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Baronial Activities

[Diplomacy] [Ambassadors and Wardens] [Bartholomew's Spell]
[Baronial Shell Game] [Baronial Noughts and Crosses] [Banners and Standards] [Inflammatory Maps] [Crown Event Activities]

When Bartholomew and I stepped up as Baron and Baroness of Southron Gaard in AS39, we expected to put a fair wodge of work into the Barony -- and we weren't wrong! We spent a lot of our time looking at what sort of activities and resources would be useful to make the game easier, more interesting and more fun for people, to give folk a chance to try out new ideas or skills or stretch their boundaries. Here is a motley selection of some of the things we have done over the years. To get an idea of where the Barony is now, and its broad range of activities, take a look at the Southron Gaard Website.

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Diplomacy

The Festival War

At our investiture feast (AS39), King Stephen announced that it would please him greatly if the Crescent Isles groups would find a common cause on which to declare war on a mainland barony. We cast around for a suitable opponent and pretext, and were delighted when Arnfinr, Baron of Ynys Fawr, came to the party:

Unto their Excellencies Sir Inigo, Batholomew, Lady Francesca and Sir Ulf, do their Excellencies Arnfinn and Aine, Baron and Baroness of Ynys Fawr, send their most infernally warm greetings.
It is with great pleasure and anticipation that we enter into discussions with thee on the matter of ownership of the wastes of the south, and of your future inclusion within the principality of Ynys Fawr.
Whilst we reciprocate thine most appropriate peacable yearnings, it is clear that for the stability of the Kingdom and to avoid any future confusion over the ownership of the wastes of the south, we must force ourselves from our comfortable homes to the battlefields of Rowany, to not only decide upon the issue of the wastes, but to invite thee under our wing, and of course Gottmark wouldst make a fine addition to our realm.
Your most bold and erroneous missive hast been received, and our corrective post shall be despatched forwith.

After some to-ing and fro-ing hither and yon, the groups set forth this joint declaration at Festival Closing Court:

Unto Their Most Noble Majesties, Stephen and Mathilde, rightful rulers of the Kingdom of Lochac, do Bartholomew Baskin and Katherine Kerr, Baron and Baroness of Southron Gaard, Inigo Missaglia and Cecilia Lyon, Baron and Baronness of Ildhafn, and Lady Francesca Martini, Seneschal of the Shire of Darton, send this most humble and urgent appeal.
We welcome the chance to have a consultation and meeting with You and with the rest of the Principal Men of the Kingdom, as to provision for remedies against the Dangers which are in these days threatening to cause Unwelcome Alarums, viz that about Your Highnesses are those who appear to be Insatiable and Covetous, that daily and nightly persist in Erroneous Belief, and who even now offer Threats to the southernmost parts of Your realm.
We ask You therefore to consider these points:
Item. We say that certain of Your lords have cast Covetous Eyes at the mighty extent of the Crescent Isles, termed by some Gottmark, and have made it known that they would forcibly annex our lands to their would-be island Principality as part of their Over-weening Ambition to rise above the lowly place that their current geography grants them.
Item. We say that further to this the Baron and Baroness of Ynys Fawr have falsely claimed sovereignty over the Great White Southern Land, which has ever been under the guardianship of Southron Gaard, first as Shire and, in more recent times as Barony, as part of our greater lands.
Item. We say that such claims are false, for not only was Southron Gaard first granted such territory at its founding a Score and more of years ago, but just one dozen years past the peoples of the Crescent Isles, termed by some Gottmark, fought and won a series of Mighty Battles in the Pen Gwynne War to demonstrate to Your rebellious subjects then that Might and Right were on our side in this cause.
Item. We say that Ynys Fawr, by describing those broad, beautiful and austere lands as “the wastes of the south” has demonstrated clearly their Ignorance of the true character of those parts, whereas we are well familiar with our southernmost lands having on many occasions undertaken Progresses through them.
Item. We well know that one cannot blame all the folk of Ynys Fawr, nor all those that are about Your Majesties’ Persons, nor all gentlemen nor yeomen, nor all men of law, nor all bishops, but all such as may be found guilty by just and true inquiry and by the law, of making false claims to the Crescent Isles, termed by some Gottmark, and erroneous claims to the guardianship of the Great White Southern Land.
Item. We are concerned that this False Counsel could lead to the loss of Law, the destruction of the common people, the loss of Safe Passage on the seas, and that such Bellicose Murmurings may well have the Court so beset that none can pay for meat nor drink with all monies drained into the unfertile fruits of War.
Therefore we ask only that the aforementioned False Baron and Baroness retract their Groundless Claim to such overlordship, repudiate their Expansionary Ambitions and apologise for their Error.
Should such a Retraction, Repudiation and Apology be not forthcoming from the aforesaid Baron and Baroness by year end, we would feel duty bound to find cause to have our Rights defended upon the Field of Valour and elsewhere as may be required. We would ask, bearing in mind the Fidelity and Love in which we are bound to You that, at the time of Festival next, we may regard ourselves as free to undertake Such Action as may be necessary for dealing with disputes of this kind.
And we further pray that should such be the case, then Justice will see the True Barons, Lords and Knights, and all Your true liege men sent unto Festival next, to act to help and Support us in our cause, for whatsoever he be that will not these defaults assist to amend, he is falser than a Saracen. Thus indicating to the misguided leaders of Ynys Fawr that such bellicosity, covetousness, greed, avarice and Historical Error will not be tolerated within the borders of this fine Kingdom.

