The Hael's First Baronial Champions Event
by Andreas Hak, MP, KSCA, CSy, etc.
In 1974 the Debatable Lands became Aethelmearc’s first barony. At the Eastern Coronation of Bertrand and Allanda held October 14th 1978, Thescorre became Aethelmearc’s second barony. Three short months later, at Twelfth Night in January 1979, the Rhydderich Hael became the third barony in the lands that would become Aethelmearc.
Upon becoming a barony, it seemed to us that we needed to start behaving “baronially.” Beyond the official title of barony, and having had Morgan Elandris invested as Baroness, the next two most important things seemed to be exercising our rights to give baronial awards, and to have a baronial champion. The story of the first baronial award given in March 1979 is told in the article “When the V.O.I.D. Was One”, and the events recounted had some majesty. The first champions event had less majesty, but was exceptionally pleasant.
The first thought back in February was that we would have an event in June. In those days the SCA was much less formal, and scheduled events on a much shorter notice. There was no formally scheduled cycle of events within the Western Marches, newsletters didn’t give much warning of upcoming events, and seneschals did not communicate enough between groups. Just about the time the Hael became a barony there was also a new level of groups and members emerging, and commensurately more events to fill the calendar. The result for the first time in the history of the region was occasional scheduling conflicts.
Imagine if you will, a time when there were only five reliable groups in all Aethelmearc. Events were too rare, and it seemed they were always too far away. As a result, those core groups of Aethelmearc tended to schedule a lot of events to satisfy their local populations. I note that this was also the era of gas crises and intermittent gas rationing.
In and around the Hael, January hosted an informal Twelfth Night celebration for those citizens who were not college students returning home for winter break. Remember that at this time the Rhydderich Hael was physically located in Fredonia, an hour south of Buffalo, and it relied on the Fredonia State College (now University) for most of its population. February held a sporadic Valentine’s Day event. March, then as now, was Ice Dragon. In April the Shire of Beau Fleuve (then located in Buffalo) held their Spring Revel. In May was the annual Firedrake event. In August was Pennsic. In September was Beau Fleuve’s Summer’s End Tourney, and the Hael’s annual Hill Fight and Woods Battle. In Decembers the Hael held the Feast of Goode Friends.
Besides the eight events held between the Hael and Beau Fleuve, Pennsic was already a huge effort. And there was a feeling that the Hael ought to respect the event calendars of the Debatable Lands, Thescorre, and Myrkfaelinn as well as nearby Midrealm events. Into this new situation, and shortly after our official elevation to barony, an event was tentatively scheduled for June. It was added to the calendar as the Summer Grundge Feast & Tourney with the idea that it could be the first baronial champs as well. This did not happen. There was a movement to make a large baronial showing at Pennsic which took a lot of energy, and a June Champions event lost momentum. Eventually the proposed champions event was cancelled, particularly given the June events in other Western Region and Midrealm groups.
As the months passed toward Pennsic it became clear that the calendar was getting more cluttered, not less. Arianna of Wynthrope was seneschale and she made the brilliant suggestion that we have an unofficial event, thereby relieving calendar congestion, but allowing us to have a nice time as a barony. And so the September issue of the baronial newsletter carried a one sentence notice that an event would be held the next month, and it was listed in the calendar. There were no directions, location, or schedule. The barony would know by osmosis, and it would just happen. And it did.
Disclaimer: In my era of chronicling, the Ice Dragon was famous for disclaimers. Here is mine for this article: Much of what follows comes from ancient and uncorroborated memory. I contacted many people to help with my description of the event. None of them could remember much of anything, except that it had happened. I’m winging it here and I will gently suggest that the memory of someone who fought heavy weapons for thirty years might not be the most reliable. But except for the account in the newsletter, it’s all we’ve got for now.
It is my recollection that Arianna autocratted the event. It was put together on short notice and we were scrambling for a site. Eventually I suggested Lake Erie State Park. I had discovered the park when I attended high school outside Buffalo. The park was considerably farther north than any other Hael event site of that era, but still far enough south to avoid conflicting with Beau Fleuve. Of course our unofficial status would have allowed the conflict to happen anyway.
