Punta `Dritta

Punta ‘Dritta
February AS XXXV
Newsletter of The Royal Guild of Fence
This is not an official SCA publication, and does not in any way reflect SCA policy
From the Editor
How to subscribe to Punta ‘Dritta
Welcome to the second edition of Punta ‘Dritta. I hope you’ve been telling your friends and spreading the word. Thanks to those who send compliments on the first edition, I hope the newsletter will go on being a valuable resource to fencers.
This newsletter can be downloaded for free from the internet. It may be
printed and distributed to those who are interested on the condition that
the content of the newsletter not be altered in any way. If you wish to use
articles from this newsletter in other publications please seek permission
from the authors.
Thanks to Michael, Francois, David, and Silfren for their submissions.
Thanks also to those who have sent me their event notices. The two event
notices are both Lochac events, so if there are rapier activities happening
in the Central West at events, please send the event info in.
If you wish to have a hardcopy of Punta ‘Dritta mailed to you each
month, please fill out your details and send a cheque or money order (or
cash if you’re going to see one of us in person) to the appropriate person
listed below.
I’ve also recently moved house so there is a new address to send Australian subscriptions to. My old address will still forward mail so its not a
problem if there is some backlog.
Name:
I still need articles and artwork so if you have stuff lying around, please
send it in. This issue has another dueling story (involving spears) and a
very simple coif pattern (great to pass onto newbies).
Address:
Greetings all,
SCA Name (optional):
If you have questions about SCA rapier, please feel free to send th em in.
Often lots of people will be wondering about the same thing and if we can
publish an answer it will benefit everyone.
Till next issue, I hope you enjoy Punta ‘Dritta
Yours in Service,
Artemisia da Quieto d’Arzenta
Australian residents
$12 for a year (12 issues)
Cheques payable to: Leonie Kirchmajer
Send payment and details to:
Leonie Kirchmajer
20 Montague Street
Fairy Meadow
NSW 2519
USA residents
$12 for year (12 issues)
Cheques payable to: David Ball
Send payment and details to:
David Ball
1305 Stockton Avenue
Modesto, CA
95358
From the Lord Guildmaster of Fence
The Royal Guild of Fence Directory
It scarcely seems a month since I was first prompted by Artemisia for a
Guildmaster's column. And yet the time has rolled around again, just as it
has for Estrella, and it soon will for Rowany Festival.
Lord Guildmaster of Fence
Francois Henri Guyon (Shayne Lynch)
PO Box 836 Woden, ACT 2606, Au stralia.
Ph: +61 2 6294 1609 E-mail: [email protected]
Please remember when you visit foreign kingdoms and fight in their
tournies that you represent the fencers of the West Kingdom. When you
teach a class or face an opponent you show that we are not 'just the most
recent fencing kingdom' but actually a mature fencing kingdom with our
own traditions and procedures and knowledgebase.
Arenwald von Hagenburg (Arnold Pears)
Övre Slottsgatan 18C, 753 12 Uppsala, SWEDEN.
Email: [email protected]
The latter is something I especially value. Many Guild members are doing
important and valuable research not covered by any fencers in the other
kingdoms. Personally, I have just been ploughing through the 1610 and
1631 copies of John Stows "Annals". It is a remarkable book with a
number of references to master fencers, city watch and companies of law.
One such was Henry Naylor, Master of defence and servant to the right
honourable Earle of Leycester[sic], who on the 18th of June in 1571 was
appointed to fight a judicial duel to decide the ownership of a manor and
lands. I hope to have the story of that in a future Punta Dritta.
Edmund the Lame (Paul Sawtell)
See Barony of Riverhaven Marshal
As you spot interesting things in books, it is good to tell or write about
them. The person you tell might just have a different sliver of information
that complements or extends your facts. And I am not just talking fencing
styles or the lives of great fencers - any bits of information carefully
researched and related give us a gradually expanding picture of the lives
and social context of civilian fencers.
Jose Ramirez de Coronado (Doug Coronado)
959 Oregon Street Gridley, CA USA 95948
Email: [email protected]
Your research shows everybody that the Guild is not a bunch of 'Olympic
fencing refugees who just wanna play three musketeers and destroy the
whole fabric of the SCA'1, but serious SCA members who want to have
fun researching and recreating period civilian sword combat in its
appropriate social context. ...especially the having fun bit.
Francois Guyon.