The format of the text was based partly on Jack Cade's Proclamation of Grievances from 1450, and the content primarily on the letter from Simon de Montfort and Gilbert de Clare to Henry III. The latter was actually a justification for why those Barons were rebelling aginst their King, so I was lucky no-one recognised it. After all, Henry III pretty much told Simon to push off, and it could have made a great riposte. As it was, some people took it for treason!

Various missives, secret and otherwise, were printed in the Scurrilous Rag, the Rowany Festival chapbook I put together, and all was on for the Festival War, with the Crescent Isles leading the charge against Ynys Fawr. We won. Mightily. In every arena. And a great time was had by all.

The Great White Southern Lands?

The references to the Great White Southern Land were part of a long-standing claim that Southron Gaard has had to the territories to the Far South. We were begun by people who had travelled to these parts to work upon the Ice and, over the eyars, had fought a number of battles over the lands, most notably the Pen Gwynne War. (For more on the history and claims, see the material here.)

Part of our own claim had been the uncontestable statement that we were the only Barony in the Kingdom, yea the very Known Worlde, where both the Baron and Baroness had taken the time and trouble to visit the Great White Southern Lands, meet its people and inspect its defences. It was definitely ours, de jure et de belli!

And just to show I'm not joking, here's the evidence:

This is me on my trip down to the Ice on a media fellowship in Season 97-98. Not that medieval I know, but there's a very limited luggage allowance, so the basic tabard was it, tucked in under all the Extreme Cold Weather gear. I'm sitting on top of Observation Hill just down the road from McMurdo and Scott Base. I've got a shot somewhere of the tower carved into one of the ice blocks we used in building a snow hut to over-night in.


This is Bartholomew the Bear, who accompanied Bartholomew the Baron on his expedition to the Great White Southern Lands in 1999/2000. (He'd been so annoyed with me for making it down there he went off and took a post-graduate diploma in Antarctic Studies which included a trip to the Ice). He photographed his namesake all over the place carrying his lion dormant gules (see this Gallery for more). In this case, you can see Bartholomew is hanging out in a place of high heroics -- Scott's Hut at Cape Evans.

