On certain other sites whose names I won't mention here, I've become known for posting my recaps of my day at the Maryland Renaissance Festival (MDRF), and have in recent years expanded to other venues, such as the Virginia Renaissance Faire (VARF). Here is my writeup of my day at VARF that I have posted elsewhere, but have decided to post here as well. Here goes:
And so on May 24th, 2025, I again visited the Virginia Renaissance Faire. The day started off surprisingly chilly, but all in all it was incredible weather this day.
At the gate of Staffordshire, I met with Rosey Sprout the carrot farmer and some of the other Staffordshire residents. After chatting a bit, I passed the Phoenix Stage (which has some good shade awnings on both the audience and the stage sections this year) and greeted members of Bone & String as they awaited their first set there. I also passed the Art of the Wood booth and the garlic booth, and spoke with Art Wood about it.
At the Woodland Stage, Dextre Tripp of Circus Stella performed his ladder stunts, showing an impressive degree of skill and control.
After passing the Lake Anna Winery booth, R.E. Pilands jewellers, and the Nobles Glade, I soon found myself at the Barleycorn Tavern, meeting with some Faire acquaintances. I was in time for the Pyrates Royale's first set, and the 'Rivers of Babylon' medley incorporating 'A Pirate 200 Years Too Late' (an excerpt from 'A Pirate Looks at 40') and 'John B Sails'. Afterward came "Paddy Lay Back", a traditional shanty. Then Louis took lead on 'Working Girls', a song about the sort of place some sailors would visit on shore.
A Pyrates Royale Christmas album was the subject of a joke for a number of years now, but much to my surprise, they have actually come out with one. It's filled with bizarre parodies of Christmas songs, such as a parody of 'Angels We Have Heard on High' which is a darkly comedic take on the rivalries and wars between England and France and Spain that occurred before and during the Tudor era. They performed that one and 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas' parody about, well, wishing good health. The Pyrates went back to more conventional territory with "Icy Acres", a song about weary whalers returning from certain cold and icy places.
It's been a long time since we've seen Janie Meneely, but she was here this weekend alongside Rob van Sante, and they performed under the Calico Jenny banner. Janie Meneely is a talented songwriter who spent a great day of time in the Chesapeake Bay area (which inspired a number of songs) and in more recent years has taken her music across the pond in the UK. In this set, Janie and Rob performed a number of original songs, starting with an old favorite, "Nasty Nell", about a VERY surly mermaid. Next up was 'Brigantine', another old favorite about an encounter with a ghost ship at sea. Also featured was "Broken Token", Janie's exploration of a certain popular story about how when sailors left their loves to go out to sea, their lovers kept half of a token.
Afterward, Janie and Rob sang a song inspired by a brewery they've encountered in Whitney. This was followed by what Janie herself described as a Janie Meneely classic, and indeed 'Twiddles' is seemingly one of her most popular songs from what I've seen. It takes on the 'girl in every port' story, and tells us the other side of the story. On a more serious note, they followed this with a song inspired by a shipwreck in the bay, 'Skipjacks'. Janie then closed the set with what first appeared to be the traditional 'If I Were a Blackbird' song, but which then had a surprise twist.
Next up on the Barleycorn Tavern Stage were Bone & String, a pirate band who made their Renaissance Faire debut at VARF a few years ago. They began the set with "Come In", which definitely sounds to me like it was written to be the first song of a set, or a show, or an album. Next they addressed the pirate/privateer dichotomy, taking the position that the only advantage privateers have over pirates is that "Privateers Just Have Permission". Afterward came "William Taylor", a song about a woman who follows a man to sea and finds out he's not been faithful to her. Then came a few traditional songs, "Row Me Bully Boys", "Old Maui" (covering similar territory to "Icy Acres"), and "Strike the Bell" (which is about the end of a watch on ship and the bell used to signal it).
I wandered for a bit, saying a few hellos, before returning to the Barleycorn Tavern to see the Pyrates Royale performing "Roses". This was followed by "Beer That Tastes Like Beer", a favorite about being very particular when it comes to beer. Jack took lead on a new arrangement of the old favorite "Pay Me My Money Down". This was followed by "Bully in the Alley", a song about a man who's had too much to drink and needs to sober up in the small street just outside the pub. Soon came the Pyrates Royale classic, "Old Dun Cow", about how patrons of a burning pub salvage the alcohol in the basement for their own use before the firefighters can get their share.
