Last Day

Yes, I know that this is really late but between leaving for the airport at 3:30 AM, connections to Munich, and the arrival in Newark, then the sun was in my eyes, and I stepped on a rock, and then the dog ate the first draft, then we needed to pick up the Motorhome who received some pampering while we were away, then getting settled (groceries, etc.) and having a mild case of Jetious Lagium …… well, here it is anyway 😊

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Our last full day in Helsinki was spent roaming the countryside in a really cool Mercedes “Party Bus”! The seating was sectional, groups facing each other and in the rear the seats lined the perimeter, all facing inwards with tables in front of everyone. Our journey for the day was divided between two places, the little town of Porvoo and visiting with the Count of Malmgard…… Count Erik Cruetz. Yes, he’s a real Count, this particular Manor House goes back 14 generations and portions of the original land holdings still endure, albeit a tad smaller than it was a few centuries ago.

                        Let’s start where we did, in Porvoo. It was a gray, misty, Sunday morning when we arrived. The ‘Old Town” is obviously cute and has mostly wooden structures. This area used a lot of wood as the forests are thick and the masons are not, so the carpenters won out.

                        We arrived a bit early for a Sunday morning, which means that we had the town all to ourselves for a while. Luckily the bakeries and cafes were open as a cup of cappuccino seemed to be on everyone’s mind. Some of the other shops opened soon after we arrived and we were only scheduled for about two hours there as we had an appointment with the Count, and we did not want to keep him waiting! (because he had lots of things to …..count!  Sorry, couldn’t resist!)

                        The Count met us at the front door of the Manor House, which was constructed during the late 1800’s because the family wanted a more ‘modern’ home than was presently there. He was quick to explain that the family did not want the Manor to be museum, that each generation was free to add what they thought would be appropriate for future generations to see and enjoy. Having stated that, he assured us that wanton disregard for the past was not an agenda item either!

                        In today’s society, with its blurring of aristocratic levels and division’s, having a title such as a Count or Baron, Earl or Duke, may seem too be a bit archaic, but the titles do still exist and as long as the holders of these titles are nice, decent people who don’t flaunt their ‘status’ immaturely….. then why not have some fun? There’s a story that comes out of Tallinn. Tallinn with those teeny-tiny lanes and alleys….and the dress of the day included very wide, almost hooped skirts. And really only one of those outfits could be in these narrow lanes at a time. it seems that the courtesy in that day extended to another lady walking head on was to let the lady with the higher title proceed first. I’m sure that you can see where this one is going….. anyway, two ladies meet…. either of the same title or some other de facto issue that caused them to argue over who should give way to who. It gets messy when the escorts of these ladies (who just want to go home and have an ale) have to defend the honor of their lady…..like throwing their coats down over mud puddles and similar chivalrous actions. Arguments ensued, guys got impatient, and finally one of them said, “Since you both seem to be of equal title, why not let the older of you proceed first in recognition of your vast experience.”

                                    To my knowledge they may still be there because it would be a cold day in Tallinn before any Lady would admit that she was older than the other!

                        I’m sure that most of you are familiar with Downton Abbey (and if you are not, please run, sprint, or gallop to your TV’s, find Downton Abbey and sit and watch all six seasons plus the three ‘continuing’ movies, and do not get up until you are finished!) so the bantering about of these titles from that era will be familiar, but still confusing. Who is the Top Dog? And who is last among definite non-equals? (I’ve assembled a list at the end of this Post with the correct ranking of these Titles, just in case you bump into some of your local hob-knobbers and want to make sure that you curtsy in the correct order!)

            You will find that most of today’s ‘Families of Peerage’ need to have other sources of income other than just ‘being’ their titles. In other words, they’ve run their family’s ancient money wells dry and need even more income in order to keep their Manor Houses maintained. Have you ever tried to renovate an existing hundreds of years old home? Just stabilizing them to halt any further deterioration is expensive, never mind improving and bring it up to present-day standards. The Counts present day industries have been alluded to and will be further explained in a few paragraphs from now.

                        First we need to explain the why’s and wherefores’ of the Counts claim to fame (past) so we need to (very) briefly re-visit that Imperial Russian era because that’s when Finland was part of Russia, as an independent Grand Duchy (which means that good ol’ Czar Whoever-Was-In-Power-At-The-Time was  the actual head of state there.) This lasted until that fateful day in 1917 when, courtesy of Lenin and his cronies, there was no more Czar and Finland quickly took this opportunity to vamoose itself from the Russian Empire.

But before its brief inclusion in the Rusky Regime, Finland was part of Sweden for almost 700 years! That probably explains why in Finland signs are often in both languages!

