Kingdom of Lochac

The Kingdom of Lochac is one of nineteen "Kingdoms" or regions, of the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) - an international organization dedicated to researching and recreating aspects of the Middle Ages.

Comprising Australia, New Zealand and their Antarctic territories, it is made up of almost 40 local groups.

The current King and Queen are [http://www.sca.org.au/royal/13thCrown/index.shtml Siridean and Siobhan ]

The Kingdom takes its name from a Dutch term for Australia dating from 1630 ["Day Turns to knight in the battle of Northbridge". , The Sydney Morning Herald, 15 May 1995.p2 ] .

General

The group has around 2000 members [McIntosh, Deborah. "Sunday". The Sun Herald 28 Jun 1998.p 6 ] , and is one of Australia's oldest Living History groups, having started in the early 1980s. The Australasian Branch includes Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica [ Taylor, Andrew. "Forsooth, A Fair Damsel, Mate". The Sun Herald, 12 August p 34]

History

Local SCA groups began in Sydney around 1981, and in Christchurch shortly after [ [http://webcentre.co.nz/phil/about.htm] ] . Other cities in both countries formed groups, but the New Zealand groups became part of the Kingdom of Caid [ [http://webcentre.co.nz/phil/about.htm] ] , while Australia became the Crown Principality (and later the Principality) of Lochac under the Kingdom of the West. Lochac became a kingdom it's own right in 2002, and the New Zealand based groups joined in 2003. [ [http://cunnan.sca.org.au/wiki/Lochac] ] [Willis, Robyn. "Back to the age of Chivalry". The Sun Herald, 14 October, 1990. P 155 ]

Local Groups

The different branches of the group are known within the group by their SCA names, for instance Liverpool in Sydney is known as Agaricus, the Blue Mountains is known as the Shire of Dismal Fogs [Willis, Robyn. "Back to the age of Chivalry". The Sun Herald, 14 October, 1990. P 155 ] , greater Sydney itself is the Barony of Rowany [Taylor, Andrew. "Forsooth, A Fair Damsel, Mate". The Sun Herald, 12 August p 34 ] .

Other groups include:

*Barony of Ildhafn - Auckland, NZ
*Barony of Innilgard - South Australia
*Barony of Mordenvale - Newcastle, NSW
*Barony of Politachopolis - Canberra, ACT
*Barony of Riverhaven - North and Western parts of Brisbane, QLD
*Barony of St Florian de la Riviere - Brisbane South and Redland Shire Council, QLD
*Barony of Southron Gaard - Christchurch, NZ
*Barony of Stormhold - Inner and west of Melbourne, VIC
*Barony of Ynys Fawr - Tasmania
*Barony of Aneala - Perth, WA

*Canton of Cairn Fell - Part of Stormhold
*Canton of Cluain - Part of Ildhafn, NZ
*Canton of Draks Fjord - Part of Riverhaven, QLD
*Canton of Stowe on the Wowld - Part of Rowany
*Canton of Abertridwr - Part of Aneala
*College of Blessed Herman the Cripple - Adelaide University the first of the Colleges registered in Lochac
*College of Saint Bartholomew - University of Melbourne
*College of Saint Crispins - University of Newcastle
*College of Saint Gildas the Wise - University of Tasmania
*College of Saint Monicas - Monash University
*College of Saint Ursula -- University of Sydney
*College of Saint Basil the Great - University of Western Australia
*Shire of Adora - Illawarra, NSW
*Shire of Arrowreach - Eastern Melbourne, VIC
*Shire of Darton - Wellington, NZ
*Shire of Krae Glas - South Eastern Melbourne, VIC

Awards

The society has a number of awards that are given to group members to encourage their skills in Historical based arts. Examples of these include the
* Shining Helm - for armour
* Order of the Pelican - for exceptional service and organisational skills
* Order of the Chivalry - for martial prowess and chivalry
* Order of the Laurel - Exceptional skill as an artisan, in a specialised area

Events

Rowany Festival

The group's largest event is the Rowany Festival, a week long Medieval festival that features classes, tournaments, competitions and general revelry. It is held Easter every year, near Sydney.The Festival has been running since 1983 and has grown to its current size at which 1000 people may attend. It is the largest SCA event in Australia.

Some SCA members are involved in the Crossroads Medieval Village near Yass, in NSW, and in the past the Rowany Festival has been held there.

As it is held over Easter, Christians generally get together in a discreet place to hold a scheduled Easter Sunday mass. And if Pesach falls at the same time of year, there is often people cooking in accordance with the very special customs that relate to that.

Del's Pie Shop sells pies of various sorts -- the chicken and mushroom pies and the pyes of pares are kosher for passover.

Traditionally large battles are fought at Rowany Festival that may include up to 300 combatants. Much mead and cider is drunk. Markets are also held, and many things are bought and sold by merry folk.

Rowany Festival has had four different locations - Fairholme Park in Wilton, Tara Girl Guide camp in Silverdale in Western Sydney, and Crossroads . In 2008 it has moved to the Glenworth Valley Horse Riding centre at Peats Ridge, New South Wales.

References

*(1) McIntosh, Deborah. "Sunday". The Sun Herald 28 Jun 1998.p 6
*(2) Taylor, Andrew. "Forsooth, A Fair Damsel, Mate". The Sun Herald, 12 Sugust p 34
*(3) Willis, Robyn. "Back to the age of Chivalry". The Sun Herald, 14 October, 1990. P 155,
*(4) Willis, Robyn. "Back to the age of Chivalry". The Sun Herald, 14 October, 1990. P 155,
*(5) Taylor, Andrew. "Forsooth, A Fair Damsel, Mate". The Sun Herald, 12 Sugust p 34
*(6) "Day Turns to knight in the battle of Northbridge". , The Sydney Morning Herald, 15 May 1995.p2
*(7) http://www.sca.org.au/lochac/groups/groups.php SCA Lochac Site

Bibliography

* Crowe, Sara. "Knight-Games". The Sun Herald. 14 April 1996
* Watson, Chad. "Ready for Battle". Newcastle Herald. 28 Sep 2001
* Taffel, Jacquie. "Lance Australia Fair". The Sydney Morning Herald 2 Jan 2004.
* Wilson, David. "Armed and Odorous". The Sydney Morning Herald. 24 Jan 2007.
* McIntosh, Deborah. "Sunday". The Sun Herald 28 Jun 1998.p 6
* Taylor, Andrew. "Forsooth, A Fair Damsel, Mate". The Sun Herald, 12 Sugust p 34
* Willis, Robyn. "Back to the age of Chivalry". The Sun Herald, 14 October, 1990. P 155,

Internal

* Living History Australia
* Society for Creative Anachronism

External

* [http://www.sca.org.au/lochac/ Kingdom of Lochac] - official website

Further reading

* [http://dmoz.org/Recreation/Living_History/Society_for_Creative_Anachronism/ "Society for Creative Anachronism"] at the Open Directory Project
* [http://www.sca.org/findsca.html Locate an SCA group near you]
* [http://www.scademo.com/ SCA Online Demo]
* Society for Creative Anachronism [http://sca.org/ homepage]
* [http://sca.org/docs/govdocs.pdf "The By-Laws and Corporate Policies of the SCA,Inc"]
* "The Known World Handbook" (3rd ed.). Milpitas, CA: Society For Creative Anachronism, Inc.
* [http://history.westkingdom.org/Year0/index.htm "The Origins of the SCA"]