The park had excellent grilling facilities and I thought Norman the Norman, one of the common feastocrats of the era would whip up something special. But Arianna surprised me by declaring the event off-board only. As she explained, there would be no out-of-barony people to impress, and we could give our hard workers a rest. I may have grumbled as I was not then the culinary wizard I am today. It might be fair to say that as a young bachelor I was one step up from a wild animal with furniture. Others might suggest that I was not one step up from a wild animal with furniture. I brought a loaf of crusty bread, a brick of cheese, and an eight pack of Squirt grapefruit soda for my feast. I bought it on my way to the event.
The event was actually held on October 20, 1979, and it was wonderfully casual. Because the site was farther away from the heart of the barony then any prior local event, attendees wandered in gradually from ten to noon. There had been no schedule of events posted; there was no set tourney time, no feast time, no court time. Svid and I arrived rather early but didn’t know where in the park to go because the SCA direction signs did not arrive until the second wave of barony members arrived. The weather was excellent, which was taken to be a good omen for the future of the barony.
We gradually got organized in one spot, on a level area near a stand of pine trees. Not far beyond the other side of the pine stand was Lake Erie itself, in all its 1970’s lack of majesty, beautiful, polluted, and almost dead. Eventually we gathered all the fighters present and asked who would participate. There had been some speculation that Morgan herself might fight. At the same event at which the Hael had been elevated to barony, Morgan had been inducted into the Eastern Order of the Tyger’s Combattant establishing her as the premier female fighter in the kingdom. Some people felt the time was right for her to push toward getting knighted. When Morgan was asked if she was fighting she snorted a laugh and flatly answered no. She was the knight marshall of the barony and in charge of the lists and she would not consider a conflict of interest by fighting as well. There was additional good sense behind her answer, as the point was to hold baronial activities and to expand our footprint, not just to heap more job titles on one person.
Of those fighters present, several did not fight for various reasons. I believe we had one out of area fighter, possibly a visiting former Hael member. Miguel comes to mind. Seven fighters declared for the list. I will note that the next two Eastern Crown Tourneys had (I believe) 19 and 17 fighters. Seven fighters in one barony was an amazing number, moreso because not all the qualified fighters fought.
It is my recollection that Elenar Linwen ran the lists that day. With seven fighters it was decided to have a round robin tournament with a final round if needed. I remember the top of the results very well. In fact I still remember several of the fights. Lord Hasdrubal won all of his bouts and became the first Baronial Champion with a 6-0 record. The runner up was Lord Mago who lost only to Hasdrubal: 5-1. Third place went to Andreas Hak who lost only to Hasdrubal and Mago: 4-2. (I note that this was one of the very few tourneys I fought in under that name during that era of ugly carpet armor. I soon joined House Elandris and separated out my fighting persona as Barak Elandris Bostar. I retired that persona about five years later and again fought as Hak.) Dawyd of Gury finished 3-3 losing only to those above him. It is my recollection that the top four fighters used sword and shield in every bout, though Dawyd used a twenty-four inch round shield, while the others used heater shields.
The newsletter account of the tourney dismisses the rest of the list with the sentence, “The rest of us really don’t want our names and results published.” Probably true. My recollection is that Svidrir fought in the tourney, but being qualified only in spear, did not fare well against sword and shield fighters. I believe that Zahava Tchauchik fought in the tournament using polearm; and I note that in that era he contributed articles to the Ice Dragon Newsletter under his non-martial persona of Glino Gilgallen. I feel the remaining fighter may have been Dwarf. Other fighters I think were present who might have filled the last slot in the tournament were Laurel, Lord James O’Neill, and Hylus Bard. I believe that Lady Arianna of Wynthrope and Iredonn Briar were not yet qualified.