            So, we find ourselves in front of the King Charles IX of Sweden, the year is 1606 and he is listening to the complaining Catherina Hess, a war widow who in a few years will marry Ernest Cruetz…..(there’s our connection to present day, same last name of the Count introduced to you earlier) So the King gives her a big slab of land, and a title that goes along with it, first an untitled ‘rank’, then as a baronial estate, and finally, Ta-Dah! as a  tippy-top Count-level part of Swedish nobility which survives the next 500-plus years and we find it today reinventing itself in more modern times as there are no more serfs, ladies-in-waiting, or footmen to do their bidding!

                        And….. we get to visit his home, take a tour of the old place (which needs a ton of work) (which costs a ton of money) and take a look at what the Count and his estate are presently involved in and very proud of! They are continuing in two veins, one of organic farming, the other in making traditional ales. So far, so good. They have a good reputation for both, we sampled the ales when we were served lunch there and together with some other surrounding organic farms, this region is making headway into that ever-growing market.  

            Apparently, it is far easier to have an organic farm and use those techniques when your neighbor does. The Count informed us that he and the surrounding farms are all have the highest organic certification that can be had and they all cooperate with each other and since they all “do” organics, they can freely borrow each other’s equipment because it hasn’t been tainted with the nasties. Also, because their lands are contiguous to each other, they don’t need to fret about any over-blow from each other of non-organic pesticides, etc. And talk about ‘sustainable’ practices, they even have a historic hydro-electric plant that supplies their electricity!

            All of these efforts show up in the quality of their produce and of course, their brewery products. I don’t like beer, so I don’t drink it. This makes me the wrong person to write about the flavorful aspects of this ancient beverage. I can however relate the fact that they use some ancient grains like ‘emmer’ from which they derive their Emmer IPA, one of the fav’s.

            It was nice to meet an actual person of peerage that laughed with us, spoke about the realities of today’s world, and still needed to be practical when it came to the “Royal Treasury” as it is not as bottomless as it once was. He spoke about having to upgrade the heating system for the Manor House, they’ve decided on Geo-Thermal and also the fact that all of the windows need to be replaced, most of which are well over a hundred years old. And there are over a hundred and fifty of these historical components to be worked on! (And I don’t think that they just call up the local Anderson Replacement Window guy for an estimate!)

            And now, the real reason that you’ve gotten this far… the verily promised list that explains the different ranks in a peerage system! For your perusal and enjoyment…….

Ranks of Peerage

(Most “Royal’ type nations, some countries vary a little bit!)

King/Queen….. unless the Queen gets her title through marriage, in which case she is the King’s Queen, but not a Sovereign. In this case then first born will inherit the Crown.

(King Charles/Queen Camilla)

Queen/Prince Consort…. in this case we have a man married to a Sovereign Queen, he can never be King and is never granted that title.

(Queen Elizabeth/ Prince Philip or Queen Victoria/Prince Albert)

Duke/Royal Duke…. This title always is directly below that of the Monarch. In fact, a Duke/Dutchess may rule a specific area, usually a section of a country. In today’s terms there are not many of these left. There are two duchies in Great Britain, that of Cornwall and Lancaster. Presently the Duke of Cornwall is Prince William, his father King Charles was the previous Duke of Cornwall. This dukedom generates millions of pounds (dollars) per year in income for the Duke. This helps run their estates and provides a source for their philanthropic endeavors. If you are so inclined, there is an article from the April 2012 National Geographic that highlights parts of the Dutchy of Cornwall (particularly the Isles of Scilly) and the then Prince Charles. I remember thinking that he was a pretty good guy after reading about his involvement with the people of the dutchy. (You can just google that article, and Nat Geo should forward it to you)

Marquess…. We don’t hear this one too much, maybe because no one knows how to pronounce it! The holder of this title originally was a large landowner that had the responsibility of guarding the borders of a realm, nowadays it is mostly an honorary (but real) title. And by the way, it is pronounced mark-kwass

Earl/Count…. Used interchangeably by us, varies otherwise by country (Earl in the UK and Count in Sweden) Ok, if you do happen to be a fan of Downton Abbey, this is the title that Robert holds.  Traditionally these guys were larger land holders and as such, they managed the tenant farmers and the like, as well as commanding troops for the Crown. Like most of the others, today it is largely a ceremonial title, but again, a real one. It can be awarded but most of the time it is hereditary.

Viscount…. Here’s another tricky pronunciation for you, it is vai-kount, the ‘s’ is silent. These are quite often members of the House of Lords.

Baron….. the lowest, but still higher than you or me! These faithful servants of the Crown are very similar in scope to their members to the north on this list, the Viscounts.

So, there you have it…. Everything You Ever Wanted(?) to Know about The Peerage System But Were Afraid To Ask! This is the fun stuff, the stuff that you never know may someday appear on Jeopardy!…. now, aren’t you glad you paid attention!