What's new

Gunnish Media

Gunnland

FTR
Joined
Nov 1, 2006
Messages
2,035
Location
Virginia, USA
Capital
Windhaven, Gunnland
These letters circulate among Gunnishmen who have made the "old choice" to leave Gunnland in order to work, study, or fight abroad in the freer and more prosperous nations of Europe. Since Gunnland has very few radio and television networks, and the Windhaven Free Press does not circulate beyond the capital city region, these letters are widely copied by the diaspora and take the place of news. They are written mostly under the direction of Walter Matthew, an editor at the Free Press and an English tutor at Marian University, Windhaven.


No. 121
Corpus Christi, 1957

Dear Gunnishman,

Sheep-shearing time in dear old dirty Windhaven. The drovers came over the Stone Bridge yesterday, and Old St. Fergus stunk of wet wool at Mass this evening. Of course this also means a public holiday Thursday for the Highland Games. Harry K HEHIR, a 23-year-old Keith man from the north country won at the Lazy Stick. I'm sorry to say for all you Buchanan men out there that Harry became the first man to lift up Rory "Red Hands" B MacINTOSH in four years.

The succession crisis draws into its second summer up in St. Tears. Since both rulers-elect are Gunns, the Lord Commander is barred from voting and breaking the tie. Three thegns for the toddler Prince JOACHAS, whom the LC favors, and three thegns for the DOWAGER QUEEN. The priests have the boy locked up, and the doctors have the old lady locked up, while the Thing argues about how the boy will be educated and the Liberals mostly just complain about when they can return to the city. Truth be told, it warms my heart that all the professors here who have to serve as MTs are meeting outside in the frozen north, while my students study quietly in the Freehold library.

A student accused of communist party membership, put in the stocks by the uptown constable last week, was put in detention by the Army. Conor X MacKEOWN is a 19-year-old who allegedly joined a left-wing international political party while studying abroad at university in Eiffelland. Since he is a broken man, he has not been returned to a clan for keepsafe. This has become something of a legal crisis, since while the Left Liberals have argued that there is no law prohibiting communist party membership, the official position of the Integralist minority government of James G GALLAGHER is that communist party membership is against the laws of the Church. The Thing is likely to try the case, which in my opinion is ridiculous, this autumn when they return to Windhaven as the court of assizes. There can't be twelve communists in Gunnland, after all.

1st division baseball: WINDHAVEN SHELVING 38-26, ST TEARS 37-29, SUTHERLAND-SEAGUARD 35-34, DALMYRE 34-33, FAR NORTH 32-33.

None were killed in the great storm that struck Sutherland Seaguard, for those of you who wrote with worries.

With the Games over and the university finished for the semester, it's so quiet uptown that you can hear the Wash flow under Stone Bridge. I raise a glass of Glenwillie. Health to the King, whomever he may be now, and also to you.

Your servant,

Dr. Walter A Matthew
Marian University
Windhaven, Gunnland​


NOTE: Those unfamiliar with Windhaven may consult this map: . In the following letter, Dr. Matthew will be looking through the fog from the Capitollium [2], downhill towards the Freehold [1] and over the river to the high spires of Old St. Fergus Church [7]. Stone Bridge is the middle of the three bridges over the river that bisects Windhaven, the Wash.
 
Last edited:

Gunnland

FTR
Joined
Nov 1, 2006
Messages
2,035
Location
Virginia, USA
Capital
Windhaven, Gunnland
Wherein the succession crisis is explained

These letters circulate among the "flying geese," those Gunnishmen who have made the "old choice" to leave Gunnland. Some wish to work, others to study, others to fight. Few flee the law, but many flee vengeance in clan wars, or to find work beyond Dalmyre's closing mills. These letters, copied by seamen and expatriots from Dulwich to Isakawa, are the most widely followed news from Gunnland. Written by a well-connected professor of the Marian and full of his idiosyncratic opinions (as well as personal news) they are nonetheless read by Gunnishmen abroad (and quite a few in Gunnland, too) as a reliable source of information of what is happening in their country.


No. 122
Corpus Christi Sunday, 1957

Dear Gunnishman,

A cool fog settles over Windhaven today, so thick that I can barely see the Freehold and the spires of Old St. Fergus across the wynds. With the Court still in St. Tears and the Thing now recessed for the summer, there is little to report from the "capital." The Fergusites have finished their Corpus Christi procession, but the air still smells of incense mixed with fog, and the bagpipes still seem to echo from the stones of Uptown.

I am proud to announce the arrival of my new granddaughter, Moira MacAllister Matthew, 4.21 kg, 52cm.

Now that the Thing is recessed, I was able to have supper with the Seanchai at Henrik's, and he brought the most interesting information about the succession crisis.

Now, everyone knows the Keiths and MacLeishes favor the QUEEN DOWAGER to become queen regnant. She is in her nineties, and spends all day consulting her magician, and is griefstricken over the death of her son JOSIAS Rex (may perpetual light shine upon him). For the Gunns' enemies, there is no doubt she won't extend the jurisdiction of the Guards over Mar and the west-lands, as JOSIAS tried to do.

The Gunns, Buchanans, and MacDougalls, meanwhile, favor four-year-old Prince JOACHAS, the only son of JOSIAS and DEOIRIDH Regina (mpl &c.).

It seems the Gunns and their allies made an interesting compromise. To have JOACHAS crowned, they have allowed a Jesuit and a Keith, Fr. Leonard K McKAY, to be instituted as the boy's tutor. Perhaps they think he is more priest than Keith.

I also hear the late king's eldest daughter, Princess JULIAN is home from university abroad for the summer. I am told my former pupil is lighting up the capital, but I confess I have seen none of her radiance in the present dense fog. Perhaps she will tell me what you can learn abroad that you cannot learn at the Marian.

1st division baseball: WINDHAVEN SHELVING 38-28, ST TEARS 38-30, SUTHERLAND-SEAGUARD 36-35, DALMYRE 33-34, FAR NORTH 32-35.

A double murder in the village of Kinvarness, about twenty-five kilometers east of Mar, has claimed the lives of Hugh K MacKEITH and Uilleam K LUMGAIR. Worries of renewed violence between the Keiths and Gunns, especially in this time of succession, are acute. Nobody wants another clan war.

I raise a glass of Glenwillie to you.

Your servant,

Dr. Walter A Matthew
Marian University
Windhaven, Gunnland​
 
Last edited:

Gunnland

FTR
Joined
Nov 1, 2006
Messages
2,035
Location
Virginia, USA
Capital
Windhaven, Gunnland
The "Tide of Blood" Letter

Beyond the diverse port city of Seaguard, few foreigners live in Gunnland. Fewer still are the European newspapers with correspondents living in sleepy Windhaven. Even if Gunnish clansmen weren't tight-lipped around reporters and suspicious of foreigners, it would be difficult to gather information about the kingdom's complex, dysfunctional, traveling government. There are exceptions, who are source of news from the craggy kingdom. Consider, for instance, Peter Huldrych, a mathematics professor at the Marian (Quadrivium) and the only foreign-born member of the Thing. His "tide of blood" letter is a famous example of the letters he writes to his friend from university, Ulrike Freudenberger, an editor for the Affiliated Press. Dr. Huldrych takes more time to explain, in elementary fashion, how Gunnland works (or doesn't). Foreigners will find this kind of exposition very illuminating.



20 June, 1957

Prof. Ulrike Freudenberger
Thiudareiks University
Hartem, Varinia

Dear Ulrike,

Your letter amused me greatly, old friend. Let me assure you I have not "entered politics," as you say, and that I am not in danger of losing my life. I am one of the four professors that represent the university in the Thing, which is what Gunnishmen call their parliament. The cardinal asked me to accept my nomination from my faculty colleagues, and Henry Cardinal Stewart is not a man to say "no" to here. My position seems far less political, truth be told, than going into newspapers, Ulrike!

The Thing is a funny kind of parliament. We meet only a few times a year, usually here in Windhaven, or wherever the king is -- although the king is dead, now, which confuses the attorneys. The Thing passes laws, now and then, and has a privy council that consists of six MTs: the prime minister, Home secretary (this is something like the all-purpose Gunnish bureaucracy!), attorney general, army commander, censor, and seanchaidh (the historian who is supposed to know the constitutional traditions). In the autumn, we travel for a week to hear criminal cases around the country, for which we serve as a jury. Every Gunnishman knows, proudly, that this ancient institution was reformed along the lines of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Government of Gunnland (1770). Twelve members of the Thing (MTs) are elected from much larger local councils, while twelve are selected by the universities, the attorneys' inns, the Church, and the Army. Only local councilors who have had children or grandchildren in the past five years are eligible to be elected to the Thing. The idea is that the elected MTs are to think about the future, and the rest of us bring knowledge from the past. The prime minister is the twenty-fifth member, appointed by the king.