There was a lot of informal wind down time after the tourney, including a few pickup fights. Those pickups are where I have vague memories of fighting Miguel, and Hylus who arrived at the event too late to fight in the tourney because of work. Eventually people were herded toward the firepit to eat, though I think I didn’t bother. I thought it was weird that some people had prepared extensive medieval fare for the event. I remember people with whole cooked spiced chickens wrapped in aluminum foil to be warmed around the campfire. After a while Svidrir called our attention and heralded court in his special and sometimes hilarious manner, and Morgan made Hasdrubal her champion. For history’s sake it might be worth noting that the two were mundanely dating at the time.
Other people I believe attended the event who I haven’t mentioned yet included Ruth Baraskaya, Solak Vaslovic, Catalina de la Estrella, Errol Lynn called Housekarl, and Juliet. Arame is another possible attendee. It sticks in my head that there were 28 total attendees, though I have no idea if that is accurate.
What occurred after court was, at that time, the oddest of experiences. We went home. You see, in those days everyone stayed at the event until midnight or later. As long as the event site was open, we stayed. We danced at nearly every event. We reveled and drank and played flirting games. The issue at hand was that Lake Erie State Park was open only during daylight hours: dawn to dusk. As darkness came, we had to pack up and leave. So we did. It seemed so strange. Back then we never wanted it to end. In fact, most events followed the event site closing by holding a post-revel at someone’s home where the partying went on until at least four in the morning. But there were no arrangements for a post-revel. And on October 20, at that northern latitude, dusk comes quite early. So not long after dinner time the event was over. The whole event was no more than nine hours including a little cleaning up afterward.
Svid and I made a ritual journey to Taco Junction for our real feast, and we came to the conclusion that it was a very pleasant event that was inexpensive (the price of gas), and easy. We were used to working hard, event after event. I look back now and it seems the simplest and most innocent of events. The SCA would soon be complicated beyond the point of ever turning back toward simplicity, and much good has come of that. But it is still fun to think back to the simple times now and then. Should anyone have memories to add to this article, please email me at [email protected]. I would love to add others’ personal memories of the event. -June 26, 2012
In 1974 the Debatable Lands became Aethelmearc’s first barony. At the Eastern Coronation of Bertrand and Allanda held October 14th 1978, Thescorre became Aethelmearc’s second barony. Three short months later, at Twelfth Night in January 1979, the Rhydderich Hael became the third barony in the lands that would become Aethelmearc.
Upon becoming a barony, it seemed to us that we needed to start behaving “baronially.” Beyond the official title of barony, and having had Morgan Elandris invested as Baroness, the next two most important things seemed to be exercising our rights to give baronial awards, and to have a baronial champion. The story of the first baronial award given in March 1979 is told in the article “When the V.O.I.D. Was One”, and the events recounted had some majesty. The first champions event had less majesty, but was exceptionally pleasant.
The first thought back in February was that we would have an event in June. In those days the SCA was much less formal, and scheduled events on a much shorter notice. There was no formally scheduled cycle of events within the Western Marches, newsletters didn’t give much warning of upcoming events, and seneschals did not communicate enough between groups. Just about the time the Hael became a barony there was also a new level of groups and members emerging, and commensurately more events to fill the calendar. The result for the first time in the history of the region was occasional scheduling conflicts.
Imagine if you will, a time when there were only five reliable groups in all Aethelmearc. Events were too rare, and it seemed they were always too far away. As a result, those core groups of Aethelmearc tended to schedule a lot of events to satisfy their local populations. I note that this was also the era of gas crises and intermittent gas rationing.
In and around the Hael, January hosted an informal Twelfth Night celebration for those citizens who were not college students returning home for winter break. Remember that at this time the Rhydderich Hael was physically located in Fredonia, an hour south of Buffalo, and it relied on the Fredonia State College (now University) for most of its population. February held a sporadic Valentine’s Day event. March, then as now, was Ice Dragon. In April the Shire of Beau Fleuve (then located in Buffalo) held their Spring Revel. In May was the annual Firedrake event. In August was Pennsic. In September was Beau Fleuve’s Summer’s End Tourney, and the Hael’s annual Hill Fight and Woods Battle. In Decembers the Hael held the Feast of Goode Friends.
