Politarchopolis Seneschal

Apparently I’m really bad at this blogging thing.  How do I know this?  Because my last post was six months ago! (Bad Seneschal!)

 So let’s try to do better, picking up with a report on the last Council meeting and other matters arising:

 In July I announced on the Polit list that I was setting a deadline of 25 August for a person or groups to give me a bid to hold Casual War or other variation in November/December.  This was to ensure that sufficient time (3 months) would be available to organise a big event properly.  The deadline came and went, so I must advise that there will be no War event in Politarchopolis this year.

That doesn’t mean we can’t have other events in the remainder of the year.  The Hunt is on this weekend and I expect this week to approve a bid for an Armoured Baronial Championship (potluck picnic lunch) on 18 October, to accommodate a Royal Visit.  If anyone has creative ideas on whiling away the warming months before Christmas, write them down and contact me.

On the subject of big events, the Barony has put in a bid to host MidWinter Coronation next year.  Polit held the first Lochac Coronation in 2002 and since then has held May Crowns, but no Coronations, so I (as proposed Steward) thought it was time we put in for another one.  To be candid, we had trouble getting the accounts from last year’s May Crown in to the Kingdom, and the Kingdom Seneschal advised that we would have to come up with something special to secure MidWinter.  So with the support of the Baron & Baroness and the Baronial Council, we have put up an audacious bid to host an event where the Barony will not be trying to make money.  We have nominated the Albert Hall as the best (only) place worth hosting a MidWinter and set out to charge the lowest possible entry fee for the event ($30).  The Barony will cover the other costs, with the goal of delivering a cheap but worthy Crown event.  Watch out for more on this once we know if we are hosting the event.

Officers:  I am pleased to say we now have a Lists Mistress (thanks to Elizabeth) and will soon be announcing a new Cordon Rouge Herald. 

I regret to advise that Gabriel Kalathetos has stepped down as Chronicler (and Deputy Seneschal), so we are looking for another Chronicler.  Any candidates for the position are invited to contact me or the B&B by 24 September.

Our new Hospitaller is hard at work - I have asked Jonathon of Loch Swan (with Gabriel’s help) to look at recruitment & retention strategies and expect to see proposals at the next Baronial Council.

We are always looking for Deputies or volunteers to help out - please ask yourself what you can do to enrich your Barony and then get in touch with me.

 Best Wishes

Your Seneschal
Owain Cantor ap Hughe
Per pale azure and argent
a water bouget counterchanged

Work, weather, mundane life, blah, blah, blah - it’s been more than a week since the Baronial Council, so better late than never, here’s your Seneschal’s take on what’s going on.

 Our first formal meeting for the year was held, new time, new station!  We now have a generally locked in venue for the rest of the year:  Rehearsal Room 1 in the Canberra School of Music (Childers St in the ANU, big concrete building to the left of the School of Arts, in through the main doors, second left up the ramp); and mostly the meetings will be held at 6pm on the last Wednesday of the month.

Why mostly?  For those who hadn’t noticed, it is indeed two weeks to Festival, and it happens that the last Wednesday in March (the 26th) will be literally the day after Festival finishes.  So your Seneschal has had mercy (and acknowledged that no-one will turn up) and the March meeting has been rescheduled to Wednesday 2 April.  You have been told, and I will put out a reminder either side of Festival, so no excuses.

Goings on:

• Newcomers is tomorrow and should be a lot of fun - commendation to the College who are working hard to make it a great introduction to what we do;
• Mistresses Matilde and Rowan are running a bunch o’ classes on 12/13 April, the chance to back up all those really interesting things you heard about at Festival, see Pegasus or watch the email list for details;
• Master Crispin Sexi has graciously volunteered to steward a New Year’s event on 3-4 May, to present the Baronial Rapier Championship.  Greatly thankful to Crispin - he didn’t even swoon when he found out this is going to be a Royal Visit.  Yes, Their Majesties Berengar and Bethan are coming to Politarchopolis.  But with the current state of play in the Kingdom, it would be a good idea to check the wardrobe for Red or Blue - we might even have to have two feasts if the mood doesn’t improve;
• Thanatos is looking into holding monthly pot-luck feasts to provide a low-cost opportunity for the citizenry to get together to eat drink and be merry.  Baronial Sunday is looking like the probability, so keep an eye on the email list for his announcements.  Congrats to our Chronicler; it’s good to see people coming forward with ideas for the Barony and carrying them through.