The feuds between the Gunns and the Keiths, on the one hand, and the Camerons and MacLeishes, on the other (the "bad blood") holds the Thing in a vice-grip. There are political parties, but the largest ones are secondary to the clans: Integrity backs the Gunns, Covenant backs the Keiths. These bitter enemies have no substantive disagreements: they have a traditional mindset when it comes to passing laws. But their bad blood and the balance of power means the Covenant carps about the power of the Church, and the Gunns complain about Keith "separatism." Caught in the middle are modern politicians and the liberals. Men without clans (the "broken men") represent the big cities down the Wash. They're rumored to be in the pockets of gangsters, and some (the "remnant eighth") are still closely associated with clans that have been forcefully disbanded in the past: Campbell, MacFarlane, Gordon, Stewart.. there are many such armigerous clans. In the highlands, men are nothing without their clans. Every Gunnishman carries the name of one of the seven clans as a middle name, "O" if they have no clan, and "X" if they hail from clan disbanded by law.

Officially, Integrity has 9 MTs; Covenant 5; the Liberals 2; and there are 9 independents (including me). In reality, 10 or 11 MTs reliably back the prime minister, James Gunn Gallagher. There is even a semblance of a real Liberal-Covenant opposition, since its leader is a liberal Gunn, Theo Gunn Larkin. But the real power in each coalition is wielded by the feuding chiefs: Robert Gunn and Harlan Keith. To pass anything, Integrity basically needs to get the approval of the Church. The longer I am here, the more I realize that Henry Cardinal Stewart plays the role of kingmaker, swing vote, and eminence grise.

I hope this explains the "political" situation, which is really just a conflict frozen in time, in which my place is quite secure. A Keith-Gunn clan war, if it comes to that, will mean great violence, but mostly contained in the highlands, and the small cities of St. Tears and Mar. If it is particularly nasty, the two national police forces, the Guard (Gunns) and the Blackwatch (Keiths) will shoot at each other across the line of watchforts that divides the highlands between their territory. This is the sad cyclical violence of a tribal society: it happened in 1945, and 1939, and 1919, and 1905...

Let me bore you with a little history: the best causus belli of a clan war. Back in 1562, when it was the custom to give way in the streets to allow social superiors to pass, Alistair Gunn refused to yield Windhaven's Stone Bridge to James Stewart (the Stewarts being a powerful clan at that time, and James Stewart being the son-in-law of the chief of Clan Keith). Their retinues passed quietly, without incident. But later Stewart has his men pursue Alistair Gunn and his men to Nairn, subjected him to a mock trial, and executed him. So began thirty years of on-and-off bloodletting. I pity the people of this poor country for their history. There would be something noble in it if it weren't so pointless.

I would not be too alarmed about reports of clan war brewing. The truth is, a clan war always looms here. If war breaks out, and it gets too bloody, or the bloodletting threatens to spread to Windhaven or the big lowland cities, the cardinal will step in and stop it.

I hate to dwell on politics, but I imagine your readers will be hearing this sort of thing soon. It mars this peaceful city on the Wash. Remember that this is also the country of Home, Smith, Hutcheson, Carlyle, and Burns, as well as Thomas Reid, George Turnbull, George Campbell, and Dugald Stewart. Windhaven is the most charming university town on this continent, which I realize has many charming university towns. The Marian is an extraordinary university, and a place where any man of letters might feel at home...

...even if it is an island around which rises and falls, in predictable fashion, a tide of blood.

Regards,

Dr. Peter O Huyldrich
Marian University
Windhaven, Gunnland​
 
Last edited:

Gunnland

FTR
Joined
Nov 1, 2006
Messages
2,035
Location
Virginia, USA
Capital
Windhaven, Gunnland
Wherein it is explained how Gunnland has a dead king

These letters criss-cross Europe, from port to port, handed around and copied down wherever there are Gunnish expatriots. As you might imagine, then, they find it to some interesting places: boardrooms and embassies, seminaries and whorehouses, theives' dens and prisons, from Bergen to Implarian City. They are written mostly by Professor Walter Matthew, who looks out a garret window of his ivory (well, not literally ivory) tower in the Marian, overlooking Windhaven. This is liable to make a Gunnishman -- even the meanest Buchanan from the hardscrabble highlands who has never seen Windhaven -- almost weep from nostalgia.


No. 123
St. Aloysius Gonzaga, 1957

Dear Gunnishman,

I shall cut straight to the succession crisis to relate what the seanchai, Dr. Alasdair C MacINTYRE told me over supper. (The haggis at the Sword and Ship remains the best in Windhaven. Aside from that, I shall not describe how miserably it rained these past three days.) He took the late train from St. Tears, and relayed this important news just after he gloated that the Bloody Socks pulled ahead of our Highlanders in the first division baseball standings.

The thegns' compromise has failed. Clans Keith, MacLeish, and MacAllister could not support the young boy JOACHAS. Clans Cameron, MacDougall, and Buchanan could not support the DOWAGER QUEEN. Both candidates being Gunns, the "old royal clan" has no vote.

The thegns proposed co-rule of the four- and ninety-four-year old, but the canonists and advocates began quarelling about an old law from the Book of Gunni about the perils of "two-headed crowning." As the sages of Huaxia say, if the wind blows a piece of paper into a courtroom, it will take a team of oxen to drag it out.

We are left with a situation that is both perplexing and dangerous, and unprecedented.

In law, the dead king still reigns. Ruling on his behalf are co-regents, the orphan prince JOACHAS (age four) and the old dowager HH CHERRA (age ninety-four). Worse still, the real power behind the crown will be shared by a Keith priest, for the boy, the old woman's sorcerer "Gregoire Grimoire." God help us all.

Better to have had Princess JULIAN take the stone chair! If you ask me, she should not wait for the Lord Commander's blessing, not in the Year of Our Lord 1957. She herself should arrange for a marriage proposal for the Mormaer of Finlaggan (and I do not just say so as a MacAllister!), and reduce the minority to two clans: Keith and MacLeish (for any alliance with the MacLeishes will flip the Camerons, as everyone knows.)

1st division baseball: ST TEARS 40-31, WINDHAVEN SHELVING 38-30, SUTHERLAND-SEAGUARD 38-36, DALMYRE 35-35, FAR NORTH 34-36.

Preparations around Windhaven for the upcoming feast of the Sacred Heart. Flowers are already being laid from the Wash to Old St. Fergus for the drawing of the waters. No expense is being spared, since Our Holy Father in Twente just last year seemed to reference our feast in Haurietis Aquas. Or so even HE Henry Cardinal STEWART suggested in his homily on Corpus Christi.

Six broken men (supposed Christians all, I hasten to add) have been arrested in an allegedly vast moneylending conspiracy. The uptown constabulary estimates they made at least ten million talents over the past two decades by violating the realm's usury laws. We will never develop a modern economy if the rate is not raised above 5%, I think, but this argument is unlikely to spare the six men time in the clink.

No reprisals for the Kinvarness double murder. I hold my breath.

I must issue a retraction and an apology for my letter of Corpus Christi Sunday. I believe my secretary rudely included his genonym "K." I apologize to Rev. McKAY. I do not insinuate that the sinews of clan will likely bind this holy priest of God's Church.

I raise a glass of Glenwillie. To the dead King (may perpetual light shine upon him), the dowager queen, and the wee orphan prince. And also to you.

Your servant,

Dr. Walter A Matthew
Marian University
Windhaven, Gunnland​
 
Last edited:

Gunnland

FTR
Joined
Nov 1, 2006
Messages
2,035
Location
Virginia, USA
Capital
Windhaven, Gunnland
Nostra Aetate

Walter Matthew's letters circular and Peter Huyldrich's letters to Dr. Freudenberger, in different ways, eventually become the average European's usual source of news from Gunnland. But another source of information are the ecclesiastical letters published by the "Cardinal," as he is simply known in Gunnland. This letter, Nostra Aetate, was read out this morning in the Cathedral of St. Andrew, and is specifically addressed to [MENTION=7]Varinia[/MENTION] and [MENTION=2082]Borovanger[/MENTION].



Feast of St. Thomas More, 1957 A.D.


Bishop Ignatius Sierra +
Office of the Prime Minister
Borovanger City

Bishop Visimar Rodolfing +
Grandmaster, Order of St. Wulfilas
Hartem

Ecclesiastic Letter "Nostra Aetate"​

Venerable Brethren, Greetings,

1. In our times, the struggle of the brave men and women of Borovanger against communism and atheism continues to be an inspiration to Us.

2. The courage of Bishop Rodolfing to speak out against the apostasy of the Prince of Gouw Marken is also an inspiration to Us. We also have written to the Holy Father to tell him of Our great concerns for the Markenese people. Quintas is a false bishop. Let him be anathema.

3. We remind the faithful that communism is condemned in the 1864 encyclical Quanta Cura, and that it was the 1949 opinion of the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office that communists incur excommunication laetae sententiae.

4. We continue to pray to the Queen of Heaven each day, Venerable Brothers, for the deliverance of Borovanger and the conversion of Kadikistan, for which she has expressed her ardent desire to the faithful.