Besides the eight events held between the Hael and Beau Fleuve, Pennsic was already a huge effort. And there was a feeling that the Hael ought to respect the event calendars of the Debatable Lands, Thescorre, and Myrkfaelinn as well as nearby Midrealm events. Into this new situation, and shortly after our official elevation to barony, an event was tentatively scheduled for June. It was added to the calendar as the Summer Grundge Feast & Tourney with the idea that it could be the first baronial champs as well. This did not happen. There was a movement to make a large baronial showing at Pennsic which took a lot of energy, and a June Champions event lost momentum. Eventually the proposed champions event was cancelled, particularly given the June events in other Western Region and Midrealm groups.
As the months passed toward Pennsic it became clear that the calendar was getting more cluttered, not less. Arianna of Wynthrope was seneschale and she made the brilliant suggestion that we have an unofficial event, thereby relieving calendar congestion, but allowing us to have a nice time as a barony. And so the September issue of the baronial newsletter carried a one sentence notice that an event would be held the next month, and it was listed in the calendar. There were no directions, location, or schedule. The barony would know by osmosis, and it would just happen. And it did.
Disclaimer: In my era of chronicling, the Ice Dragon was famous for disclaimers. Here is mine for this article: Much of what follows comes from ancient and uncorroborated memory. I contacted many people to help with my description of the event. None of them could remember much of anything, except that it had happened. I’m winging it here and I will gently suggest that the memory of someone who fought heavy weapons for thirty years might not be the most reliable. But except for the account in the newsletter, it’s all we’ve got for now.
It is my recollection that Arianna autocratted the event. It was put together on short notice and we were scrambling for a site. Eventually I suggested Lake Erie State Park. I had discovered the park when I attended high school outside Buffalo. The park was considerably farther north than any other Hael event site of that era, but still far enough south to avoid conflicting with Beau Fleuve. Of course our unofficial status would have allowed the conflict to happen anyway.
The park had excellent grilling facilities and I thought Norman the Norman, one of the common feastocrats of the era would whip up something special. But Arianna surprised me by declaring the event off-board only. As she explained, there would be no out-of-barony people to impress, and we could give our hard workers a rest. I may have grumbled as I was not then the culinary wizard I am today. It might be fair to say that as a young bachelor I was one step up from a wild animal with furniture. Others might suggest that I was not one step up from a wild animal with furniture. I brought a loaf of crusty bread, a brick of cheese, and an eight pack of Squirt grapefruit soda for my feast. I bought it on my way to the event.
The event was actually held on October 20, 1979, and it was wonderfully casual. Because the site was farther away from the heart of the barony then any prior local event, attendees wandered in gradually from ten to noon. There had been no schedule of events posted; there was no set tourney time, no feast time, no court time. Svid and I arrived rather early but didn’t know where in the park to go because the SCA direction signs did not arrive until the second wave of barony members arrived. The weather was excellent, which was taken to be a good omen for the future of the barony.
We gradually got organized in one spot, on a level area near a stand of pine trees. Not far beyond the other side of the pine stand was Lake Erie itself, in all its 1970’s lack of majesty, beautiful, polluted, and almost dead. Eventually we gathered all the fighters present and asked who would participate. There had been some speculation that Morgan herself might fight. At the same event at which the Hael had been elevated to barony, Morgan had been inducted into the Eastern Order of the Tyger’s Combattant establishing her as the premier female fighter in the kingdom. Some people felt the time was right for her to push toward getting knighted. When Morgan was asked if she was fighting she snorted a laugh and flatly answered no. She was the knight marshall of the barony and in charge of the lists and she would not consider a conflict of interest by fighting as well. There was additional good sense behind her answer, as the point was to hold baronial activities and to expand our footprint, not just to heap more job titles on one person.
