The Summer Queen

There are no restrictions on social class, but the Summer Queen must be the girl born within the borders of the West Leaf March at the closest time to midday on midsummer, twenty years before the title is officially bestowed. The Summer Queen may be a maiden or may be married. If she is married, her husband receives a temporary honorific as the Summer King, but this title carries much less significance.

Midwives in West Leaf March keep meticulous records with the exact dates and times of all births, but the custom of the Summer Queen makes it especially important to have accurate details for any girls born in high summer.   Within a month of the end of midsummer, the details of every birth have been collated and the future title holder is known in advance, as the latest addition to a fully defined sequence stretching over the following twenty years.   Very occasionally, some tragedy might later strike down the girl that would have taken the title and if there is such an untimely death, the records must be consulted to find the next closest birthday of the qualifying future summer queen. Therefore birth records of girl children in particular who might possibly qualify are always retained for at least twenty years.

The Summer Queen is crowned at the High Sun Fair, a gathering that is always held exactly one month before midsummer. The location of the High Sun Fair, moves around the towns of the West Leaf March which are large enough to hold it. The Summer Queen's short reign only ever lasts for two months, ending at the end of the month following midsummer.

The title of Summer Queen is and always had been, a purely ceremonial role. When the West Leaf March had true kings and queens, the Summer Queen would begin her reign on the day after the High Sun Fair with a symbolic visit to the royal palace to give and receive the blessings of the rulers of the land. Now that there are no kings and queens at West Leaf, this duty is no longer required.

The Summer Queen opens local village fêtes, presides over agricultural contests and opens the dancing at the Midsummer Fair.   Her most important responsibility, however, is generally considered to be the judging of the High Summer Well Dressings, which she undertakes in the second week after midsummer.

The role is considered a great honour. Gifts of food and drink and all manner of traditional trinkets are bestowed on the Summer Queen as she travels far and wide within the West Leaf March.

The custom of the crowning and short reign of the Summer Queen each year, is a unifying force within the West Leaf March which spans many centuries and has taken place under different forms of government without interruption. Symbolically, it illustrates the transient and random nature of fame and power but also celebrates how it can pass to any social class.

There have been some famous Summer Queens who just occasionally made a longer impression on history than their brief two month reign might otherwise suggest. The twin sisters Lyra and Lira were born slightly after midday. Lyra famously abdicated at the High Sun Fair, ceding the crown to Lira in a touching gesture of sibling love which finally healed a rift that had grown between them, throughout their childhood. This occasioned floods of tears within their immediate family and friends, who recognised Lyra's sacrifice but were caught by surprise by her gesture.   The Summer Queen Branwyn was heavily pregnant and gave birth at the Midsummer Fair. Her daughter Brenna, twenty years later, would become the only Summer Queen to have followed her mother into the role.