5. Our faithful people in Gunnland do not yet see the hands of communism grasping Our own country, though the longshoremen unions of Seaguard are at its fingertips, and though its grip closes around certain students and professors of Our Lady's University in Windhaven.

6. More than ever, as Divine Providence has seen fit not to send the Gunnish people a king since the death of Our Most Christian King Josias (may perpetual light shine upon him), Our people must look to their ancient faith for moral support, and to their Church for guidance.

7. We hope you will answer and echo Our calls for a conference Our Venerable Brethren, the bishops of this continent, to respond to the communist threat from the East, and the new great apostasy in the West.

8. We extend the hand of Our friendship to the people of Borovanger, and We ask their shepherds how the faithful of Gunnland, who stand ready to volunteer, can be of assistance to their effort to defend the ancient throne of their most Christian kings.

9. We declare the feeling of Our most loving and thankful soul toward you, and toward all the other Venerable Brothers, and the faithful. May the blessings of St. Fergus, St. Wulfilas, and St. Goratrix be upon us all.


Henry Cardinal Stewart +
Archbishop of Windhaven
 

Gunnland

FTR
Joined
Nov 1, 2006
Messages
2,035
Location
Virginia, USA
Capital
Windhaven, Gunnland
Wherein the activities of the big political parties are described

Collections of Dr. Matthew's letters are reprinted in Gunnish emigrant newspapers, alongside advertisements for work and drawings of mountains and lochs and moorlands. They are often renumbered; some get lost. Sometimes, even, they are rearranged as they are printed, in order to excise the more controversial opinions of Dr. Matthew excised, or bowdlerize his language. But more commonly his claims are exaggerated, and made more vulgar: selling a juicier letter is a good way to make a ha'penny, and a Gunnishman is always looking to make an extra ha'penny. So beware when one falls into your hands that is not his true style. This is a good example of one that is authentic.

No. 125
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, 1957

Dear Gunnishman,

A pleasant west wind blows through Windhaven. The crack of bats and cheers carry from Highlander Stadium: the Highlanders, back in first place, have scored another run on the Arundel Far Northerners. Sunlight glints on the patina above Rolvaag Library. I enjoyed the crunch of my pudding sandwich in the Dyre Park. The sun, warm on my wool jacket, conjured the famous lines of Archibald MacLEISH:

And here face down beneath the sun / And here upon earth's noonward height / To feel the always coming on / The always rising of the night.

Dark news from the highlands, indeed. The six-hundred year war threatens to break out again. On the radio, Lord Commander Robert GUNN denies that his clan was involved in the Kinvarness double murder of one week ago. Any Keith reprisal, he warns, might end the 1945 truce.

Last night on our television sets, Princess JULIAN made a brave call for women's rights on the Jim Boswell Show. BOSWELL, the rake, kept making inappropriate jokes (I shall not repeat them). Undeterred, the princess called for an international human rights commission to end rural practices like child marriage, servile marriage, debt peonage, and equal voting rights for women. Councilor Theo G LARKIN and the Left Liberals ought to take note.

1st division baseball: WINDHAVEN SHELVING 39-31, ST TEARS 40-32, SUTHERLAND-SEAGUARD 39-36, DALMYRE 35-37, FAR NORTH 35-37.

Meanwhile, the prime minister continues his unusually active politicking. Integrity is starting a recruitment campaign in Dalmyre and Sutherland, where their only MT is Ambrose CAMERON from Seaguard-North. Prime Minister James G GALLAGHER has attacked the Liberal-Covenant coalition for two reasons. First, for weakening the Army and national unity, which is essential for Gunnland to defend itself against the rising communist threat. Second, for refusing to be tough on the wealthy autonomous region of Arundel's tax payments.

The opposition Liberal-Covenant coalition accuses Integrity of corrupt recruiting practices, including awarding party members positions in the Army, and forging baptismal records to "clan-in" broken men so they appear to be members of Clan Buchanan. Also, they claim that the Inn of Advocates has not definitively ruled on the complex treaty-law issue of Arundel's taxes, since it is unclear the treaty can bind the semi-sovereign Countess of Arundel (a well-known Liberal supporter) unless Gunnland has a living king.

The rhetoric is unusually strong for summer politics in Gunnland. In his op-ed in this morning's Windhaven Free Press, Polycarp X FitzGERALD (Covenant MT, Seaguard-Center) writes: "Flags everywhere, parading soldiers, military salutes, calling the opposition "traitorous," these were all things I saw in Seaguard this week. That is behavior you expect to see in Geotri. Not Gunnland."

I raise a glass of Glenwillie. To the Princess, and to those political freedoms long-awaited in fair Gunnland.

Your servant,

Dr. Walter A Matthew
Marian University
Windhaven, Gunnland​


NOTE: Those unfamiliar with Windhaven may consult this map: . Dr. Matthew hears the cheers from Highlander Stadium [11], sees the sun gleam on Rolvaag Library [10], and has his picnic in the Deer Park [9].
 
Last edited:

Gunnland

FTR
Joined
Nov 1, 2006
Messages
2,035
Location
Virginia, USA
Capital
Windhaven, Gunnland
Wherein Dr. Walther reports being elected to the Thing

When Dr. Matthew was studying in Bourgogne as a young man, he sorely wished there were an intelligent Gunnishmen who wrote with news from his homeland. This is why he writes his biweekly "letters circular." But the author of Written Style, A Guide underestimates how widely and far his words travel, not because he is humble, but because he is unimaginative. Printed and copied across Gunnland and the Gunnish diaspora, they bear his signature and his personality to Gunnishmen of high and low station, from the Financial District of Ayr to container ships on the Sortain Strait. If he knew who was reading them, Dr. Matthew might be more careful...


No. 126
St. Irenaeus, 1957

Dear Gunnishman,

Four men are dead in a national tragedy. May perpetual light shine upon them. Two unidentified gunmen entered the Fox and Arm in St. Tears at suppertime yesterday and shot dozens of victims, before being killed themselves by return fire. A little boy named Robert G CARSON, scarcely four years old, was among those treated at Mercy Children's Hospital in Ayr for his injuries. Chief Harlan KEITH denies that this was a planned reprisal for the Kinvarness murders, although one of the gunmen wore Keith tattoos.

Lord Commander Robert GUNN urges calm for now on the radio. He will meet Chief KEITH tomorrow when the seven thegns meet to vote upon crowning James BUCHANAN, the seventy-four year old chief of the "wee clan," compromise candidate.

A succession crisis, as you know, is normal enough in Gunnland, the inevitable result of a system where rival clans are responsible for electing our king. It was my secretary's dictation error to write "unprecedented" in my most recent letter. The government carries on.

1st division baseball: WINDHAVEN SHELVING 41-33, ST TEARS 42-34, SUTHERLAND-SEAGUARD 40-38, DALMYRE 37-38, FAR NORTH 36-39.

In happier news, I have been elected to the Thing to represent the Marian. I will relieve my colleague from the Capitollium, Dr. Robert G WYLIE, to give him more time with his wife Caristiona and their two wee bairns.

It is not required for Marian faculty that we be new fathers or grandfathers to join the Thing, as the Briennese Vicar stipulates for the general election seats. But I expect it was Moira's birth, rather than my modest talents, which convinced my colleagues to have me take the oath at the Law Rock.

Prime Minister GALLAGHER telephoned to congratulate me, and is pleased a faculty member of the Trivium rejoins the Thing, so that my foreign-language expertise may be put towards reorganizing the foreign service. High Street House is in some disarray. Since its officers are appointed by the Stone Chair, it has fallen into death since the death of King JOSIAS (mpl &c.).

Finally, the Windhaven Women's Triple Race ran last weekend. A sweepstakes of three amateur races: a criterium for cyclists around Alexander Square, a 1500-meter open water swim in the Wash, and a roughly five-kilometer foot race on a triangle-shaped circuit formed by Stone Bridge Street, King Alexander Avenue, and St. Andrew's Wynd. At the Triple Race, "the podium is the trading block." It is traditionally a major showcase for athletic teams to draft and trade athletes in advance of the late summer events. Peter A FARRIER's Miller team won the sweepstakes due to dominant finishes in the cycling and running events, even though the team's much-touted swimmer Rachael O SCRIVENER failed to place.

1500m open water: 1st: RD LANG; 2nd: SA DUDARIEN; 3rd: IG SHORT.
5-Kilometer run: 1st: AC ROBB; 2nd: CG MacRAE; 3rd: CX FAOLAIN.
Criterium race: 1st: AA FARRIER; 2nd: AO SKOV; 3rd: TC BRIGHT.

I raise a glass of Glenwillie. To king (mpl &c.) and country.

Your servant,

Dr. Walter A Matthew, MT-Marian 4
Windhaven, Gunnland​


NOTE: Those unfamiliar with Windhaven may consult this map: . High Street House [8] sits on the Sea Road where High Street ends. High Street, running uphill to the Capitollium [2], is Windhaven's embassy district.
 
