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
Pournelle was far from poor.) So I said I would for $50, but give the money to Don to incorporate the SCA and perhaps he can raise
the other $50 somehow. Well, Henrik loaned the SCA $25 (which it still owes him, I believe) and I guess Don begged enough from
others to make the needed amount. It seemed like a reasonable idea at the time. I was in favor of growing the SCA beyond the
SF Bay Area (in contrast to a small faction that didn't want it too big for everyone to know everyone else) and thought that having a
national HQ as a coordinating structure would help. So I'm partly to blame for that.
“I didn't become the first West Kingdom Chancellor of the Exchequer in July III. Don took the existing funds ($1.50 annual TI
subs) to the Corporate level of course, and the West had not a penny to its name, nor an officer to be concerned about it until the
following Spring (just after March Crown, III) when King Caradoc, at Crown Prince Siegfried's recommendation, appointed me
Kingdom Ch. of Excheq. I then had to create all the rules and procedures for the office and had to teach the populace to put real
paper money into the helm so we could afford overnight sites that cost $25 to rent (and it soon went way up after Prop. 13 hit the
East Bay Regional Parks very drastically).” – Robert of Dunharrow
1 “Pournelle has told this story for years, with the minor change that he alone paid for the entire incorporation expenses (which
over the years have become a tad more) and he has always felt the SCA was extremely ungrateful in not knighting him for his
efforts.” – Flavia Beatrice Carmigniani
September 2, 1968 AS III BayCon Tourney
Held in the Claremont Hotel, Berkeley, California. The Worldcon committee sponsored a tournament. Earl of Morris won. King Richard
knighted him on the spot. At Baycon the first Handbook of the Current Ages was distributed. A medieval fashion show had occurred three
days previous. Revels followed indoors.
Commentary:
A “Time's arrow is still well before my entrance on the scene, but this post brought a couple of things to mind anyway ...
“The book released at Baycon was titled "A Handbook of the (Current) Middle Ages." It includes such useful tips as that it's a
good idea to use darts in garb because things don't look right to a modern eye without them, plus directions for making the various
scary weapons described in recent correspondence. The SCA admin looked at a reissue somewhere around 1990, but the thought
of what would happen if people read it as official rather than historical made too many people's blood run cold.” – Hilary of Serendip
1 “I’ll have to find a copy to be sure, but I thought the weapons were rattan swords – broad sword and great sword and an axe
consisting of a store bought axe handle with a made made of 2 pieces of belt weight leather (about 1/8" thick) sewn at the
perimeter and filled with stuffing – no flails, no plywood weapons (shields maybe). There may have been a mace included but
I don’t think so. So except for the hardwood axe handle, what’s scary?” – Henrik of Havn
I “Er, well, there's this:
“* In addition to the hardwood handle, the axes have leather heads with striking edges the thickness of two pieces of heavy
leather sewn together. One is a stuffed bag of the type Henrik describes, the other has three additional layers of leather
tapering back from the first (which has the edge all to itself) and just a bit of filling near the haft. The stuffed bag is narrower
than the haft for most of its breadth, with a nice apple-seed edge on the main striking surface and (at least in the picture)
a needle-sharp spike in the back.
“* Although the book does mention that flails are not allowed in tournaments, it says they are OK in melees and
demonstration fights and gives a sketchy description of the difference in construction between a mace and a flail. ("The
head of a flail is fastened on with a chain or swivel.")
“* The head of a mace "should be built up with cloth, rubber, or leather so that it will land a solid impact, but have some
slight amount of 'give' to it." (Rattan is "very satisfactory" for the haft... but there's no mention of its being required.)
“* Duct tape seems not to have been invented. Rattan swords should be planed and sanded, then painted silver and
varithaned.
“* Although rattan sword points are described as rounded, all the ones in the drawings look quite realistically sharp.
“* A good thrusting tip for a shortsword consists of a layer (of unspecified thickness but barely visible on the illo) of foam
rubber covered with electrician's tape.
“* Spears (8') and javelins (5') are made of rattan, with a crutch foot "providing some protection" for a head.”
“Youse guys was tough....” – Hilary of Serendip
a “Yeah, maybe – but the speed and power of today wasn’t generally used then and maybe too – we were just Lucky!”
– Henrik of Havn
b “And that sort of construction continued for quite a while. I recall making a mace a couple of years after that (1971,
to be exact) which consisted of a rattan haft, a wrapping of heavy solder starting 1" from the end and running about
four inches along the haft (to add "proper weight", and "padding"consisting of many layers of socks to give a thickness
of about an inch and a half. Plus a couple layers of duct tape, and a leather grip.
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