Advance Notice:  It has been six years since Politarchopolis was the stage for the raising of Lochac to Kingdom status, when we hosted the inaugural MidWinter Coronation in July 2002.  Since then, Polit has twice hosted May Crown, but no Coronations.  Therefore, it is my intention at the next Baronial Council (on 2 April) a proposal that we bid to host MidWinter 2009 (the 7-year itch, perhaps?).  This will be no small undertaking and will take the concerted support of the Barony.  I encourage you to come to Baronial Council to put your views on how we can mount the venture.  And if you think it’s a really bad idea, then you had better come to Baronial Council to tell us why.

Last word:  We already have a good looking program (have a look at my February post to see the current list) and there is room for a bit more.  But make sure you think about and are prepared to negotiate on dates.  Some events (the rapier and heavy championships and the Hunt, for example) are classified as Baronial events, so we want to do everything we can to encourage people to come along, including not holding other events very close to the dates (people have only so much time and money after all).  So check the calendar and if necessary contact me or the B&B, or (Best of All) “Come to the Baronial Council”.

So, the next Baronial Council:  6pm Wednesday 2 April, Rehearsal Room 1, School of Music.

 See you there.

Yours in Seneschalness

Owain Cantor

Summer draws to a close (regrettably along with the holidays) and it’s back down to work, so welcome to another year in Politarchopolis.  Read on for a preview of the year, some news about changes to our Baronial Council meeting and my regular call for officers and deputies.

It already looks like it’s going to be a big year:  16 February:    Valentine’s  on the lakeside  (Stewarded by Ysambart and Sui)20 February:    ANU O Week Market Day (run by the College)

We are in the midst of a busy period for the people who keep the Barony of Politarchopolis moving along - two events in the past month and [hopefully] another to come in three weeks.

The Baronial Hunt at Crossroads in mid-October was a lot of fun, with 26 participants - we riddled various vices with arrows, slew nefarious trolls, brought down a red hawk, fought and hunted.  By all accounts the medieval Guild Hall was a special place to be in at night, providing that kind of atmosphere that we all long for.  Reportedly a great part was that no-one had to leave, allowing the mood to continue (apparently no-one had to sleep either, so that might have helped). Congratulations to Sabine d’Antan and her crew for their efforts.

Also a great success was the Baronial championship held in honour of the visit by Their Majesties Hugh and Therasa.  There were 90 participants in all.  The tourney field looked great, the armoured combat and fencing tourney were terrific and we have three worthy champions in Duke Cornelius, Lord Lorccan and Lady Alesia de Cheval Blanc.  The feast went pretty well and the event was a credit to the Barony, particularly given that there was a big scramble to pull it all together.

 Unfortunately we are now in the position again of scrambling to get an event up, after the Steward of Casual War had to pull out because of mundane life commitments.  No blame can be attached on this: it’s a sad fact of this pursuit that most of us can only pursue it half-time and the rest of the world is all too ready to get in the way.  The citizens of Polit being who they are, however, I had a volunteer to take over about half an hour after I asked - thank you Llewellyn de Guerre!  The issue now is whether the calling of the Australian election for the same weekend (23-25 November) might force some people to stay away.  As I write, we have called for expressions of interest from the citizens of Lochac and will decide on Friday 2 November whether we can pull it off.

To less dramatic matters from the Baronial Council - the Herald had welcome support for the tourneys held at the Baronial Championship; he is now planning to gently nag those who received Awards or Grants of Arms about registering devices to go with them.

The College of St Aldhelm continues to be active and has a prospective venue to support a bid for College War in 2008 - watch this space.  The College also has a Library and would appreciate donations of suitable literature.

It’s been a great month for combat - we (and I quote our Knight Marshal) ‘kicked ass and took names’ at Spring War, had fun combat at the Hunt and as mentioned, top tourneys at the Baronial Championships.  The armoured fighters - sorry, combatants - have changed their training regime to capitalise on some lessons learned from the September rattan symposium: pre-authorisation training on Sundays at Haig Park from 3, followed by armoured work, with Tuesday nights at Count Stephen’s place carrying a strong emphasis on drill and armoured work.  Rapier training continues on Sundays from 2.  With the advent of Daylight Saving, the archers are also adding a twilight session, to be held from tonight 31 October at the Tuggeranong Archery Club from 6 pm.

Following last month’s call, we now have a candidate for Constable - thanks to Lord Valentine der Spieler (coincidentally made an Armiger last weekend), who waits now on the requisite approval from the Kingdom officer.