Last edited:

Gunnland

FTR
Joined
Nov 1, 2006
Messages
2,035
Location
Virginia, USA
Capital
Windhaven, Gunnland
Wherein important information can be found

Of course, not all letters circulating among Gunnishmen abroad are written by Walter Matthew. Yet some letters, especially those critical of Dr. Matthew on important subjects, become notorious and are spread widely. These persons may not be as reliably well-informed, but often they are full of scurrilous details that Gunnishmen, or really any reading public, likes to follow. This is the case of this document, adapted from letter written by a Working Ladies' Association (WLA) member to her brother in the Gunnish merchant marine. It is up to the reader's judgment whether these letters are trustworthy or just washerwomen's talk.



Ss. Peter and Paul, 1957

John X Faolain, AB
MV Lord of the Isles

Dear Jack,

I envy endless sun on the Clareneian Sea, but not what must be your endless sunburn [...] The Triple ran last Saturday, and I placed third! My WLA ticker has been going crazy. I ran into Red Bess and she said half the professors at the Marian had dropped gold tokens in my purse. I might be signed for ten thousand before July's end!

You should have seen Jimmy Boswell tease Princess Julie last week: "Which Wilson boy are ye gonny marry, lass? Oh, aye Abe. Dark and handsome, aye." When she just laughed and blushed, he said, "Oh, nae? Widowers then? Old MacAllister or Old Man MacLeish, the brindle bull or the silver dun?" Then he asked if he would fancy a go with the Countess of Arundel. The things he gets away with!

Has W.M.'s latest letter reached you at Eudaemon-Port, or wherever you are now? Well, listen to this.

Do you remember Caroline, the chesty girl whose contract was picked up over mine so many times last year? Well, we're friends now. She works for Dr. Matthew. Anyway, she told me at the WLA that after W.M. was elected to the Thing, he got a visit from the seanchai and a big man with big hands and curly black hair -- the CENSOR.

Now that he's an MT, they won't want W.M. writing about succession crises and clan wars and "there aren't twelve communists in Gunnland."

Everyone says the Keiths shot the Gunns down in the Fox and Arm. Everyone says that the Lord Commander and the Wilsons are conspiring to lock the prince and princess out of power. And everyone says someone sabotaged King Josias's plane last year.

W.M. is not only a coward, but a pig. Caroline calls him a roué. If anyone deserves a visit from the censor, it's him. (What a terrifying man Fr. Gallagher is!) W.M. had to go down to the Militia Club to meet him, the justiciar, and the enquêteur. The censor and two lord-advocates! No wonder Caroline said W.M. was white as a ghost when she drove him home.

Can you believe that he writes that he can't believe the princess won't study at the Marian? Any of us would go to Thiudareiks, if we had the spondooly!

Instead I'm darning clothes, washing dishes, and cleaning floors. And that's not half of what Caroline has to do: typing W.M.'s letters, driving him around, grading W.M.'s papers (I hear), and worse (I know). I told her to tell Red Bess, that Bess has her ways, that Bess can deal with W.M. in particular, but she won't.

I wonder sometimes what we're doing it for. I'm never going to be fast enough to beat the Miller girls. I'm never going to be brilliant enough for the Marian to hire a woman for the first time. Best case scenario, we become governesses in Arundel, or working on The Free Press with Red Bess and Harriet MacMenna.

I know you'll think it's women's talk, Jack, but you're not such a big man now that they make you wear britches on your little ship down there [...] Love, your sister,

Kate​

 
Last edited:

Gunnland

FTR
Joined
Nov 1, 2006
Messages
2,035
Location
Virginia, USA
Capital
Windhaven, Gunnland
Wherein judicial politics are discussed

The separation of powers is unknown in Gunnland's constitutional situation: both 'King and Thing' are able to make laws, each has the power to veto the other, and both 'King and Thing' sit together in various arrangements as the supreme judiciary of the country. In this letter, Dr. Matthew reports his first experience as a juror of the court of assizes, and offers some hints as to his opinion on the "woman question," which as both Gunnishmen and foreigners know, has only been raised as of late in the highland kingdom.

No. 127
St. Thomas the Apostle, 1957

Dear Gunnishman,

The farmers are making hay in the fields along the Wash, and the clanlands are quiet for now. The prospects of an immediate financial crisis are slim, also, now. Arundel has voted to send 400 billion talents in its own tax revenue as tribute or Gunngeld to the Thing. Although the Inn of Advocates is upset this tacitly rejects the regency's powers of taxation, we no longer face bankruptcy, only the usual legal complications regarding the Arundalians.

I sat on my first quarter session of the assizes this Midsummer in Windhaven. I was pleased to see young Conor X MacKEOWN earn the king's mercy. We also saw the awfulness of the king's justice. But in a sop to the most radical ape leaders of our capital, Fr. Gregorius KEIPER told the court, "There is a war on our women, though the enemy is within the walls."

I am not sure what good this kind of rhetoric, or the death of George C FOGERTY (scoundrel though he was), will do our country or its women, especially its spinsters. It is respectable employment that the vielles filles of Gunnland need. Without Mrs. MacMENNA and Mesdemoiselles STOKE and MacCRAW, the print materials which you, dear reader, enjoy, would simply not circulate so widely.

Witch-hunts against lechers and so-called communists today are just that: witch-hunts. The pastimes of mobs, rustled together by modern-day ochlocrats and demagogues no less dangerous than Cleon and Flaminius millennia ago.

The Bloody Socks swept the Far Northerners in Ayr's latest Dockyard Derby, and since the Highlanders are struggling against the same, the Blood Socks have taken a four-game lead in the first division standings.

1st division baseball: ST TEARS 49-35, WINDHAVEN SHELVING 44-38, SUTHERLAND-SEAGUARD 44-41, DALMYRE 40-43, FAR NORTH 38-45.

Sadly, I hear, the hollerer Doc HIRAM is dead. The greatest of the flatpickers died at his family farm outside Dalmyre yesterday. May perpetual light shine upon him. The summer festivals will not be the same without his banjo. I am grateful that my friends at Gunnish radio have taped so many of his songs. If the political situation permits, I should like to pay my respects.

I raise a glass of Glenwillie to the Doc.

Your servant,

Dr. Walter A Matthew, MT-Marian 4
Marian University
Windhaven, Gunnland​


NOTE: Gunnland watchers might compare Dr. Matthew's treatment of the controversial capital sentence in AX Elmert v. GC Fogerty with this account from the international media. As a rule, journalists covering Gunnland file their stories from Ayr, since the County of Arundel has far more extensive free-speech protections.
 
Last edited:

Gunnland

FTR
Joined
Nov 1, 2006
Messages
2,035
Location
Virginia, USA
Capital
Windhaven, Gunnland
Wherein news of Princess Julian's disappearance

Copied, forwarded and mailed again, or passed hand-to-hand irregularly, some of Professor Matthew's letters circular spread more quickly and widely than others. This letter, in particular, passed very quickly. In only a matter of days, copies of this letter were in the knapsacks of Gunnish hunters in Himyar and the seabags of Gunnish merchantmen at port in Yomogita. Do you hear hushed tones and that distinct trilled "r" in smoky working-class pubs of your immigrant cities? Likely that Gunnish accent you hear is conveying the news contained within this letter.


No. 128
St. Benedict of Nursia, 1957

Dear Gunnishman,

An east wind brings bad tidings.

Princess JULIAN is missing. There is no further information, except that she has not been seen in two days in the capital. The constabulary has interviewed several of her friends and associates, but her whereabouts remain unknown.

If it is the Keiths, it will be clan war. If it is her uncle the Lord Commander GUNN, tired of her criticisms, then he does nothing but prove the point of her criticisms. I enclose for you, countryman, of these passage from Professor W.D. FAULKNER's classic Modern Gunnish History (1929), lest you forget our national embarrassment.

"Modern Gunnish history is something of an oxymoron... Let Windhaven be the center of the Scientific Revolution. Let philosophy professors still discuss the Gunnish Enlightenment of the 18th century. Let the greatest philosopher of the Enlightenment send us a Lawgiver from Bourgogne to the Capitollium to design institutions for us that were the envy of the world. Let the mills and manufactories of Dalmyre make woolens and steel for the world. It will be all for naught.

In the highlands the leading industry will always be woman-stealing. The highland clans still behave as if the sun has just risen in 1464, over the corpses of twelve Gunns and twelve Keiths slain at the Battle of Champions. So little have our countrymen progressed that Homer could have written the feud. The Keiths know well that Helen of Braemore, Lachlan's daughter, was a woman grown who married their chief, Dugald, out of love. The Gunns know well that she was a girl, yet to flower, kidnapped by a knave. And that when the terms were set for a battle of twelve horse, the Keiths cheated and sent twenty-four men, two to a horse, and cut down the Gunns chief, Alexander. The Keiths know a different story: that six Gunns, after killing the twelve Keith riders, ran into the chapel at St. Tears, mad for blood and vengeance, and violated a place of sacred sanctuary to murder twelve more innocent Keiths, and would have were they not slain themselves. Five hundred years later, the bloody feud rears up once every generation. And we, as we try to build a modern country amidst this tribal violence that would make the darkest citizen in Loago blush, are we not tempted to throw ourselves from the tower at Dunmar out of grief, just as Helen did that morning in 1464?