Footnotes: 1 (and heaven forbid that we still get grouped with city thugs,
witch-burners and bear-baiters)... :-)
Dameon Greybeard
Lochac (Politarchopolis)
Sir Georg of Glacier's Edge
Oertha (Eskalya)
Jan Kees Dudel d'Ende (Josh Eisenberg)
See Principality of Mists Marshal
Brooke Racgozany
Cynagua (Woodland)
Sorcha de Careman
Oertha (Eskalya)
Xeno of the Blade
Now in Ansteorra
Michael of Castle Keep (Michael Jacobs)
See Kingdom Marshal
Justin Dickson
Now in Ansteorra
From the West Kingdom Rapier Marshal
Greetings!
Since becoming the Rapier Marshal last year we have seen some major
changes.
First, was a revision of our rules to bring us in line with the Society wide
rules. These rules were effective as of August 1st. Since then we've seen
no problems with compliance to them. We've also had a spotless safety
record. My thanks to all of you for this!
Second, we've had a dramatic increase in the number of people
participating in Rapier activities. We now have over 120 active rapierists
in the Kingdom. This is almost twice the number that we had when I took
this post.
Third, we've seen the growth of a new Marshallate. In addition to myself
we've added new Principality Marshals and a few Deputies as well. With
this new Marshallate comes the responsibility for training new Marshals.
For this purpose Guild Master Racgozany has volunteered to organize a
new Marshal in Training Program. If you would like to help with this
please contact him at ([email protected]).
I would like to thank Ancient Guild Master Jan Kees Dudel d'Ende for his
efforts as our Mists Rapier Marshal. Jan is stepping down as of the end of
February. Therefore, I am in need of a new Marshal for the Mists. If
you're interested in this position please send me your resume.
Last, I'd like to remind everyone to have a Safe and Fun year on the
Rapier Field.
In Service to the Crown,
Michael of Castle Keep
West Kingdom Rapier Marshal
Courtier to the Crown of the West
Barony of Innilgard/College of Blessed Herman the Cripple (Adelaide)
Aldwin Seguin (Stephen Hobson)
15 Hollidays Rd. Summertown SA 5141
Ph: (08) 8390 0283 Email: [email protected]
Barony of Riverhaven (Brisbane)
Edmund the Lame (Paul Sawtell)
“Silverthorn” P.O. Box 929 Maleny QLD 4552
Ph: (07) 5429 6176 Email: [email protected]
Advisory on New Steel Daggers
Greetings to the fencers of the West,
Per Don Giovanni our Society Rapier Marshal the following change has
been made to the corporate rules (see below). Thus I am making the use
of "Scottie" style daggers and Safeflex brand daggers legal and approved
(for those authorized in steel dagger). No written changes need to be made
to our rules as we recognize all blade types not expressly forbidden if they
are allowed at the SCA corporate level.
In Service to the Crown,
Michael of Castle Keep
West Kingdom Rapier Marshal
Courtier to the Crown of the West
16 January 2001
After consideration of the ongoing experiments in multiple
Kingdoms, and the feedback received, the following policy
change is in effect:
1. The diamond-cross-sectioned daggers commonly known as
Scottie daggers, after the first artisan to make them available to
the Society, are now approved for use at the Corporate level.
They should be blunted as are schlager and Del Tin blades are in
kingdom rules, given their construction.
2. The blades known in experimentation to date as Safeflex
daggers are now approved for use at the Corporate level.
3. Individual kingdoms are free to approve them at will.
West Kingdom Rapier Marshal Directory
Kingdom Rapier Marshal
Michael of Castle Keep (Michael Jacobs)
835/355 N. Wolfe Rd. Sunnyvale, CA 94085
Ph: 0011 408-732-4903 Email: [email protected]
Marches Rapier Marshal
Doranna of St Brendans (Doranna Benker)
4142 Excelsior Rd #D2, Eureka ,CA 95503
Ph: 707-442-1956 (please don't call after 9pm) Email: [email protected],
Principality of Cynagua (Northen Central California) Rapier Marshals
Cynagua Principality Rapier Marshal
Fergus (Sean Kiernan)
Email: [email protected]
Golden Rivers Marshal
Nytshaed (Douglas Leonard)
2808 Honeysuckle Way, Sacramento, CA 95826
Email: [email protected]
Principality of the Mists (Bay Area) Rapier Marshals
Mists Principality Rapier Marshal
Vacant—contact the KRM if you are interested in this position
Oertha Principality Rapier Marshal
Lady Catherine of Birchfeld (April Carney)
PO BOX 873816, Wasilla, AK 99687
Ph: (907) 373-3715 Email: [email protected]
Principality of Lochac (Australia) Rapier Marshals
Lochac Principality Rapier Marshal
Táriq ibn Jelal ibn Ziyadatallah al-Naysábúrí (Richard Cullinan)
16 Wentworth St., Croydon Park NSW 2133 Australia
Ph: (02) 9798 8751 Email: [email protected]
Shire of Agaricus (SW Sydney & Illawarra)
Artemisia da Quieto d’Arzenta (Leonie Kirchmajer)
20 Montague St, Fairy Meadow NSW 2519
Ph: (02) 4285 9169 Email: [email protected]
From the Lochac Rapier Marshal
Greetings from the Lochac Rapier Marshal,
Firstly, as per the directive from Lochac's Knight Marshal, Lochac is now
using a combined authorisation for Heavy, Light and Rapier. You can find
this form on the Lochac Rapier Homepage [www.sca.org.au/rapier]
Authorisations performed after February 1st will only be accepted on the
new form. I will be returning paperwork received on the old paperwork.