The Outcome

The outcome of the Festival War was amusing -- we won the right to pay tax, and have done so dilgently (His Majesty AEdward received a penguin mother and chick; Her Majesty Gudrun a Freisian cow which mooed when packed, His Majesty Hugh gained a seahorse). We also were awarded a citizen from Ynys Fawr, the good Baron Hrolf Herjolfsson, who has long been associated with Lochac's claims to the Great White Southern Lands. I researched suitable contracts, indentures and concords to find something on which to base our formal acknowledgement of our new member of the populace. The Medieval Sourcebook had a number of interesting period examples, including John I's Concession of England to the Pope of 1213 and a concord made between Laurence the Clerk, Son of William & Sir Simon, son of Richard of Stanstead and their kinsmen round about 1150.

Next thing to do was to see how such documentation was presented. Dr Diane Tilittson's Medieval Writing site has excellent information in this regard. I followed a fairly standard approach of inscribing two copies of the agreement on a single piece of paper head-to-head, with a chirographum or set of characters written in the space between the two. These were sometimes words; in our case, I used the initials of the parties involved: HH, BB, kk. We had a seal attached to either end of the paper to denote us -- the Canterbury Faire four-leaf clover token. The concord was despatched to a Crown event, where Baron Hrolf added his seal and a zigzag line was then cut through the initials so that each party would have a copy and they could be clearly demonstrated to come from the same stock.

The Concord

Be it known to all here present and future that due to the Great Deeds of Festival last, a concord has been made between Bartholomew and katherine, Baron and Baroness of Southron Gaard, and Baron Hrolf Herjolfsson, once resident of the Barony of Ynys Fawr in this way, viz.:
That the aforesaid Baron Hrolf Herjolfsson from this hour forth will be counted among the faithful members of the Barony of Southron Gaard.
And further that he promises he shall not bring it about by deed, word, consent or counsel, that any person of said Barony will lose life or members or be taken captive, that he will impede their being harmed if he know of it: otherwise as quickly as he can will he tell of it to such persons as he believes will inform them.
Any counsel which the Baron or Baroness of Southron Gaard entrusts to him in person or through envoys or through letters, he will keep secret, nor will he disclose it to anyone to their harm, unless there be instructions otherwise.
He will aid to the best of his ability in holding and defending against all men the patrimony of the Barony of Southron Gaard, most particularly the highways which lead to the Great White Southern Lands.
And pay such tax as may be deemed fit.
And that the aforesaid Baron and Baroness of Southron Gaard will treat with Baron Hrolf Herjolfsson in goodly fashion as befits his rank and advanced years, showing him due courtesy as they do to all persons resident within their Barony, according him all the rights and privileges pertaining thereof.
And in this way, have Bartholomew and katherine, Baron and Baroness of Southron Gaard, and Baron Hrolf Herjolfsson become concordes et amici in perpetuity. And in order that this concord may be held in high regard, and accepted by all faithful people in the future, we have caused this concord to be scribed as a suitable testimony.

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Noughts and Crosses

When the Festival War (see above) came to an amicable and satisfactory conclusion, I presented a set of baronial noughts and crosses to all the baronies involved, to represent that we should only ever get cross as a game or all will be for nought (ahem!).

My mother and I had spent an afternoon making clay tokens stamped with the tower of Southron Gaard and the lymphad of Ildhafn, as the two main groups of the victorious side. These were glazed in our baronial colours -- yellow for the tower and blue for the lymphad -- and then fired.

At a Southron Gaard Struff Night I had the assistance of many members of the populace in making bags with noughts and corsses boards laid out in ribbons and beads, to produce 11 sets to cover the baronies of Lochac.

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Ambassadors and Wardens

It behooves a barony to keep an eye on friends and foes alike, so we had fun appointing a number of Wardens and an Ambassador.