Anger burns in me. Another woman stolen, in this case, a woman who wished only to show this country out of the dark and bloody past that haunts us, to expiate those great sins of hatred and violence for which we are justly cursed. I pray she is safe, but I expect the truth now is that we none of us are safe.

Pray: St. Julian, that all shall be well, and keep your namesake seker. Amen.

I raise a glass of Glenwillie to the safe return of our stolen princess. I dare say that she is the best of us, and this country is unworthy of her.

Your servant,

Dr. Walter A Matthew, MT-Marian 4
Marian University
Windhaven, Gunnland​
 

Gunnland

FTR
Joined
Nov 1, 2006
Messages
2,035
Location
Virginia, USA
Capital
Windhaven, Gunnland
Wherein the Marxists-Leninovists introduce themselves

This is a secret letter to [MENTION=83]Kadikistan[/MENTION], the kind of letter that does not make the public news. But police inspector MacMenna overestimates how secret. Any country with a halfway decent intelligence service and an interest in Gunnland, that is, with Kadikistan's western borders, would be in touch with the right Gunnish police spies. Socialist agents would know the justiciar (public prosecutor), Joseph "Oats" MacMenna. Spies from anti-communist countries would know such letters exist, if not their exact contents, by buying drinks for Padraig "Trick" Smith, the enqueteur (attorney general), at the Sword and Ship. It's a small city, Windhaven, and Gunnishmen who have never really been to a big city forget this sometimes. Besides, "Oats" and "Trick" are good friends, and old observers wonder just how seriously they're playing a dangerous game with powerful forces.


June 1957

Office of the First Secretary of the Executive Committee
International Association of Marxist-Leninovist Parties

Comrade Cirkovic,

Socialist greetings. I apologize for the lateness of my monthly report. Two items have demanded my immediate attention.

First, the prime minister continues to pressure us to arrest communists. I continue to arrest only fools and drunks. The enqueteur, PB Smith, is a conservative-leaning Catholic socialist that plays along, allowing me to win convictions on the more obnoxious boys. Privately, however, he has accused me of favoring the liberals too much.

Second, Princess Julian just disappeared, we believe. She has not been seen since last evening, when she supped with Professor TA Fick at the Marian. Two of her retainers are also missing: Miss MD MacNicholls, and Miss PL Aodh, the daughter of our comrade from Dalmyre, as is Professor Fick's housekeeper, Miss AO Skov. As you can imagine, it is a nightmare. A public figure with no protection, gone missing, with as many enemies inside her clan as out. No note, no nothing. They could have gone on an unannounced holiday abroad, or into hiding with liberal allies. Or, it could be the Gunns, the Keiths, Sutherland anarchists (whom they'll call "communists"), Arundalian separatists, or the Church. My inspectors are working around the clock, so far to no avail.

The Communist Party of Gunnland continues its work in secret. Phase one is complete. We have successfully infiltrated the police spies, the Church, the Inn of Advocates, and organized labor. Including myself, four members of the Thing are secretly card-carrying members of the CPG. We are working through two well-connected MacLeish politicians in the Covenant, AL MacMaster and RL Aodh to recruit more union workers in Seaguard and Dalmyre to the CPG.

Phase two: We hope to bring the CPG public next year and sweep the Dalmyre and Seaguard elections. There are three obstacles: (1) Duncan MacLeish, their chief, (2) the liberals funded by Arundel, and led by TG Larkin and PX FitzGerald, that are traditionally the popular vote-getters in these cities, and (3) the Cameron hold on certain unions, and their Integrity efforts to build a modern, broad-based fascist party allied with the Gunns.

As for phase three, the Party leadership is split, especially regarding timing. I argue that only the lowland cities are ready for revolution. The tribal highlands have no bourgeoisie, nor a working class ready to be radicalized. Therefore we should make a separatist pact and popular front with the Arundalian liberals after smashing them in the lowland cities, and cooperate with their own independence movement. We can work for independence of a socialist republic in West Gunnland, and tolerate the independence of the County of Arundel and the Kingdom of Gunnland for the near future.

Comrade C Gallagher, our man in the church, argues instead we should work through the institutions of Gunnland to capture the crown and move Gunnland in a socialist direction. We do not have the men and guns to fight the Army, and this course would avoid a likely war. This gradualist plan would require not only working with the "three Macs": Clan MacLeish, MacDougall, and MacAllister, to present the Keiths with a fait accomplit, and crown a king who will permit the country to gradually be reorganized as a socialist republic, and who will be eventually sidelined.

Please advise as to the best phase two plan. We also ask that the IAMLP make a deal with Chief Duncan MacLeish when he visits Rurikgrad on behalf of his shipping corporation. MacLeish support for the CPG, we believe, can be bought if Ivar makes trade concessions contingent upon his cooperation.

As always we thank our socialist brothers for their support. Comrade Leninov's 1949 New Year's Eve address at Uljanova remains in the hearts of those who know Kadikistan supports our revolutionary efforts.

Forward, the revolution!

Inspector Joseph MacMenna, MT-Inn of Advocates 2
Justiciar of Gunnland

Chairman of the Secret Select Committee
Communist Party of Gunnland
 

Gunnland

FTR
Joined
Nov 1, 2006
Messages
2,035
Location
Virginia, USA
Capital
Windhaven, Gunnland
Wherein the likelihood of clan war is discussed

A common joke about Gunnishman begins, "What's in the lad's sporran...?" Sporrans are leather pouches, sometimes decorated with horsehair, worn in front of kilts. In all versions of the joke, the sporran contains three items: a little book of prayers (the parvum), a little sharp knife (the sgain-dubh), and a packet of Matthews's letters circular. Punchlines vary. "The knife is for carving out the prayers and replacing them with the letters circular." Or, "the sgain-dubh for stabbing, the letters to see if anyone's looked at his sister, and the parvum for praying the bastard goes to hell." You get the idea. But in truth, everyone knows the sgain-dubh is tucked into the kilt, not worn in the sporran. Likely, then, no Gunnishman made up these jokes.


No. 130
St. Vincent de Paul, 1957

Dear Gunnishman,

We are on the brink of clan war. I write from my family's summer home in the mountains of Arundel, where I have come to see my granddaughter. (Really, the trouser-wearers are not as bad as you think.) The Countess of Arundel has asked all of the Gunns and Keiths to leave Ayr, and warned that the Earl of Arundel's Mounted Police will may soon go house-to-house. EAMP patrols reported that the Guard and the Blackwatch had taken up opposing positions in the watch forts just beyond the boundaries of the dale.

Chief Harlan KEITH denies his clan is responsible for the abduction of Princess JULIAN.

And now there is also mutiny. Reports say the Army is preparing to advance upon Keith lands, surround Mar, and beseige Dunmar Castle. It has made little difference that the government has ordered them to stand down.

Though I am grateful for the Countess and the EAMP, I must leave this most civilized part of our country (trouser-wearing aside!) tomorrow morning. The Thing is convening an emergency council at the Freehold; we shall demand that Lord Commander GUNN promise that the Army will not act except upon the orders of this government.

1st division baseball: ST TEARS 54-42, SUTHERLAND-SEAGUARD 51-45, WINDHAVEN SHELVING 48-45, DALMYRE 45-49, FAR NORTH 43-51.

I raise a glass of Glenwillie to our princess, gone from our city but not our prayers.

Your servant,

Dr. Walter A Matthew, MT-Marian 4
Marian University
Windhaven, Gunnland​
 
Last edited:

Gunnland

FTR
Joined
Nov 1, 2006
Messages
2,035
Location
Virginia, USA
Capital
Windhaven, Gunnland
A long letter with some useful context for recent events

Academe sends scholars all over Europe. Increasing specialization in the universities means that posts are looking for more and more specific candidates, and as a result the professoriat is increasingly international. Case in point: the correspondence between Dr. Huyldrich and Dr. Freudenberger. Friends from their undergraduate in Eiffelland, both left their countries on different northward paths. Dr. Huyldrich, through mathematics, to Windhaven. Dr. Freudenberger, through history and the new field of anthropology, to Hartem. The latter's interest in Gunnland occasions this letter.



