Annotated "History of the West" - The History of the Kingdom of The ...

The Origin and History of the Society for Creative Anachronism and the Kingdom of the West
1 “Well, I wasn't exactly flailing about for a name, since as I recall, I had used Steven of the Ashenlands (my real name being
Ashland Steven Henderson. My recollection of why I used the Slaughtering Samurai is basically that the whole thing was still
a game, not the way of life it more-or-less became later. Of course, I missed the second tournament (something about being
at R.O.T.C. summer camp that the government wanted me to do), so I may not have been taking it as seriously as some.” –
Steven MacEanruig
A “At the party were several young women, mostly of high school age (Steven and I were in about our third year of college) who were
interested in coming to the tourney we were talking about. In the end, four did so. Two were dressed in tunic and tights. Two were
in peasant blouses and long skirts. One of the girls in blouse and skirt hit it off with another friend of ours from San Francisco State,
Rod Baird, and the two of them spent most of the tourney wandering about the park, checking in occasionally to see if their
respective rides were still there.” – Stefan de Lorraine
1 “Don't remember the fourth one, but I have no reason to doubt that there was one. Personally I was more interested in one of
the other two, Terry something-or-other, a tall brunette that I had hit it off with reasonably well, though nothing ever came of it.”
– Steven MacEanruig
A “Towards the end of the lists, when it looked like Henrik (using morning star) would be fighting Fulk (using an axe made of plywood
on a broom handle – the swords had all broken, this was BR [before rattan]) in the finals, it was pointed out to Henrik that (1) he
needed a Lady to be Queen of Love and Beauty, and (2) there were these girls who were hanging out with us who weren't taken
yet. He came over to the group, we introduced him, and he looked at the remaining girl who had a skirt on and said, to the best of
my remembrance, "You're wearing a skirt, would you like to be my lady for the tournament?" The girl, Wendy Townsend, said she
would a little dubiously, since she had not much idea of what the position would entail. The other two girls were probably regretting
taking on the Maid Marian look for the event.” – Stefan de Lorraine
1 “I remember the maul and javelin combat well, since I was one of the people in it, Fulk de Wyvern being the other. All javelins
missed. I think we each swung once with the maul. I took his leg and he bashed me over the head with it. I went down like a
ton of bricks and I suppose I'm lucky I didn't break something, like my skull.” – Steven MacEanruig
A “Henrik went on to win, and Wendy was to be Queen of Love and Beauty. Some asked what she should be called, since Wendy
is not a Medieval name (I've seen it written that Barrie invented the name for Peter Pan -- though it seems a natural nickname for
Gwendolyn, but perhaps Barrie invented that, too). I suggested that she change her name slightly to Wendryn, giving it a kind of
pseudo-Celtic flair. She accepted the idea, and used the name in the SCA thereafter. I have no idea whether it is actually any more
Medieval than Wendy ...
“She later became very good friends with Duke Richard of Mount Royal and his Duchess La Rana, so much so that they named
their first daughter Wendryn, and were rather shocked to discover that I had invented the name. But I digress ...
“Wendryn was presented with a floral crown and a scroll declaring her the Queen of Love and Beauty. We were informed by
various of her friends that she spent the next day at high school wandering the halls with crown and scroll telling everyone, "You'll
never believe what happened to me."
“I think that's pretty much the story.” – Stefan de Lorraine, who wonders what has become of Wendy in the 15 or so years since
I last saw her ...
1 “Last I heard she was studying beavers for some advanced biology degree or other, which gave her a lot of opportunities to
make some very bad jokes.” – Steven MacEanruig
2 “Steve's retelling of the Wendryn story offers me a less bulky forum to make a minor correction to a comment from installment
#3 about the third tourney. Wendy was NOT "from the local high school" (which would have been Berkeley high), she was a
classmate and friend of Patti Conrad's (Countess Patrice di Coeur Fidel) at De Anza high in Richmond, roughly 15 miles north
of Cragmont Park. She indeed did wander around the De Anza campus the following Monday with her crown and scroll, it was
the first time that any of us (except Wendy) in western Contra Costa County had heard of the SCA.” – Kevin Peregrynne
January 6, AS I 1967 The First Twelfth Night
As the Berkeley weather forbid any further tournaments outdoors until the spring, and as the Society events were basically scheduled to
fit around the UC Berkeley quarter system, the next event was held indoors on January 6, 1967 at the Mills College Student Union in
Oakland, California. This was the first Twelfth Night Revels. The idea of having Kings had been discussed, and it was decided that the
winners of the lists would be the Kings. Henrik, the winner of the last tourney, was informally referred to as “the king” ... Alfonso de Castile
and his Consortium Antiguum performed. Medieval dances were taught and performed. Siegfried von Hoflichskeit gave the Muckin’ Great
Clubbe to Fulk de Wyvern as a Christmas present.
Comments:
A [... events were basically scheduled to fit around the UC Berkeley quarter system ...] “First time I've heard of this, particularly since
hardly anyone was a student at Berkeley at the time. After all, we were using the Mills College student union because various
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