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

Comments:
The Origin and History of the Society for Creative Anachronism and the Kingdom of the West
A “While I thought I probably deserved to be a knight, I think there was something of a rush to judgement on this one because I
thought I was going into the Army in the next month or so (Vietnam era, you know). This was referred to in Master Edwin's classic
TI article, printed I think within the year of this event, on when someone should be knighted. As it happened, the Army, who told
draftee Steve Perrin that his once-broken wrist was no big deal and khaki was in his future, told enlistee Steve Perrin that he had
a broken navicular bone and was now category 1-y, which meant I'd be drafted to hand over the surrender papers to the Vietnamese
when they landed in San Francisco Bay.
“This list was also notable because the last rounds were fought inside. As the sun set the wind kicked up and everyone started
getting chill, so the tourney was moved inside despite Richard's protests that the chill would be gone in half an hour. He was right,
but the finals were fought on a hardwood floor. I have no idea if that has happened anywhere since.
“It was quite a rush to be both knighted and given the MGC in the same event. Don Simpson, who was attending these events
at the time, congratulated me on getting "chained, belted and clubbed" all in the same evening.
“Oh yes, earlier in the day, I was challenged by Sir Bela of Eastmarch because "My lady (meaning Karina) can beat up your lady
(meaning Luise)". As it happened, our picnic blankets (pavilions? what pavilions?) were next to each other, and when they heard
the herald announce the challenge, Karina scooped up a paring knife and Luise grabbed a coffee can full of pineapple rice pudding.
But they decided to let Bela and me fight it out, instead. I won, but I refuse to speculate on what relevance that had to the challenge.
“And a further oh yes, I believe this was the first event attended by Randal the Stout, later of Hightower. I think the persona he
chose for the moment was actually his fictional fantasy detective, Lord Darcy.” – Stefan de Lorraine, who also had the honor of
introducing the belly dancing of my lady to the evening's entertainment.
April, 1968 AS II The First “Rules of the Lists” Printed
The May issue (#6) of TI printed the first Rules of the Lists. Also in that issue were the decrees that henceforth the Herald shall keep a
College of Arms and that all members of the nobility should register arms with the College. The Grand March was restricted to the nobility.
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A “The College of Arms was Randal's idea. He moved fast when he saw a group he wanted to belong to. The Grand March being
restricted to the nobility was, I think, a direct consequence of several hassles about who was to march where and when for the
Grand March of the March Crown tourney.
“I believe it was somewhere in here that a rather momentous meeting took place amongst most of the movers and shakers
(with some pointed exceptions) of the SCA at the time. Luise and I were invited by Herald of Breakstone and I don't think that he
necessarily had the permission of the Band of Brothers to do so. I think I've already talked about this meeting, wherein a lot of the
offices were established and their areas of influence were delineated (many continuing to the present day).
“At the meeting were Jon de Cles, Duke Siegfried and his then-wife Marynel of Darkhaven (the meeting took place at their
house), Henrik of Havn and Leanne of Maywood, Karina, Edwin Bearsark, Harald and his then-wife Janet of Breakstone, Randal
of Hightower (and possibly his then-wife Allison, but I don't remember), and others. Notable by their absence were then-king William
the Silent and Queen Sheryl, Richard of Montroyal, and Fulk de Wyvern. I don't recall if any other Hodgheads were present, but I don't
believe they were.
“If I haven't described this meeting before, please let me know and I'll elucidate further. For the moment, I will just say that the
offices of Seneschal, Herald, and Marshal were solidified and some of the hierarchy that continues to this day was established.”
– Stefan de Lorraine, who found all the wheeling and dealing interesting and was probably inspired to join into the politics and
eventually become Seneschal as a direct result of the meeting.
Rules of the Lists – First Ever Printing
“While cleaning up my garage, I found my copies of ancient TI's. It struck me that minor excerpts might be valuable for the annotated
history project. Herewith is the first one, the rules of the lists as of May, 1968, two years after the beginning of the group.” – Steven
MacEanruig
The Rules of the Lists, May 1968, excerpted from Tournaments Illuminated
1. The Head and the Face must be protected from injury. A heavy sabre mask shall be considered minimum protection.
2. There shall be no thrusting except with lance or shortsword.
3. NO Tournament weapons may be made of metal, and no steel may be drawn on the field.
4. The Morgenstern (Morningstar) is banned from the Lists, and may be used only in Melee or in demonstration fights.
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