23 July, 1957

Prof. Ulrike Freudenberger
Thiudareiks University
Hartem, Varinia

Dear Ulrike,

Have you heard Elektraois's operetta Golpho he Voskopoula? It's wonderfully different. It's also the only record I can play that helps me forget the infernal sound of bagpipes. A man get used to wearing a kilt. But the noise from that sheepskin bag is another thing entirely! When they start bleating in the streets, I begin dreaming of seeing Ariistuun again with you on Kastianen Allee. I am afraid you can see anything but opera in the Salle des Fergusines these days. The people love their folk musics: simple arrangements for fiddles and guitars and banjos, suitable only for dancing barefoot. And the Windhaven Symphony Orchestra screeches and drones like you would expect from a nation that relishes the 'auld music of the pipes.' The quality of music in Windhaven, it is said, depends upon the taste of the Cardinal, and our present Cardinal listens to nothing but organ repertoires.

Enough complaining about the music of my new home. As you requested, I asked the seanchaidh for his recommendations on Gunnish history and folklore. Dr. MacIntyre is an interesting fellow. Everyone says he's a communist. When I asked him if he belonged to the Communist Party of Gunnland, he just told me, "They are just boys playing games with Kadikistan. They think our country is too worthless, too ungovernable, and too backwards to be invaded by our eastern neighbor. Ask old "Trick" Smith [he's the enqueteur, a kind of national public defender or ombudsman] about them if you want to know who they are. They're playing with fire, that's all I know." I got the sense I shouldn't ask him any more.

As for history, Dr. MacIntyre says (very gruffly) that "only fools who run down this country" put stock in Faulkner's 1929 Modern Gunnish History. I did not ask if Walter Matthew as one of those fools, since I already know the answer. The philosophy professors at the Capitollium look down at the language faculty of the Trivium. They regard our science and mathematics faculty at the Quadrivium scarcely better.

Instead Dr. MacIntyre recommends David Home's 1761 The History of Gunnland, despite its "terrible style." In doing so, he told me a famous story, from 1306. When Robert Buchanan Bruce stabbed his rival John Cameron in the heart in Old St. Fergus, at the church door he ran into Thomas Buchanan Kirkpatrick and cried, "I doubt I have killed the Cameron."

"Ye doubt," replied Kirkpatrick, "I mak siccar." And, entering, he finished off the wounded man.

These "grim brevities" Home thought it necessary to expand, "and destroy," says Dr. MacIntyre. He quotes The History from memory: "Sir Thomas B Kirkpatrick, one of Bruce's friends, asking him soon after, is the traitor was slain, 'I believe so' replied Bruce. 'And is that a matter,' cried Kirkpatrick, 'to be left to conjecture? I will secure him.'"

Home is reliable, Dr. MacIntyre says, although he sucks the native poetry out of Gunnish history.

As for folklore, the story of Robert Buchanan Bruce and Alexander "the Regicide" Gunn is important. In the 1310s, they led a united army of the clans -- the "last united army of the clans," Dr. MacIntyre reminds me -- to subdue the Free Cities that lie down the Wash in the lowlands. When they captured the Freehold here in Windhaven, in 1314, it left the downriver cities of Dalmyre and Seaguard vulnerable. They were left to the armies of the Camerons and their allies with ships, the MacAllisters.

I did not know if Dr. MacIntyre was kidding when he said, "That was also when the MacLeishes, pirates to the last man, stole Seaguard from us Camerons."

This is how the culture and folklore of the highlands became predominant all across what is now Gunnland, how the Book of Gunni (a collection of confusing aphorisms and not properly a law book at all) became the law of the land, and how the cities of the lowlands were ruled from the Stone Chair at St. Tears.

The Three Free Cities had been trading outposts, since the Wash was navigable up to Windhaven in those days. Their stories and traditions resemble those of the other countries of this region, but these were suppressed and, in many cases, forgotten. But many fled to the mountains.

The seanchaidh recommends visiting the so-called "Lost Kingdom" of Arundel, which surrounds the mountain city of Ayr, to make a study of Gunnish folklore. Ayr is the "most civilized" city in Gunnland "where all the taxes come from" -- Dr. MacIntyre does not make it sound like that is entirely a good thing. Arundel is an autonomous region of Gunnland, and the laws prohibit the wearing of tartans and other displays of clan identity. Banks are also allowed to operate more freely there. (Hence the sore spot with Dr. MacIntyre, I suspect.) Although Ayr is scarcely thirty kilometers from St. Tears, the Gunns' ancestral seat, no two cities in Gunnland are more different.

Dr. MacIntyre could write you a letter of recommendation to the abbot of Holyrood, if you wish, to stay in their abbey. But then he told me, "Since I don't know anyone else in Arundel, I assure you! Though staying in the abbey might be strange for a woman." I am not completely certain if he was kidding, but I am sure we could make other arrangements if you wished to do field research in Windhaven or in the Arundel autonomous region.

Regards,

Dr. Peter O Huyldrich, MT-Marian 3
Marian University
Windhaven, Gunnland​


NOTE: Like many mathematicians, Dr. Huyldrich is a music buff, with a special soft spot for opera. Many Westerners will be familiar with Tiburian Opera, the famous National Opera of [MENTION=7]Varinia[/MENTION], or the Pillau Ducal Opera in [MENTION=26]Bourgogne[/MENTION]. But the composer Elektraois and the adaptation of opera in [MENTION=1774]Pelasgia[/MENTION] deserves wider reknown. Such readers should consult this useful, if fragmentary, primer:


NOTE: Those unfamiliar with Windhaven may consult this map: . Windhaven's opera house, the Salles des Fergusines [14], is north of downtown. Old St. Fergus Church [7] is just down the Sea Road from it. Professor Huyldrich teaches nearby at the Quadrivium [6]. The other faculties of the Marian, the Capitollium [2] and the Trivium [4], are uphill to the south, on what is called the "uptown" side of the Wash.
 
Last edited:

Gunnland

FTR
Joined
Nov 1, 2006
Messages
2,035
Location
Virginia, USA
Capital
Windhaven, Gunnland
Though Gunnland conjures up images of the highlands, clans, lochs, and castles, eight million Gunnishmen live "down the Wash" in the lowlands, many of them in the Sutherland cities of Dalmyre and Seaguard. That Gunnish sailor making another passage of the Long Sea, reading letters circular about the highlands? Chances are he is a broken man, without a clan, that could not find work in a Dalmyre factory. And chances are he would not wear the Gunn (or Keith, or MacAllister) tartan on his kilt he were home in Gunnland, or on a Gunnish ship.


No. 131
Martyrdom of the Seven Sleepers, 1957

Dear Gunnishman,

Princess JULIAN is found! Upon reading my most recent letter circular, she telephoned Prime Minister James G GALLAGHER from the island of Helgoland. The crisis in the clan lands has been averted. The princess was vacationing and had been visiting the university at Aurich. She should have known to tell someone about her whereabouts, but, then again, she is just a young woman. Thank goodness nobody was hurt.

The special session of the Thing was cancelled, so I was able to catch the morning train bound for the old free cities to attend the great musician's funeral.

1st division baseball: ST TEARS 56-47, WINDHAVEN SHELVING 53-46, SUTHERLAND-SEAGUARD 53-49, DALMYRE 48-53, FAR NORTH 48-54.

Doc HIRAM's was a fine funeral outside Dalmyre. The nice thing about taking the train downline is that no Keith hooligans have graffitied and defaced the Gunnrail signs. But Dalmyre itself is full of graffiti. Graffiti, high grass, abandoned buildings, and stray dogs. Hammers and sickles spraypainted on vacant apartment buildings wherever you look, either the work of the radical labor unions or, more likely, young punks. I had forgotten how far "Horseshoe City" sprawls, how hot it can get, and how flat the land is here at the end of the valley, and how they say from the great glass-and-concrete buildings downtown you can see the Wash due east and due west with the naked eye.

Plant closures continue to hobble Dalmyre and, I am told, only the docks are keeping jobs in nearby Seaguard. Argyll-Baker made their last car in 1954, and shut its doors. Both cities are under the thumb of a criminal underworld which, I am, are connected to different clans, but run by broken men and the remnant of the eighth clan. The same gangs that became so powerful in the 1920s, when the Covenanters banned alcohol sales in certain highland regions, I am sorry to say, are now riding high with gambling operations and labor racketeering. As long as these gangs remain reliably patriotic and wed to the clans, and so long as they keep Marxist-Leninovists out of organized Gunnish labor, they seem to be tolerated by the local authorities. What a mess.

I shall stay the night and be back upline to Windhaven on the morning train.

Your servant,

Dr. Walter A Matthew, MT-Marian 4
Windhaven, Gunnland​
 
Last edited:

Gunnland

FTR
Joined
Nov 1, 2006
Messages
2,035
Location
Virginia, USA
Capital
Windhaven, Gunnland
Wherein the denouement of the Julian affair is discussed

Every hack complains that you can't get a straight story out of Gunnland. , admittedly, had a little more to complain about. The Guards arrested him, brought him over the County of Arundel border into nearby St. Tears, dropped him off at the Fox and Arms, and told the Gunn clansmen there that he had been "sniffing around the princess's business." Steve Lynn will be spending a few weeks in Mercy Hospital, in no condition to talk. Back in Windhaven, there is no record the arrest, and a general consensus that the Arundalians are quick to cause trouble about their precious free speech regime-. After all, most Gunnishmen reason, men who wear britches all day are bound to be a bit more uptight.