The Baronial Championship marked a great debut by our new A&S team of Caera Sionnach and Catherine of Glastonbury, who were also added to the ranks of armigers during the Championship.  Their competitions for the Baronial Bits Box and Illumination drew some great entries - congratulations to the winners Sveinn inn Kyrri Grimmson for his spectacular cast Griffin Wings and Ysabella Vitale for her illumination work.

 News from the Kingdom Archery Marshal - the testing of the experimental coloured archery blunts has been terminated following several failures - these are not to be used.

 Other business - a strong recommendation that we overhaul our feasting gear in the Chandlery and invest in some new pots, platters and serving utensils.  As a prelude to taking inventory, the Baroness will be calling in all those bits that people have borrowed from the Chandlery.

A word on events - the experience at the moment highlights the virtues of planning, so I would like people to start thinking about events for 2008.  The calendar usually starts with Valentines in February and there has indeed been some discussion about what to do then, but no bids at this time.  So please start tossing those ideas around and see what you would like to do to enrich our Barony.

Finally, a personal note.  Seeing awards presented is always a special moment and I had the great pleasure of seeing the work of several people recognised over the weekend.  The armigers I have mentioned, and our departing A&S minister Lady Ragnhildr rightly received the Burly Griffin for her service to the Arts.  It was spectacular to see not one but two people inducted into the Royal Company of Archers, but then Mercurio and Sabine are truly ‘two sides of the same coin’ - you could not recognise one without the other.  Then there’s the Golden Tear - apparently awarded for unobtrusive service to the Kingdom.  That description certainly applies to Lady Alexandra Hartshorne, but I have never considered myself as unobtrusive, so I am greatly honoured to have been appointed to this order.  Thanks to those who suggested me for this honour - there must be even more worthy people out there, so make your recommendations.

Until next time, I remain your Seneschal

Owain Cantor ap Hughe

An update from the September Baronial Council:

Things have been quiet in September, between attacks of real life and illness (citizens in the Barony seem to have suffered everything short of the equine flu), but there has been activity.  The Rattan Symposium with Dukes Bellatrix and Brannos was by all accounts a big hit and we will be looking forward to seeing what difference it makes on the tourney and war fields.

The armoured combatants have been busiest - they’ve also held a shield-making workshop and are moving onto getting new fighters well-equipped for authorised combat.  Any assistance that can be offered there will be greatly appreciated, especially if you have armour bits out in the shed that you haven’t used for years.  Contact Duke Cornelius via the Politarchopolis website www.sca.org.au/politarchopolis.

October will be frantic.  Spring War is this weekend.  The Baronial Hunt will be held at Crossroads (in the vicinity of Yass, NSW) on 13-14 October and early bookings close on 6 October.  There will be feasting, fighting (heavy and rapier), archery and of course hunting, so if you are planning to come please book as we need to know numbers.  On 27-28 October, Polit will be hosting a Royal visit by Their Majesties Hugh and Teresa and will be using this occasion to hold the Baronial Championships.  There’s already some info in October Pegasus although we have to re-check a venue, to find a hall that’s big enough, so keep an eye on the lists.  To go with the visit we also have not one, but four A&S competitions from our new ministerial team: a Newcomer’s challenge to make a personal item; a Cook’s challenge to make bread or something out of bread; a Scribe’s challenge to illuminate a capital letter; and a Citizen’s challenge to provide something for the Baronial Bits Box.

Work is also under way for Casual War on 23-25 November - again see Pegasus and remember that early bird bookings close at Spring War this weekend.

 On the Council:  we desperately need officers and Deputies.  The Chandler’s position is vacant; the Constable has indicated that she needs to step down as soon as possible (real life-itis) and only the Arts & Sciences Minister has a Deputy.  The Society runs on volunteers and we could really use some.  Contact me or the Baron & Baroness via the Polit website - we will welcome all offers of service.

Welcome to the new blog of the Seneschal of the Barony of Politarchopolis.  Currently (pending further probity, elasticity and sanity checks) that office remains in the sometimes steady hands of Lord Owain Cantor ap Hughe (Steve Pye).

Thanks to our esteemed Hierophant, Karl Faustus von Aachen, this will be a spot where the citizenry of Polit and other cyberwayfarers will be able to touch base with what’s going on in the Barony (at least from the Seneschal’s perspective) as a more detailed, or perhaps rambling, addendum to the messages posted on our list.

 Stay tuned!

Owain