I headed over to the Rose Stage at the center of the 'field' portion of Staffordshire to see Vixens En Garde. Hera, Selene and Andromeda have a new show this season, and this time, they do their take on one of Shakespeare's Roman plays, Corialanis. Filled with swordplay, silliness, and pop culture references, it's a lot of fun. Everything from Sondheim to Star Trek is referenced as they do their comedic retelling of Shakespeare's story of a Roman war hero and his fall.
I wandered around for a bit, and spoke with Dinty the Moor, talking about his shows. At VARF this season, he has a few shows at the Woodland Stage, some being the usual card tricks, and then there is Swindle School, where he goes in depth about the street games swindlers lure people into that you should NEVER play with real money on the line. He mentioned an interesting story about how a group of three-card monte swindlers were discovered and caught by some undercover investigators dressed as Batman and Robin. Indeed, true stories can be stranger than fiction sometimes.
I returned to the Rose Stage to see the Bad Idea Variety Show. Doug Stafford performs plenty of stunts that could be called 'bad ideas', such as juggling items of different sizes and weights together (an apple, a marshmallow, and a bowling ball, for example). An homage to the 'Fruit Ninja' game that was very popular some years ago came when he asked a volunteer to toss an apple which would be sliced mid-air. He also participated in a game of chance involving staplers, which was followed up by a fire rope and stick whipping bit. The set of bizarre stunts concluded with a combination of juggling shock sticks with a spiked variation of a chakram on a stick.
I said hello to Trinket over at Trinket's Costume and Sundry, and also saw a bit of Dinty the Moor at the Woodland Stage demonstrating card tricks.
At the Barleycorn Tavern, Bone & String did their next set, featuring "Your Old Shipmate", a song for sentimental sailors. They continued with "Paddy Lay Back", and their zombie interpretation of "Finnegan's Wake".
Over at the Rose Stage, we had a stage combat show Fighting By The Numbers, where Sir Walter Raleigh and Philip Howard demonstrate various swordfighting techniques. A quick sword duel is followed by a slower version of it where they name all the techniques used (riposte, parry, and so on). At the end, there was a quick question and answer session, where they answered a few questions related to swordplay.
I then made my way back to the Barleycorn Tavern, where the Pyrates Royale were performing their next set. They began with one of the songs they'd been doing almost since the beginning, "Drunken Sailor". They continued with "John Kanaka", a shanty with a chorus inspired by Hawaii. Next came "Drink Old England Dry", about rallying to defend England's alcohol. Afterward, Wesley Stubbs sang lead on "Blow the Man Down", and it turned out this time was the version friendly to the RSPCC (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Cucumbers), as lacking suitable props the Pyrates decided to forego the prop comedy that they usually do at the conclusion of the song.
As it turned out, even though the Pyrates have incorporated "John B. Sails" into the "River of Bablyon" medley, they'll still do the song by itself every now and then. They closed the set with a moving rendition of "Nelson's Memory".
Calico Jenny was next at the Barleycorn Tavern, and their set featured "Big Liz", followed by a new (to me, anyway) song whose chorus is "Hear the Winds Blow". By request, Janie reprised her "Blackbird" song from earlier, the one that seems to pose as the traditional song but takes a sudden twist. On a somewhat more serious note, Janie and Rob then sang about "The Road Less Traveled". And then Janie performed one of her most popular songs, "Sirens", about how the Sirens and their intentions are misunderstood. After "Nasty Nell" came "Susquehanna Suzy".
Afterward, I decided to pay a visit to the Nobles Glade to see what was going on with the Court of Common Pleas. Robert Dudley and Sir Walter Raleigh presided over a number of cases, some of which were decided by the audience members in attendance when prompted to raise their hands. In the first case, a man was accusing a barmaid of witchcraft, but it turned out that the dizziness and memory loss were merely due to the ale he'd consumed, causing the barmaid to countersue the man for slander (she won the case). Next came a case about a stowaway on a privateer's ship, where the privateer captain allegedly left sheep wool on the deck, causing the stowaway to trip. Upon further questioning from Dudley and Walter, it became clear that the stowaway was the one doing the sheep shearing, and therefore the privateer captain was not at fault.
The poet Thomas accused a Smokey meat merchant of wearing a hat the same way as him, and therefore stealing his look. Young Arabella Stuart charged Anthony Babbington of attempting to drown a fish in water (it didn't make much sense to Dudley and Walter, either). But as it turns out, the fish was apparently escaping from the water and Arabella put it back - there was a brief 'Nemo' reference. The case was pretty much dismissed. Then Staffordshire's resident air distributor Fin De Breeze ("your biggest fan") took the stand. This time, he had a case involving an argument with a friend, but it turned out the case was out of the Court of Common Pleas' jurisdiction and had to be decided by another court. Unfortunately, I wanted to be at the Barleycorn Tavern in time for the next set, so I don't know how that case was eventually resolved (though I'm assuming it had a happy ending).