Of those fighters present, several did not fight for various reasons. I believe we had one out of area fighter, possibly a visiting former Hael member. Miguel comes to mind. Seven fighters declared for the list. I will note that the next two Eastern Crown Tourneys had (I believe) 19 and 17 fighters. Seven fighters in one barony was an amazing number, moreso because not all the qualified fighters fought.
It is my recollection that Elenar Linwen ran the lists that day. With seven fighters it was decided to have a round robin tournament with a final round if needed. I remember the top of the results very well. In fact I still remember several of the fights. Lord Hasdrubal won all of his bouts and became the first Baronial Champion with a 6-0 record. The runner up was Lord Mago who lost only to Hasdrubal: 5-1. Third place went to Andreas Hak who lost only to Hasdrubal and Mago: 4-2. (I note that this was one of the very few tourneys I fought in under that name during that era of ugly carpet armor. I soon joined House Elandris and separated out my fighting persona as Barak Elandris Bostar. I retired that persona about five years later and again fought as Hak.) Dawyd of Gury finished 3-3 losing only to those above him. It is my recollection that the top four fighters used sword and shield in every bout, though Dawyd used a twenty-four inch round shield, while the others used heater shields.
The newsletter account of the tourney dismisses the rest of the list with the sentence, “The rest of us really don’t want our names and results published.” Probably true. My recollection is that Svidrir fought in the tourney, but being qualified only in spear, did not fare well against sword and shield fighters. I believe that Zahava Tchauchik fought in the tournament using polearm; and I note that in that era he contributed articles to the Ice Dragon Newsletter under his non-martial persona of Glino Gilgallen. I feel the remaining fighter may have been Dwarf. Other fighters I think were present who might have filled the last slot in the tournament were Laurel, Lord James O’Neill, and Hylus Bard. I believe that Lady Arianna of Wynthrope and Iredonn Briar were not yet qualified.
There was a lot of informal wind down time after the tourney, including a few pickup fights. Those pickups are where I have vague memories of fighting Miguel, and Hylus who arrived at the event too late to fight in the tourney because of work. Eventually people were herded toward the firepit to eat, though I think I didn’t bother. I thought it was weird that some people had prepared extensive medieval fare for the event. I remember people with whole cooked spiced chickens wrapped in aluminum foil to be warmed around the campfire. After a while Svidrir called our attention and heralded court in his special and sometimes hilarious manner, and Morgan made Hasdrubal her champion. For history’s sake it might be worth noting that the two were mundanely dating at the time.
Other people I believe attended the event who I haven’t mentioned yet included Ruth Baraskaya, Solak Vaslovic, Catalina de la Estrella, Errol Lynn called Housekarl, and Juliet. Arame is another possible attendee. It sticks in my head that there were 28 total attendees, though I have no idea if that is accurate.
What occurred after court was, at that time, the oddest of experiences. We went home. You see, in those days everyone stayed at the event until midnight or later. As long as the event site was open, we stayed. We danced at nearly every event. We reveled and drank and played flirting games. The issue at hand was that Lake Erie State Park was open only during daylight hours: dawn to dusk. As darkness came, we had to pack up and leave. So we did. It seemed so strange. Back then we never wanted it to end. In fact, most events followed the event site closing by holding a post-revel at someone’s home where the partying went on until at least four in the morning. But there were no arrangements for a post-revel. And on October 20, at that northern latitude, dusk comes quite early. So not long after dinner time the event was over. The whole event was no more than nine hours including a little cleaning up afterward.
Svid and I made a ritual journey to Taco Junction for our real feast, and we came to the conclusion that it was a very pleasant event that was inexpensive (the price of gas), and easy. We were used to working hard, event after event. I look back now and it seems the simplest and most innocent of events. The SCA would soon be complicated beyond the point of ever turning back toward simplicity, and much good has come of that. But it is still fun to think back to the simple times now and then. Should anyone have memories to add to this article, please email me at [email protected]. I would love to add others’ personal memories of the event. -June 26, 2012