Ambassador to Caid

Unto Their Majesties Dirk and Chamayn of the Kingdom of Caid and the people of Caid, warm greetings from Bartholomew and katherine, Baron and Baroness of Southron Gaard in the Kingdom of Lochac.
Please accept from the hand of Sir Philippe de Tournay these credentials as our Ambassador to Your mighty and most cultured Kingdom.
While he has for too long been resident outside our fair Barony, Sir Philippe bears our utmost trust and confidence as a man of honour and modesty, well able to make representations on our behalf to your esteemed Selves.
You may know better than we those Qualities which but recently caused him to be created a Knight in your Realm, but rest assured that those Qualities were early recognised and have long been celebrated in his Homeland (notwithstanding his Unfortunate Encounter with the Goblins).
We therefore entreat that you be willing to always give Sir Philippe Your ear when he approaches you with counsel concerning our humble affairs. As a small yet well-fortified and industrious land at the edge of a very large world, we may some day have cause to call upon our ties with your most Illustrious Kingdom, and we hope you will look favourably on such requests.

Sir Philippe acquitted himself well, bringing changes to the Crown to our attention. I even had a gentle from another Kingdom ask me for advice regarding ambassadorial appointments so he could present himself to the Crown of Drachenwald -- at a time when the Lochac Count and Countess Alaric and Nerissa were about to ascend to that throne.

Wardens et al

We have made a number of appointments -- Paladin of the Caidan Coast, Captain of the Southern Reaches and Warden of the Northern Marches -- to help guard our shores and shore up our diplomatic efforts. Of these, the Warden of the Northern Marches had the most play. The first one was Sir Ulf de Wilton, of Darton; admittedly those marches are a little north of Southron Gaard's actual lands these days, but given his long ties with the Barony, it seemed meet. Certainly we were amused to receive the following missive from him in time for Baronial Anniversay AS 39 when there was Talk of War:

From Ulf de Wilton, Warden of the Northern Marches, to Bartholomew and katherine, Baron and Baroness of Southron Gaard, Greetings.
Please do not be alarmed at the rumours regarding fortification building in Darton. This is not a prelude to any aggression, only an attempt to return the walls of Darton to the state of prior years. No taxes due to the Crown are being used for construction costs, and the seige engines are only experimental and only useful for defence.

How reassurring....Our next Warden was Lady Cynefryth the Dutiful from the Household of the Windy Plains in the Crown Lands, somewhat north of Darton....now, if only we could find a suitably cooperative person from Ildhafn's Canton of Cluiain....

Near the end of our tenure as Baron and Baroness of Southron Gaard we were contacted by two lovely gentles then residing in the Great White Southern Lands. Lord Roderick of Iona and the Honourable Lady Muirgheal Dolgfinnr offered to keep an eye on our interests in those parts and we were delighted to take up their kind offer. We sent them an appointment as our Wardens of the Great White Southern Lands and a token bearing Southron Gaard's tower.

It was very fortuitous that when the Baron of Ildhafn, Emrys Tudor, newly come to his power in AS43, started to make threats of territorial aggrandisement -- he amended Southron Gaard's label on the Kingdom Map to read Southern Ildhafn! -- that our staunch Wardens were able to show that flanking maneuveres had already begun:

Southron Gaard's shield on the high plateau of the western part of the Great White Southern Lands, courtesy of Lord Roderick of Iona

As part of our step-down, I made a batch of tokens to give to our faithful folk, representing the "rolling hills of green" referenced in the Southron Gaard anthem for the locals, with a white bead for the Wardens of the Great White Southern Lands, and the colours of the Barony and the Kingdom of Caid for Sir Philippe.

The heart-shaped finding was something we'd used on the tokens for our Court -- when Court members stepped down from their duties, we gave them a token with a red teardrop, representing our affection and the heart's blood shed in service to us and the Barony.

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Bartholomew's Spell

This is nothing to do with me; it's all Bartholomew's work, written and presented at our Investiture Court. But it still makes me sniffle...