No. 132
Our Lady Queen of Angels, 1957

Dear Gunnishman,

Princess JULIAN has wisely decided to lessen her profile as a public figure, and concentrate on her studies. She plans to go abroad, to Thiudareiks, where exciting research into the cultural history of the Borean peoples is taking place. We shall have Ulrike FREUDENBERGER, the distinguished Varinian scholar, here at the Marian to begin the project's work on Gunnish history.

All of Windhaven, it seems, was at the Nairn Folk Festival this weekend. The highlight was the Earl of Tayr's tribute to Doc HIRAM (mpl&c.). William G WILSON sang the Fort Perth Blues with his three sons (all of whom I have met in the Thing) in the audience. While we were pleased they graced us with their presence, their gold tokens took two of Windhaven's most beautiful women, Ashild O SKOV and Madeleine D MacNICHOLLS, away from us.

1st division baseball: ST TEARS 59-49, WINDHAVEN SHELVING 57-48, SUTHERLAND-SEAGUARD 55-53, DALMYRE 52-54, FAR NORTH 50-57.

Arundalian separatists, no doubt, are behind a black rumor that the Church was involved in Princess JULIAN's disappearance. Unfortunately the international press and even the Countess of Arundel has substantiated the rumor by claiming that the Guard arrested a journalist, even though the justiciar was aware of no such action. I admire Countess MARY, but she should know she is encouraging dangerous and irresponsible people by involving herself in this controversy.

I raise a glass of Glenwillie to you, that you may find fair winds and following seas, and return home safely to your lasses and bairns.

Your servant,

Dr. Walter A Matthew, MT-Marian 4
Windhaven, Gunnland​
 

Gunnland

FTR
Joined
Nov 1, 2006
Messages
2,035
Location
Virginia, USA
Capital
Windhaven, Gunnland
Wherein official narratives are questioned

This letter, written by a Working Ladies' Association (WLA) member to her brother in the Gunnish merchant marine, has not been copied and circulated as widely as her letter of the feast of Ss. Peter and Paul earlier this summer. However, those who make it their business to know about the chatter in the Gunnish diaspora, especially from sources close to prominent people, would certainly have a copy of this letter in their files.


St. Dominic, 1957

John X Faolain, AB
MV Lord of the Isles

Dear Jack,

I am so pleased to hear you'll be sailing north. Kadikistan seems like another world, but really, Rurikgrad is not so far! Do you think L&M/GMG could secure me a visa to come see you?

Until then, keep your door locked and shut at night. Anything worth that much money to carry from Kashtan to Emden is likely not legal. You know the MacLeishes on your ship play these games! How many times have you heard about needing to make back, "Lord Duncan's share, for the rightful master of the Isles." You don't want to end up shot dead by the Yiddish mafia, Jack, for a few thousand talents.

Everything is strange here, too, now. The boys a few years younger than me walk around in dark blue Integrity party uniforms, so it looks like there are Guards everywhere, even in Windhaven. Things are changing.

A few evenings ago, Caroline and I waited at table at Stamford College, where Professors Wylie, Matthew, and Huyldrich hosted the famous Varinian scholar Ulrike Freudenberger. I could tell the Gunnish professors felt a little bit awkward about our custom for women students to support themselves through the WLA, performing all sorts of menial tasks. My old employer, Dr. Blackthorn, broke the ice by making jokes about it and throwing his red hair back, laughing.

The conversation kept turning back to national embarrassments. King Ricimer about to come while the Gunnish royal family in disarray, and the Queen Mother so unpredictable (It seems now the Gunns want to crown here now, while the Keiths have switched to support Joachas!). Eiffelland's condemnation of the attack on the Ayr journalist. The general overreaction to Princess Julian's "vacation." Dr. Blackthorn was very drunk when he looked with mock seriousness at Dr. Freudenberger and said, "You've studied the Secrets of Gunni, so you know the prophecies are coming true now. Kings fall from the sky, and babes take crones for queens."

All levity aside, there is trying to cover up the princess's disappearance, Jack. As soon as she returned to Windhaven, her companions, Ashild Skov and Maddie MacNicholls, were conveniently whisked off to the highlands to work for the Wilsons. I told Red Bess Stoke down at the WLA that I thought Julian was kidnapped for speaking out for women, but she said, "Don't be silly. Julian is not going to change things in this country on the Jimmy Boswell Show." But she never said that Julian was not kidnapped by Integrity, or her family, or the Keiths, or the Church, and held for a week in a basement on "vacation" in in Trivodnia.

Say a prayer for my APO in a few weeks. My WLA ticker jumped Robin Lang's last week and is now second only to Curna MacRae's.

Sorry to say your Far Northerners have fallen eleven games behind the Bloody Socks. There here in Windhaven tomorrow. Then next week, who knows, maybe you'll have shore leave to see the Dockyard Derby. If not, get that visa!


Love, your sister,

Kate​



NOTE: Perhaps of special interest to [MENTION=125]Trivodnia[/MENTION] and [MENTION=7]Varinia[/MENTION].
 
Last edited:

Gunnland

FTR
Joined
Nov 1, 2006
Messages
2,035
Location
Virginia, USA
Capital
Windhaven, Gunnland
Wherein political details and new hopes for a leader

The Marian University dominates Gunnish politics, and has since the fifteenth century. In those years, the scholars' bench was added to the Thing to manifest the power of the Church and its theologians, and the King's jurists of Tiburian law. Its three ancient colleges, Stamford, St. Fergus, and St. Thomas, are among the wealthiest landholders in Gunnland. The university has gradually grown more independent of the Church and the royal family, but it still attracts well-connected elites. This is the reason why the government of Gunnlands sometimes poetically referred to as "the Capitollium," the name of the Marian's faculty of philosophy, theology, and law.



No. 134
St. Bernard, 1957

Dear Gunnishman,

There is a heat wave in Windhaven, with temperatures up to 30C/86F for the past two days. Usually this would make sleepy August even sleepier in the capital, but not this year.

"Heated" describes also the special by-election for the Thing. Thousands of petitioners called for Matthew O STOLMAND's ouster. Now I know the prime minister and the Cardinal asked Matthew to step down quietly after his widely reported and impolitic comment that he "hopes someone is investigating Princess Julian's disappearance seriously." It was disrespectful and uncalled for, especially with the rumors flying around. Integrity is backing James B BLACKTHORN, a prominent medical doctor, for the Windhaven seat. The Liberals their candidate at a rally tomorrow evening, but it is likely to be (my friends tell me) John K SKYLAW, a philosophy professor at the Capitollium. Coincidentally all three candidates were alumni of Virgin's College at about the same time.

Whomever one supports, partisans are taking a vile pamphlet war too far. The trash litters the street, calling Mr. STOLMAND a "secret atheist," "anti-Catholic," a "bastard child," and a "homosexual with a train of catamites." Other pamphlets describe Dr. BLACKTHORN as a "Prometheist," a "warmonger," and (for good measure) a "white slaver," the last accusation based on a rumor that he used his influence to secure a woman who refused to marry him as a ward, against WLA rules.

These two men are, in fact, respectable members of our community. Mr. STOLMAND is the ablest civil servant in Windhaven, keeping the Home Office running despite all its challenges. And Dr. BLACKTHORN is well-regarded as one of the leading surgeons in Gunnland. I think Mr. MacMENNA, the Justiciar, should start locking young men up for libel and sending them back to their clans for keepsafe.

The international press, I notice, is reporting on the by-election as . But the by-election is less about partisan spirit, which is not as strong in Gunnland as it is in other countries, and more about an ancient code of honor. There are things leaders should know not to say, and Mr. STOLMAND, despite my great respect for him, has not taken the high road and apologized for his mistake.

1st division baseball: ST TEARS 72-53, WINDHAVEN SHELVING 67-57, SUTHERLAND SEAGUARD 62-65, DALMYRE 61-65, , FAR NORTH 59-66.

The Women's Fell Race, the prestigious ten-mile race out the Eastwatch Road across the hills of the bend in the Wash, ran last weekend. Results: 1st: AC ROBB, 2nd: CX FAOLAIN, 3rd, MO BLUM. The results will drive up CX FAOLAIN's stock at the Working Ladies' Association annual public offering, which will take place on the first weekend of September, the day before the special by-election.

The Bulawayo Bouts, the charity boxing tournament which supports an Order of St. Fergus mission in Loago, is almost upon us this Saturday. Most anticipated is the middleweight matchup Gregory C MacCONNOR and Airgid L FLOYD.

I raise a glass of Glenwillie. To our late king (may perpetual light shine upon his face) and country.


Your servant,

Dr. Walter A Matthew, MT-Marian 4
Windhaven, Gunnland​


NOTE: Those unfamiliar with Windhaven may consult this map: . Eastwatch Road actually runs westward, out into the fells near St. Mary's-By-the-Wash [17].

