Due to some access issues with this blog, I am stopping using it except in dire circumstance. Please go to my personal blog and sue the search term ’seneschal’ or ’sca’ to find all relevant postings. My monthly calendar posts also show what events I will be attending.
My personal blog link:
http://ysambartcourtin.blogspot.com/
Request for comment, Surveys, Membership advantages, Royal visit, Encourage autocrats, New Officers, Hall Hire Progress, Reeve method, Polit White pages, Databases
Apologies Catherine, Quote Cate $59 Officeworks Tables.
Please add any other public agenda items as comments. Private items to me via email.
To do list:
Do more reading of laws. (partial, ongoing)
Hall contract : BOD and Lochac Seneschal questions send contract. email sent 20090520
Make a google calendar for polit and surrounds, Event Schedule method (triumvate), form made, data entry required
Email all the ‘potential’ people who have reserved dates and check status (and check royal) - ongoing
Find or create guide for first time autocrats - (partial ongoing thanks Georgia)
Royal event query (included in above)
Officer rotation - as per corpora
Databases, oh those necessary databases. Find or create: Event forms, members, authorized combatants. (Query to Registrar made)
Pegasus in publisher, GT will be in publisher, my files in Open Office, .rtf or .txt outputs
Google forms (ongoing, tests have come back positive)
Query Loch Sen about corpora references for raising money for external sources done
Create 2 more sign-in kits, constab, haig park perm, constab officers kit. Cash jar, mem / non-mem/ minors/ joining forms. (ongoing, photocopying done, will talk to reeve about cash dispersal for cash required for minor tasks, eg extra stationery)
Hospit stocktake & capacity analysis. (initial queries made, more is ongoing)
Gourment/ mini events okay
Yearbook/ domesday book initial form created, launch date soon
-.-
Application:
One of the things I prefer to avoid are unnecessary mysteries. I understand the need for privacy, but sometimes a process needs to be shown in it’s completeness to help people understand what’s going on. So in the interest of openness, I thought I would post my application letter. There is a section edited out that outlines specifics of my illness.
-.-
Hello to all, being Lochac Seneschal, Politarchopolis Seneschal, my Baron and Baroness, my knight and my relevant deputies and bid assistants.
My name is Bart Beswick, and my Society name is Ysambart Courtain. I am known longest by Lochac Seneschal, who showed me great hospitality when I was visiting his then kingdom, Caid. I met Count Stephen when he was founding Baron of the group I wish to administer. I met Owain, Alessandro and Isobel over a jumble of times over many years and have been happy to know them much better over my last three years in Canberra.
My SCA career:
Pre-phase:
I was a member of Griffith University gaming group from 1990-95 and met many people in the gamer guise. I purchased a “Spirit of Adventure” LRP franchise from an English company with the intent of developing it alongside and using similar land resources to “skirmish/ paintball.” I had purchased foam safety weapons from my head company and engaged local contractors to develop prototype rough wearing combat clothing in the medieval style. I was working at a paintball operator as this plan developed. In 1993 I investigated other similar ventures such as metal weapons groups etc to check the competition. When I mentioned my research they mention that the reason gaming club was very empty every once in a while was due to this thing called the SCA. I got the details, pulled on my knee high “Pendragon” boots, put on my green trews, pulled on my cotton tunic with the crenelated sleeves and base, put my spare tunics in a wooden chest and went to my first event, the 1993 Riverhaven Baronial.
From there I was a lifer, and LRP was left long behind.
Phase One: Riverhaven to Saint Florian
My first interests were singing, and I met the young girl who became Mistress Mistress Constanzia and was with her from nearly the beginning of her singing group. I also enjoyed the period research household Convivius publishing some papers, on Commedia del Arte and travel chest construction techniques, my main guide was Amanda, but another helped me greatly, she who was to become Mistress Marie. I joined the pirate ship Rapskalleon, a household dedicated to enhancing the feasting experience. We all made a pact to learn fencing, but those who promised to help were never forthcoming, and we could not source the parts to make weapons and the people who said ‘it was easy’ were quite absent when it came to the days they promised to help. Eventually the fighter boys got a hold of me, and I was trained in heavy combat because the infrastructure was there to actually get everything or make everything. I was Von Becke armouries first complete customer - walk in with nothing one end, walk out armoured the other end, for a combination of cash, labour and beer 
Within a week of authorisation I went to festival 1994, the first year Ventbarre had the quarterly shields. I stayed with Ventbarre two more years. After the formation of the shire of Saint Florian de la Riviere, I requested permission from the Seneschal to form and Captain their first war unit, the Saint Florian’s Militia. With able help from many quarters we outfitted well. That year I was ably assisted by an Ex-Ventbarre shieldsman turn archer Owain van den Orden, and a fresh faced trainee, now known as Master Sir Gabriel de Beaumont. That year we won best looking war unit, and it was won not by my efforts, but by the dozen or so support staff, the water wenches! I Captained the militia once more with great effect and another trainee one more year. In time I squired to Sir Alaric of Bangor. My best fighting would be third in Rowany fighter auction (1998 & 2008). I have contested crowns or coronets seven times, and have never failed to return to my consort a wreath. My best result was third on the coronet where Kurgan earned the right to be Prince.
