News Articles from the Archives

26 Oct 2006 | Draccyning's Keep Tour

As you have probably already guessed by now, my name is Lonnie Colson, and this is my personal web site. I have spent countless hours over the last few years continually improving its content and appearance. It has evolved right along side of me as I have traveled to exotic new locations, experienced the allure of different peoples and cultures, and discovered new and exhilerating hobbies. I have literally invested so much of myself in these pages that I am delighted you have expressed an interest in browsing through my site. I encourage you to get to know a little more about who I am and where I come from. See what common interests or pasttimes we might share. Odds are, that is how you stumbled across my my site.

Right now you are on a tour of my Paladin-Online domain. Last year it grew exponentially to the point that those who have never clicked their mouse on one of its pages sometimes found it somewhat overwhelming in its size. For that reason, I decided to create this virtual tour of LonnieColson.com to better assist you in finding the content that brought you here in the first place. Just browse through the following pages to see which section or sections of my site you are interested in checking out. To go back to the start, just click on the Paladin-Online logo in the top left corner.

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26 Oct 2006 | Draccyning's Keep Tour

Draccyning's Keep can only be described as the very heart and soul of Paladin-Online.com. It is the oldest and most elaborate part of my web site. I is my virtual home on the World Wide Web. Its humble origins can be traced as far back as the winter of 1996, and it has been in a perpetual state of evolution ever since then.

I always envisioned my web site as a virtual castle or keep that is flanked by several massive towers, each holding a horde of information, dedicated to a different aspect of my life. Over time the Keep has grown so large that I could no longer have it hosted on just one ISP user account. It became something more akin to a citadel than a mere castle. That is why I finally made the decision to be my own personal server and host on Paladin-Online.com.

Within the extensive walls of Draccyning's Keep lie a menagerie of different web pages. Each site is unique and retains some strong personal value to me. Colson Heritage is dedicated to my family genealogy and traces back our history to the Middle Ages. Paladin's Hall is my Avalon--my sanctuary. It hosts my Arming Pages, which demonstrate step-by-step how a fifteenth-century English man-at-arms would have been armed for combat on foot. It also contains galleries of images from several Renaissance Festivals from South Texas to Wisconsin. An About Me section tells the story of how the Keep came to be and where the admittedly odd name comes from.

Returning visitors will notice that People and Places, once a large portion of the keep that held collections of personal photographs taken everywhere from deep within the caverns of Monterrey all the way up to the Scottish hightlands has been moved. It is now integrated into My Travel Channel, which can be accessed directly from Paladin-Online. It is host to a growing number of interactive slideshows from my domestic and international trips.

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26 Oct 2006 | Colson Heritage Tour

Who was the first Colson? Where did the name come from? For thousands of years, mankind has questioned the nature of its existence. Across continents and across the centuries, men and women have felt an innate drive to understand where they come from and what role they play in the cosmic scheme of things. For some cultures, ancestors are worshipped, while for others there is simply a lingering curiosity to know their forebearers that never completely goes away.

My Colson Heritage web site has become a vital outlet for the sharing of some of the more interesting facts--and opinions--that I have discovered about my family history over the course of the past several years. I have spent countless hours scouring the World Wide Web for any little piece of trivia that is even remotely related to the Colson surname. With few exceptions, all of the information found on these pages comes as a direct result of the intense labors of other people. Although I am always interested in learning more about my forefaters, you will quickly notice that the site--like most of my other personal interests--has a heavy emphasis on the later half of the Middle Ages and early Renaissance. This era just so happens to be the same time period that surnames began to flourish in use, so it all works out perfectly.

In Colson Heritage I try to separate myth from verifiable fact and dispel some of the false notions that still linger about in books and on the internet. I compare and contrast some of the more popular theories on the origin of the Colson surname. I discuss some of the reasons we see such a wide variety of very similar surnames throughout historical documents. As it has become a rather popular trend to purchase one's family crest, I have at least four, full-color examples of documented Colson or Coulson Coats of Arms. I then do my best to briefly explain what a Coat of Arms really is and, more to the point, what it is not.

In my quest to discover the starting point of the Colson story, I came across several sources that pointed to the Northumbria region of England. There I found that the Colson or Coulson family had a strong presence in the Newcastle area, especially in and around Blenkinsopp Castle. For a time, it was actually owned by a Coulson. I have dedicated an entire web page to Blenkinsopp Castle and its relation to the Colson surname.

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26 Oct 2006 | ARming Pages Tour

I suppose I have been fascinated by the arms and armor of the Medieval world for my entire life. I cannot remember when I first dreamt of owning my very own suit of plate armor, but it was not until 1998 that I was finally able to make that childhood dream a reality. In all, it took about nine months to receive the armor that I commissioned. During that long, excruciating wait, I scoured every corner of the World Wide Web searching for detailed, historical information on the subject of fifteenth century armor and how it was worn. For years, I had studied armor; I had sketched armor; I had played role-playing games centered around armor; I even had dreams in which I was wearing armor; but, until I received my very own harness in the mail, I knew next to nothing about actually wearing armor. I spent hours and hours, sifting through countless sites searching for just one single, detailed, educational web site. I quickly became frustrated with what little information there was readily available. The armor that I invariably saw armor was either laid out on someone's floor or propped up against a wooden stand. Instead of historical accuracy, I discovered a vast multitude of pages filled with nothing more than pure fantasy and speculation. No galleries of pictures; just vague descriptions underneath a few tiny thumbnails.

Finally, out of complete desperation, I decided to build my own site that I would fill with the bits and pieces of aracana that I had uncovered over the course of months and years of research. I laid out over ninety, full-color images that depict exactly how a man-at-arms of the fifteenth century would don and wear a suit of plate armor in graphic detail. I made every effort to ensure that my information is as factual as possible. I believe the images effectively demonstrate the clothing worn underneath and how the individual plates almost seamlessly fit together to the best of my ability. The pages that you will find within are my original production. I have only modified them slightly in several years. I am currently in the process of redesigning the site with newer, high-resolution digital images and a more interactive format. In the mean time, I hope that you will enjoy my Classic version.