Those who may not have seen the AP story on the internal divisions in Gunnland's ruling political party, Integrity, may find them here:
 
Last edited:

Gunnland

FTR
Joined
Nov 1, 2006
Messages
2,035
Location
Virginia, USA
Capital
Windhaven, Gunnland
Wherein Stoker takes over the letters circular

To be the most powerful woman in Windhaven, you might joke, is like the sanest man in a lunatic asylum. Elizabeth "Red Bess" MacAllister Stoke runs Windhaven Free Press and the Working Ladies' Association, which means she supplies the men of Windhaven with their morning papers and their "wards" (that is, their maids), but she is still technically a ward of Walter Matthew. But today, she catches her big break, as it will turn out.


No. 136
St. Louis, 1957

Dear Gunnishman,

The stakes of the Windhaven Thing election are high, which will explain why I am writing this letter from Dr. MATTHEW's notes. Integrity sees a new national leader in the medical doctor James B BLACKTHORN: handsome, well-connected, charismatic, and reportedly interested in a long political career. Liberals see a chance to change the balance of the Thing in favor of their coalition with Covenant.

Philosophy professor John K SKYLAW announced his candidacy on the steps of the Capitollium this afternoon, and said the defining issue of the election would be equal rights for women. At one point he said that the ward system was "our equivalent of the plantations of Himyar" but the comparison was not fair because "Gunnishmen would never let a Seraphina Underwood rule them!" At that point, Dr. MATTHEW stood up and punched him in the jaw, and the gathering descended into chaos. Dr. MATTHEW was arrested and is still being held by the uptown constable.

The spectacular punch was not the only surprise. Immediately after the fracas, the Liberals announced that they would not endorse SKYLAW, as expected. A surprise came: the Liberals endorse the incumbent, Matthew O STOLMAND, who was switching parties from Integrity to the Liberal Left.

Integrity has been badly outmaneuvered. Credit should be given to liberal opposition leader Theo G LARKIN, and his strategy of fielding popular moderate candidates in the Three Free Cities, forging a strong alliance with the (Keith/MacLeish-run) Covenant, and keeping the more radical Ayr-Arundel liberals in check. STOLMAND ought to keep his seat easily, if he wins the votes of many of his old Integrity supporters, and now controls a sizeable number of liberal voters in Windhaven. I shall keep you posted on this pivotal election until Dr. MATTHEW is able to return to his duties.

For you troglodytes who only subscribe to these letters for the baseball scores, St. Tears is still three and a half games ahead of Windhaven.

Your servant,

Elizabeth A Stoke
Windhaven, Gunnland​

Perhaps of interest to [MENTION=16]Engellex[/MENTION].
 

Gunnland

FTR
Joined
Nov 1, 2006
Messages
2,035
Location
Virginia, USA
Capital
Windhaven, Gunnland
Wherein Wylie tries to get Blackthorn elected

This is a rare letter to find, the sort of letters that spymasters collect. A spook would have to pay the MacLeishes (who steam sealed letters and read their sailors' mail) a lot of money to acquire a copy of this letter. After all, everyone knows that Professor Robert Wylie is one of the most powerful men in Gunnland, an eminence grise in Windhaven even after he walked away from politics. Perhaps especially now that he is in the background.



St. Monica, 1957

John X Faolain, AB
MV Lord of the Isles

Dear Jack,

I wish I was with you in Rurikgrad. I'll explain everything.

Dr. Blackthorn came to the Wylie house last night, drunk and "dark," sure that he will lose the election to Matt Stolmand. Robert and Caristiona sat down with him, but he was awfully angry: calling Stolmand a "damn crafty queer," and blaming Robert for urging him to run for office. "It will be a hell of a campaign, Jake," I heard Master Robert tell him. "But you have more chin than Matt. Keep taking punches, and I'll win you the round."

Then Robert came to find me, and caught me eavesdropping. On his orders, I am writing this on the early train to St. Tears, where I am taking a letter to Fr. "Gregoire Grimoire" Keiper. His ward, Catriona Simms, is good friends with Ayr's MT, Catherine Birmingham. Robert wants her, the Birmingham woman, to campaign for Jack Skylaw and split the liberal vote. He is prepared even to give her what she really wants: the first fellowship at the Marian University for a woman.

Do you remember Jack Skylaw? He lived below us when I worked for Joseph Brog, and would always tell me how beautiful I was. Jack was sweet, but he could be so strange and moody. Remember I was so afraid that he would pick up my contract, the year that Adam Gyldenvand did?

I was foolish enough to ask Robert two questions last night. Why not just telephone Fr. Keiper? Because Oats MacMenna and his men listen in through the switchboards, and though the Guards are normally Integrity supporters, Josie and some of the others are playing a double game with Kadikistan and the communists!

But it was the second question that almost made me cry in front of him. Why would Jack Skylaw stay in a race he knew he was going to lose? He didn't have to tell me the answer. He just gave me a hug and said, "I'll look after you, Kate." He is going to sell my contract to Jack Skylaw, locked in at a favorable rate, at next week's APO.

Red Bess Stoke was coming into the house while I was leaving. I must have still been crying, because she told me, "You won't be the last girl traded for votes before this bad business is over. Why do you think the election was scheduled to coincide with the APO?" I had to catch the train, so I never got to ask how she fits into Robert's plan to get Jake elected, but there she was.

My part in the plan, anyway, leaves me upset I cannot see you, and tell you all of this news myself.

Your sister,

Kate​

 

Gunnland

FTR
Joined
Nov 1, 2006
Messages
2,035
Location
Virginia, USA
Capital
Windhaven, Gunnland
Gunnland lives in the past. No true press or public sphere interferes with the royal court or the Thing. This traditionalism is one thing Rousseau praises in The Government of Gunnland (1770). The "royal clan" and the country itself still bears a form of the name "Gunni," the ancient founder who came from across the water to St. Tears as an invader. Institutions are ancient and baffling: the medieval Book of Gunni is perhaps the world's oddest and most confusing constitutional law; the system of talents, franks, cumals, and wergulders, based upon the value of medieval human beings, is likewise confusing. Gunnish liberals argue these institutions need to go, if equal human rights are ever to come to the country in the twentieth century.


No. 137
Pope St. Pius X, 1957

Dear Gunnishman,

Dr. MATTHEW has been summoned to St. Tears, to sit before HH CHERRA in a royal inquest into his fistfight with John K SKYLAW. The Stone Chair looks unkindly upon the disgraceful conduct of many sides in the three-way race to represent Windhaven in the Thing.

Surprisingly, Professor SKYLAW came to MATTHEW's defense, on legal grounds at least. Speaking to a large crowd in Alexander Square, he said, "It's 1957, and we're talking about habeas corpus! Our traditions are not enough to defend us in the government's permanent state of emergency. We need rights written into law!"

Although the Liberal Party is backing the favorite, Matthew O STOLMAND, the radical philosophy professor, SKYLAW, is not dropping out of the race, and has continued to press his message of equal rights for women. Princess JULIAN made an appearance at the rally, but did not speak. Yours truly, the author, said a few words about how the Working Ladies' Association has made progress for women's rights for 35 years now. What were once lawless practices of woman-stealing and even white slavery are now well-ordered markets where women are free to sell their labor without selling their souls. But, I said, more progress needs to be made.

The radical independent candidate gained an important endorsement. Catherine L BIRMINGHAM, MT-Arundel, appeared at the rally to announce she was supporting SKYLAW, and his campaign against the "harems and seraglios" of Windhaven. She shouted that women come to the capital in search of advancement, at the university or in athletics, but law and custom forces them into "exploitative, and often sexually exploitative relationships." And she described herself as the survivor of one such relationship. "Women are traded like cattle to buy and sell elections," she concluded, "People are money in this country still! It's time to stand up and say that a thousand years of the cumal, that the age of the bondmaid that Gunni brought to this land from over the water, is now over!"

She is a powerful speaker. However, I want to make it clear that I support the cause for women's rights in Gunnland despite, rather than because of, this overblown rhetoric. Nobody knows the conditions that women in Windhaven work in better than I do. It is disrespectful to the work of real reformers for these radicals to swoop into our city and act as if no progress has been made since the age of Gunni.

Dozens were injured in a a massive brawl at the Sword and Ship that broke out between supporters of James B BLACKTHORN and Matthew O STOLMAND. Witnesses report that the fight began when the two candidates confronted each other in the pub, which has a long history as a pro-Gunn, pro-Integrity establishment, claiming the other didn't belong there. Rivals from their university days, BLACKTHORN and STOLMAND have a long personal history. Their supporters escorted them off the premises as chaos ensued. No arrests were made. Since the fight, both campaigns have been quiet.


Your servant,

Elizabeth A Stoke
Windhaven, Gunnland​

NOTE: For those unfamiliar with the city, Alexander Square is [3] on the map of Windhaven here:

NOTE: The international press has run a story on the wardship system, for those unfamiliar:
 
Top