Over this period I worked one day a week in the Von Becke armoury, learning the armourers craft with he who would become Duke Sir Cornelius.
With the exception of Anaela I have visited all of the Baronies of Lochac as they exisit today, although some were not baronies at time, and some were not of our Kingdom at the time. I have also visited all of the Shires as they stand today.
Phase Two: Saint Florian after illness
In late 1999 to early 2001, I experienced a very severe illness, and was forced to step back from things.
Over a slow recovery period I have returned to partial health. I continued my fighting, my armouring, my travelling and my singing. Since 1994 I have only missed one festival - and that was not due to the illness, but in fact due to a broken ankle less than two weeks out from Festival. My thanks go to Raoul of Buzz who helped the group in my absence. I have the Silver and Golden tears of service to Lochac. One of my noted contributions was towards the organisation of infrastucture regarding getting people and gear from the Norther groups to Southern events, most visibly truck driving. He who would become Master Stephano on paperwork and ‘good cop’, myself on infrastructure and ‘bad cop’. Quote: “The truck has NO category ‘fragile’. The truck only has the category ‘not packed well enough’.” I spent a long period of time working with Saint Florian combatants, and formally ran the long running Monday night fighter practice for about two years. In that time I trained, partially armed and authorised about ten combatants. The majority of arming was done by household Morales- Beaumont. I was made Baron to the court of Count Cornelius and Countess Morwynna moments before they were elevated to Ducal status.
Phase Three: Politarchopolis
I had to leave the northern groups for my health. I came to Politarchopolis for the fine company and the sure knowledge of re-establishing friendships. I settled in slowly, coming down with no little gear and no money, but over time I have re-established myself. When my knight, Sir Alaric went to Drachenwald without a set return date, I requested transfer to a local knight. After ‘knight shopping’ I transferred my fealty to Count Sir Stephen, and joined the household of Burbage. I have progressed in all aspects under his wise tutelage, as I did under Sir Alaric. In Politarchopolis I was able to get my gear together to learn the art of defence, tutored by Owain, current Politarchopolis seneschal. I currently hold the office of Politarchopolis Chronicler. I have intention of forming a Polit war unit, but have been on Royal guard for the last three festivals in a row. We all serve the crown.
My Personal career.
After school and a year at University (1990) I spent two years working for a combined charity group in Database co-ordination. After this I moved to local council, from Depot Clerk (administering a labourers works depot, 1993), to Vector Control Officer (Mosquito and pest controller, 1994) to Tipmaster (running and administering a refuse facility, 1994- 1998). After a grand tour I settled into several months full time with Von Becke Armour and Costume. On the runup/ undiagnosed parts of my illness I worked in a seed factory as a labourer. I spent 18 months doing minor works while recovering from my illness. I starter work with Oska Software (www.oska.com) as a Studio assistant until mad redundant in 2006. I armoured and tutored computing for a while before moving to Canberra in January 2007. Here I had contacts as an administration assistant and Service Desk Operator, until finding my current position, as a service Desk Operator for the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The Position:
I have fulfilled the titular position of Deputy Seneschal, but have not done much. Of great assistance was Bartholomew Baskins recent missive with all the web links which I look forward to devouring to get myself up to speed.
Crown:
It is my intention to fight and win a crown tournament. If I manage this feat, Jonathon of Loch Swan will take over my position for the length of my reign and a small period of time on either side. He is currently Politarchopolis Hostpitaller.
Current Office:
My deputy Zanobia is poised to take on the office of Chronicler if I succeed in my bid to become either Senescahl or King.