I arrived at the Barleycorn Tavern in time for the Pyrates Royale's next set, which began with "Sailing on the Tide in the Morning". We then moved from one of their newer songs to one of their old favorites, "Old Joe" (which is their take on a work song that has had many variants over the years, though it was a sea shanty in its earliest known incarnation). Fletcher Moone then told the story behind the phrase 'Drop of Nelson's Blood', about how Admiral Nelson won the battle of Trafalgar while dying in the process, and how the crew transported Nelson's body back to England in a cask of spirits, preserved by alcohol. This led into what many of us probably know better as "Roll the Old Chariot Along". Afterward Louis sang lead on "Polly on the Shore", a song about a woman who escaped from a bad situation and went on to own half of Sailor Town.
Soon, it was time for Tavern Sing. We started off with Fletcher Moone and a few others talking about gifts for the Queen. A few Staffordshire residents, such as Rosey Sprout and Quill the poet, offered a few suggestions, and eventually the musicians of Staffordshire performed an instrumental tune. But since of course this was Pirate Weekend, of course we needed at least one song involving pirates, and so Token Entertainment took the stage to perform "Pirate's Life (Life of a Pirate)", a song written by Gregg Csikos of the Rambling Sailors.
Next up were Bone & String with their clever original song, "Wining Can Save Your Life". Calico Jenny was next, and Janie led vocals with "Sirens", which got a great reaction from the Tavern Sing crowd. The Pyrates Royale performed their 'Rivers of Babylon' medley next.
Then came the Rogues, the popular bagpipe and drums band, performing some upbeat reels. Token Entertainment was next with "Drink Till I Die", a song about a man whose drinking problem has clearly spiraled out of control.
All too soon, it was time to bring things to a close. Cornelia Rutherford took the stage, to lead in the recitation of the "Our revels now are ended" speech from The Tempest.
After Tavern Sing concluded, I chatted for a while, thanking Cornelia and chatting with Fletcher Moone for a bit, before heading to the main gate where the Rogues and Queen Elizabeth had gathered to say their farewells and well-wishes.
And so concluded this day at VARF. All in all, it was great weather and a wonderful and entertaining day in Staffordshire.
And so on May 24th, 2025, I again visited the Virginia Renaissance Faire. The day started off surprisingly chilly, but all in all it was incredible weather this day.
At the gate of Staffordshire, I met with Rosey Sprout the carrot farmer and some of the other Staffordshire residents. After chatting a bit, I passed the Phoenix Stage (which has some good shade awnings on both the audience and the stage sections this year) and greeted members of Bone & String as they awaited their first set there. I also passed the Art of the Wood booth and the garlic booth, and spoke with Art Wood about it.
At the Woodland Stage, Dextre Tripp of Circus Stella performed his ladder stunts, showing an impressive degree of skill and control.
After passing the Lake Anna Winery booth, R.E. Pilands jewellers, and the Nobles Glade, I soon found myself at the Barleycorn Tavern, meeting with some Faire acquaintances. I was in time for the Pyrates Royale's first set, and the 'Rivers of Babylon' medley incorporating 'A Pirate 200 Years Too Late' (an excerpt from 'A Pirate Looks at 40') and 'John B Sails'. Afterward came "Paddy Lay Back", a traditional shanty. Then Louis took lead on 'Working Girls', a song about the sort of place some sailors would visit on shore.
A Pyrates Royale Christmas album was the subject of a joke for a number of years now, but much to my surprise, they have actually come out with one. It's filled with bizarre parodies of Christmas songs, such as a parody of 'Angels We Have Heard on High' which is a darkly comedic take on the rivalries and wars between England and France and Spain that occurred before and during the Tudor era. They performed that one and 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas' parody about, well, wishing good health. The Pyrates went back to more conventional territory with "Icy Acres", a song about weary whalers returning from certain cold and icy places.
It's been a long time since we've seen Janie Meneely, but she was here this weekend alongside Rob van Sante, and they performed under the Calico Jenny banner. Janie Meneely is a talented songwriter who spent a great day of time in the Chesapeake Bay area (which inspired a number of songs) and in more recent years has taken her music across the pond in the UK. In this set, Janie and Rob performed a number of original songs, starting with an old favorite, "Nasty Nell", about a VERY surly mermaid. Next up was 'Brigantine', another old favorite about an encounter with a ghost ship at sea. Also featured was "Broken Token", Janie's exploration of a certain popular story about how when sailors left their loves to go out to sea, their lovers kept half of a token.