For me, the present year is 1170. For nigh on four generations now, the scholars and translators at Toledo - Jews, Moslems and Christians working in concert - have been bringing to us from the Arabic the works of the Ancient Greeks, which had long been thought lost to us.
One of those sages from long ago taught us that the past is a closed book, at best something we can celebrate, or from which we can take guidance. And the future is unknown, unwritten, able to be influenced only by our thoughts and actions in the present. We have only the present, this perpetual shining moment in which to tell each other our stories, to celebrate and learn from our past, and to shape our future.
In this present, as Bartholomew Baskin, Baron of Southron Gaard, in the Crescent Isles of the Kingdom of Lochac in the Knowne Worlde, I know my job: it is to work magic. Accordingly, here is my first spell.
Close your eyes...
In your own past - for some of you over twenty years ago, for others this very weekend - there was a time when you went to your very first event. And perhaps at that event, or perhaps at your second, or your third, an angel gently took your heart, and wrote upon it a love of some of the things that we do in this special world.
It may be a love of martial prowess, of chivalry, of creativity, of pomp and pageantry, of research and discovery, of novelty, of service, of song or dance, of companionship and sharing among the very best kind of friends.
It is still written on your heart, or you would not be here today. Look for it.
Some of you are smiling.
... Open your eyes.
A great man, a great leader, once called upon the "better angels of our nature". Compassion, goodwill, tolerance, enthusiasm and all other good things. These better angels are what you were looking at.
They drive us, they help us avoid and resolve conflicts, they make all things possible which should not be possible. They create miracles. And so, together, in this world, we can work magic of a kind upon one another.
Let these angels be your perpetual shining present, and let them, and only them, shape our Barony's future.
And if you should encounter a newcomer who is wide-eyed and perhaps stands a little amazed at our world, or if you should happen upon a gentle who has not been with us for some time and who has lost sight of their own angel, please sit down patiently with them, and talk with them.
And when you do so, remember this: Let your heart do the talking.

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Baronial Shell Game

I enjoy quick simple games that act as people-mixers. All the better when they have a disguised piece of social engineering for the Good of the Populace....and thus arose the Baronial Shell Game, loosely based on a period Japanese memory game involving shells and matching verses of poetry.

First I collected a large number of similar-sized/shaped shells, ideally matching bivalves -- an easy thing to do on most New Zealand beaches. (You could use large bottle caps or small boxes or other objects, so long as they have a side that can be turned face-down and look very similar.) I sprayed the curved outer side of the shells with gold enamel to make them match as closely as I could. Obviously you ensure you have the correct number of pairs for the memory element you want to include -- in this case, the shells were to contain matching sets of baronial arms and names, to provide 11 pairs; you could try personal arms and names, heraldic charges and their terms, anything so long as it comes in pairs.

Then I did a colour printout of the Kingdom's baronial arms, sized such that one could be readily pasted to the inside of the shell. I used the simplified versions we'd produced for the Canterbury Faire baronial window hangings, as the final artwork was around an inch or so high and a full set of arms would be quite hard to do or recognise at that size. PVA paste was good to fix the arms and the names of the baronies to each pair, and also to paint over the paper used in the printout to make it reasonably robust and waterproof.

To play the game you just put all the counters face down and mix them around. Person one flips over two counters -- if they match, they get to keep them; if not, they flip them back over in place. Person two then has a go. The memory part comes in recalling what has been flipped over and where. I leave them on the hall table at Canterbury Faire and people try playing it at mealtime.

There is some strategy to it, but it's a great game to play with anyone as it tends to be very even between kids and adults. And of course it helps if you know what names go with what arms. Spectators usually help out if it's someone new to the SCA by identifying what the arms are, but they shouldn't be allowed to go so far as to indicate where the matching token is (that leads to knives being drawn...)

And the Machiavellian social engineering? Well, after a couple of games of this, everyone learns the arms and names of all the Baronies in the Kingdom. It helps bind us together and makes us feel a part of the greater whole. It makes those folk coming from other baronies feel more welcomed if people recognise the name of their barony. Even more so if they're playing in the hall at Canterbury Faire as that typically has my large Kingdom Map on one wall, so people start pointing out where the places are. Manipulative? Yes, but in a Good Way.

I'm sure you could dream up ways to add to a more adult libatatory version -- ie down a shot after each wrong pairing...but you didn't hear me say that....

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