The Plan:
I am a firm believer in”If you build it, they will come.” Over the my term, I hope to build the infrastructure in Politarchopolis that will help enhance the experience of our current members and allow for expansion in combat, the arts and sciences, and service.
Thank you,
Bart Beswick,
Ysambart Courtin
Hello to you all, I’m Ysambart Courtin. I am a mundane blogger, but now I’ll be adding this officers blog to the mix as well. I don’t blog in neat stories all that often, I blog as a public forum for my working concepts, to have a public forum to bounce around ideas, and to tell stories.
Privacy: I am a very open person who believes in openness as a tried and true method to avoid conflict. If you require privacy on a topic, please advise. I hold a public office in a public group, and will try for openess unless specifically requested that I do otherwise or believe it is necessary for due process.
My style of organising things: “Scientific method” and “Who cares wins.” “Scientific method” means that I operate on certain theories and practices that are set right up until I, or someone else, comes up with better methods. Convince me there is a better way, and I’ll roll with it. I’m much easier to convince with well laid out writtern words with clear dot points than an impassioned plea. “Who cares wins” encompasses how we take on projects and concepts. For a very specific example, if someone were to say ‘The Baronial war unit should all be landschnekt, black and red as per the death legion, wearing a red and white badge” I would say that’s a great idea. To make it happen we need people to wear it, patterns for the garb and research to get it right, and someone to show the way. Currently this concept is sitting at ‘off boil’, as the people who are keenest are currently doing other stuff. No-one has dug out the patterns, I am still on guards until January 2010 so my ability to care is low. “Who cares wins” means this is currently sitting at ‘no-one who is impassioned currently cares enough to do.’ No one cares, no one wins.
To do list:
Do more reading of laws
hall contract : BOD and Lochac Seneschal questions
make a google calendar for polit and surrounds
email all the ‘potential’ people who have reserved dates and check status
Find or create guide for first time autocrats
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:
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)
1-2 March: Target Archery weekend at Crossroads (Sabine and Mercurio)
8 March: Newcomers Tourneys and Feast at Corroboree Park Ainslie, (Lefquena is stewarding with the College, but Polit needs to be right behind this as one of our major recruiting events)
12 April: A&S weekend (Mistresses Mathilde and Rowan)
3 May: New Year Baronial Rapier Championship (Master Crispin)
5 July: College War (Gabrielle of the Marshes and the College)
23-24 August: St Vitas’ Dance (Joanna of the Beechwoods)
Mid-September: Baronial Hunt
18 or 25 October: Baronial Armoured Championship
29-30 November War
There’s one or two other events already being flagged, without thinking about Festival, May Crown, Great Northern War, MidWinter, the Northern Fencing Fest; Spring War and everything else happening around Lochac, so it will be a busy year.
For our end of the Knowne Worlde it all comes down to us - what do we want out of the year and what are we willing to put into it? That list of events already suggests a crowd of Stewards who will be grateful for the help, big and small that is needed to make an event happen. Keep an eye on the lists for announcements and, as well as booking, think about how you can contribute.
Baronial Sundays are also continuing, a chance to enrich your fellow citizens by passing on something that you know and perhaps discovering the next enthusiast in the area that is your own private passion (just not too private, perhaps).
And the Barony needs to be run, which means we are, as always, on the look-out for officers and Deputies. Several of our officers are due to step down during the year and I have asked all officers to think about who might serve as a deputy or replacement. If you are approached, give it serious thought. Better yet, why wait? Approach an officer and volunteer. The workload is, in fact, ridiculously light and the Seneschal has acted to reduce the workload further by only requiring quarterly reporting, in line with the reports to Kingdom officers.
(To digress briefly - this is an opportune moment to remind officers that their first quarterly report for the year is due to their Kingdom counterpart on 15 February. Don’t Forget!)
At the last meeting of 2007, there was a fair bit of discussion about how to make the meetings more interesting (so that more people come/stay) and more useful. After giving this some thought and some discussion at the meeting held in January, this is the way meetings will be run in 2008.
This means that the next Baronial Council meeting will be held on Wednesday 27 February. Baron Alessandro is finding us a venue at the ANU and this will be advertised.
That’s the structure - it should move business through more quickly and importantly give you all the opportunity to raise ideas and have a say in where the Barony is going. I encourage you to come to the meetings and think about the things you would like to see in the Barony.
Until next time, best wishes from your Friendly Neighbourhood Seneschal
Owain
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