Afterward, Janie and Rob sang a song inspired by a brewery they've encountered in Whitney. This was followed by what Janie herself described as a Janie Meneely classic, and indeed 'Twiddles' is seemingly one of her most popular songs from what I've seen. It takes on the 'girl in every port' story, and tells us the other side of the story. On a more serious note, they followed this with a song inspired by a shipwreck in the bay, 'Skipjacks'. Janie then closed the set with what first appeared to be the traditional 'If I Were a Blackbird' song, but which then had a surprise twist.
Next up on the Barleycorn Tavern Stage were Bone & String, a pirate band who made their Renaissance Faire debut at VARF a few years ago. They began the set with "Come In", which definitely sounds to me like it was written to be the first song of a set, or a show, or an album. Next they addressed the pirate/privateer dichotomy, taking the position that the only advantage privateers have over pirates is that "Privateers Just Have Permission". Afterward came "William Taylor", a song about a woman who follows a man to sea and finds out he's not been faithful to her. Then came a few traditional songs, "Row Me Bully Boys", "Old Maui" (covering similar territory to "Icy Acres"), and "Strike the Bell" (which is about the end of a watch on ship and the bell used to signal it).
I wandered for a bit, saying a few hellos, before returning to the Barleycorn Tavern to see the Pyrates Royale performing "Roses". This was followed by "Beer That Tastes Like Beer", a favorite about being very particular when it comes to beer. Jack took lead on a new arrangement of the old favorite "Pay Me My Money Down". This was followed by "Bully in the Alley", a song about a man who's had too much to drink and needs to sober up in the small street just outside the pub. Soon came the Pyrates Royale classic, "Old Dun Cow", about how patrons of a burning pub salvage the alcohol in the basement for their own use before the firefighters can get their share.
I headed over to the Rose Stage at the center of the 'field' portion of Staffordshire to see Vixens En Garde. Hera, Selene and Andromeda have a new show this season, and this time, they do their take on one of Shakespeare's Roman plays, Corialanis. Filled with swordplay, silliness, and pop culture references, it's a lot of fun. Everything from Sondheim to Star Trek is referenced as they do their comedic retelling of Shakespeare's story of a Roman war hero and his fall.
I wandered around for a bit, and spoke with Dinty the Moor, talking about his shows. At VARF this season, he has a few shows at the Woodland Stage, some being the usual card tricks, and then there is Swindle School, where he goes in depth about the street games swindlers lure people into that you should NEVER play with real money on the line. He mentioned an interesting story about how a group of three-card monte swindlers were discovered and caught by some undercover investigators dressed as Batman and Robin. Indeed, true stories can be stranger than fiction sometimes.
I returned to the Rose Stage to see the Bad Idea Variety Show. Doug Stafford performs plenty of stunts that could be called 'bad ideas', such as juggling items of different sizes and weights together (an apple, a marshmallow, and a bowling ball, for example). An homage to the 'Fruit Ninja' game that was very popular some years ago came when he asked a volunteer to toss an apple which would be sliced mid-air. He also participated in a game of chance involving staplers, which was followed up by a fire rope and stick whipping bit. The set of bizarre stunts concluded with a combination of juggling shock sticks with a spiked variation of a chakram on a stick.
I said hello to Trinket over at Trinket's Costume and Sundry, and also saw a bit of Dinty the Moor at the Woodland Stage demonstrating card tricks.
At the Barleycorn Tavern, Bone & String did their next set, featuring "Your Old Shipmate", a song for sentimental sailors. They continued with "Paddy Lay Back", and their zombie interpretation of "Finnegan's Wake".
Over at the Rose Stage, we had a stage combat show Fighting By The Numbers, where Sir Walter Raleigh and Philip Howard demonstrate various swordfighting techniques. A quick sword duel is followed by a slower version of it where they name all the techniques used (riposte, parry, and so on). At the end, there was a quick question and answer session, where they answered a few questions related to swordplay.
I then made my way back to the Barleycorn Tavern, where the Pyrates Royale were performing their next set. They began with one of the songs they'd been doing almost since the beginning, "Drunken Sailor". They continued with "John Kanaka", a shanty with a chorus inspired by Hawaii. Next came "Drink Old England Dry", about rallying to defend England's alcohol. Afterward, Wesley Stubbs sang lead on "Blow the Man Down", and it turned out this time was the version friendly to the RSPCC (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Cucumbers), as lacking suitable props the Pyrates decided to forego the prop comedy that they usually do at the conclusion of the song.
