768WW0V6@LUCY.WELLESLEY.EDU>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT

Don said:
>>    I recall a quote from a number of years ago that went something like this
>>.    "Who would ever want to be King of the East
>>     When he can be Baron Carolingia?"

>>    I hope I got the phrasing right...
 
And Eowyn responded:
>Pretty close.  At the first "Good Old Days" event, otherwise known as the
>barony's 15th anniversary celebration, as the last act of Patri and
>Barbara's court, the populace -- in the persons of Master Kobayashi as
>seneschal and Lady Caryl as event autocrat -- presented Patri with tokens
>of our esteem.  These were, as I recall, a silver spoon, cup, and bowl.  I
>believe one of the two larger items had Patri's name and the date engraved
>thereon, and the other had Latin phrasing which translated fairly closely
>to: "Who would be King, when he could be Baron of Carolingia?"  My Latin is
>ever rusty at best and my references are not here; mayhap some Latin
>scholar out there (Kale?) can supply the exact words.  

Not I, not exactly.  The definitive wording was by Guiseppe Cassazza, a 
better classicist than Carolingia has had since; I could probably remember 
it pretty closely, but wouldn't it be easier just to ask Patri?  At any rate,
it was based on a line Patri had been wont to toss around years earlier,
"Who wants to be king when you can be seneschal of Carolingia?"  For obvious
reasons, we changed the title when we inscribed the bowl.

Minor quibble: I don't think the phrase "Patri and Barbara's court" is
correct, as I believe the Good Old Days event was before Barbara became
Baroness.

Memory at your service,
Kale