As it turned out, even though the Pyrates have incorporated "John B. Sails" into the "River of Bablyon" medley, they'll still do the song by itself every now and then. They closed the set with a moving rendition of "Nelson's Memory".
Calico Jenny was next at the Barleycorn Tavern, and their set featured "Big Liz", followed by a new (to me, anyway) song whose chorus is "Hear the Winds Blow". By request, Janie reprised her "Blackbird" song from earlier, the one that seems to pose as the traditional song but takes a sudden twist. On a somewhat more serious note, Janie and Rob then sang about "The Road Less Traveled". And then Janie performed one of her most popular songs, "Sirens", about how the Sirens and their intentions are misunderstood. After "Nasty Nell" came "Susquehanna Suzy".
Afterward, I decided to pay a visit to the Nobles Glade to see what was going on with the Court of Common Pleas. Robert Dudley and Sir Walter Raleigh presided over a number of cases, some of which were decided by the audience members in attendance when prompted to raise their hands. In the first case, a man was accusing a barmaid of witchcraft, but it turned out that the dizziness and memory loss were merely due to the ale he'd consumed, causing the barmaid to countersue the man for slander (she won the case). Next came a case about a stowaway on a privateer's ship, where the privateer captain allegedly left sheep wool on the deck, causing the stowaway to trip. Upon further questioning from Dudley and Walter, it became clear that the stowaway was the one doing the sheep shearing, and therefore the privateer captain was not at fault.
The poet Thomas accused a Smokey meat merchant of wearing a hat the same way as him, and therefore stealing his look. Young Arabella Stuart charged Anthony Babbington of attempting to drown a fish in water (it didn't make much sense to Dudley and Walter, either). But as it turns out, the fish was apparently escaping from the water and Arabella put it back - there was a brief 'Nemo' reference. The case was pretty much dismissed. Then Staffordshire's resident air distributor Fin De Breeze ("your biggest fan") took the stand. This time, he had a case involving an argument with a friend, but it turned out the case was out of the Court of Common Pleas' jurisdiction and had to be decided by another court. Unfortunately, I wanted to be at the Barleycorn Tavern in time for the next set, so I don't know how that case was eventually resolved (though I'm assuming it had a happy ending).
I arrived at the Barleycorn Tavern in time for the Pyrates Royale's next set, which began with "Sailing on the Tide in the Morning". We then moved from one of their newer songs to one of their old favorites, "Old Joe" (which is their take on a work song that has had many variants over the years, though it was a sea shanty in its earliest known incarnation). Fletcher Moone then told the story behind the phrase 'Drop of Nelson's Blood', about how Admiral Nelson won the battle of Trafalgar while dying in the process, and how the crew transported Nelson's body back to England in a cask of spirits, preserved by alcohol. This led into what many of us probably know better as "Roll the Old Chariot Along". Afterward Louis sang lead on "Polly on the Shore", a song about a woman who escaped from a bad situation and went on to own half of Sailor Town.
Soon, it was time for Tavern Sing. We started off with Fletcher Moone and a few others talking about gifts for the Queen. A few Staffordshire residents, such as Rosey Sprout and Quill the poet, offered a few suggestions, and eventually the musicians of Staffordshire performed an instrumental tune. But since of course this was Pirate Weekend, of course we needed at least one song involving pirates, and so Token Entertainment took the stage to perform "Pirate's Life (Life of a Pirate)", a song written by Gregg Csikos of the Rambling Sailors.
Next up were Bone & String with their clever original song, "Wining Can Save Your Life". Calico Jenny was next, and Janie led vocals with "Sirens", which got a great reaction from the Tavern Sing crowd. The Pyrates Royale performed their 'Rivers of Babylon' medley next.
Then came the Rogues, the popular bagpipe and drums band, performing some upbeat reels. Token Entertainment was next with "Drink Till I Die", a song about a man whose drinking problem has clearly spiraled out of control.
All too soon, it was time to bring things to a close. Cornelia Rutherford took the stage, to lead in the recitation of the "Our revels now are ended" speech from The Tempest.
After Tavern Sing concluded, I chatted for a while, thanking Cornelia and chatting with Fletcher Moone for a bit, before heading to the main gate where the Rogues and Queen Elizabeth had gathered to say their farewells and well-wishes.
And so concluded this day at VARF. All in all, it was great weather and a wonderful and entertaining day in Staffordshire.