Secondly, discussion on the proposed rules for the Kingdom of Lochac is
open. You can find the rules on the Lochac Rapier Homepage, please
check them and provide commentary. I need all your commentary by the
30th of April. Commentary is welcomed from both within and outside
Lochac.
Upcoming Prizes
Attention all Provosts and West Kingdom fencers:
The following Journeymen will be playing their Provost Prizes at the Estrella War:
Paul Sparacino (Ninus)
David Young (Lingus)
John Young
Please let me know if you are able to attend and participate in the promotion.
Sincerely,
Joe Bricky (SKA John Carter)
Maestro, Crimson Rose Academie of Fence
SCA Provost
Recent Prizes
None reported.
Thirdly, Festival is fast approaching. As per previous years, there will be
no authorisations done at Festival. Please make sure your authorisations
are up to date before Festival. Contact myself, or the Rowany Rapier
Marshal, if this is going to cause you problems. We may be able to
arrange something for you.
Fourthly, if you wish to play your Prize at Festival you need to contact
myself or the Lord Guildmaster of Fence. We already have a
Guildmasters Prize to be played, and we'd like to see all members of the
Guild turn out in their finest for this special occasion.
Fifthly, some of you are not forwarding authorisation paperwork in a
reasonable time frame. I must receive ALL paperwork within 30 days of
the authorisation. This is required by our rules. Please ensure this is done
in future!
Lastly, a reminder to all Group Rapier Marshals in Lochac. Your reports
are due on the 20th of February.
Have fun,
ibn Jelal (Richard Cullinan)
Duelling stories of the 16th Century
From the French of Brantome
St Valentine's Day
Saturday, February 10, 2001
by George H Powell (AH Bullen 1904)
These stories are my paraphrasing of his paraphrasing of Brantome. They are various
strange true tales of duels that were fought in the 16thC, showing the rules and customs.
- Silfren the Singer
Deeds of Bayard - the fight with Alonzo
The Chevalier de Bayard once had a Spaniard as a prisoner of war. The Spaniard upon
release told all and sundry that he had not been treated as a gentleman should be - a story
that none believed as all knew that Bayard was the most courteous man alive.
Bayard grew weary of the Spaniard's story, and sent him a cartel, offering to
meet him. The Spaniard accepted, and on the appointed day the two met. The Spaniard
unexpectedly called for the fight to be on foot, as Bayard had a touch of the ague and
would be thought to be at a disadvantage. Bayard of course accepted quickly enough despite the concern of his seconds, as no man should cry off a duel unless sick unto death,
and the list field was marked out.
Don Alonzo selected the arms and armour to be used - a close helm and gorget,
with spear and dagger. The combatants knelt to pray and then Bayard laid himself flat to
kiss the earth before springing up as advancing as gayly as if he was entering some palace to dance with fair ladies.
Don Alonzo was no less at ease, and went straight to Bayard saying "Sir
Bayard, what would you of me?" To which Bayard answered "To defend my honour!".
They fell to, dealing fierce thrusts.
Alonzo was wounded slightly in the face, then several more blows were exchanged without result.
Bayard noticed his opponent had a trick of thrusting and then immediately parrying to deflect any return his adversary might make. The Chevalier then waited for the
Spaniard to raise his arm for a thrust, then started to deliver his return... but waited a moment for the parry to pass so that the unblocked attack went home. The lance went a
good four inches through the gorget into the man's throat!
Don Alonzo feeling he was wounded unto death grappled with Bayard and they
both fell to the ground. Bayard drew his dagger and held it to the Spaniard's nostrils crying "Surrender or you are a dead man!" but too late, for Alonzo was dead already.
Alonzo's second came forward to say "Seigneur Bayard, he is dead and you
have conquered." And no one was more distressed than the victor who said that he would
have given a hundred thousand crowns to have conquered him alive. Bayard then
dragged the body from the lists, as it was his to do with as he pleased. By the laws of the
duel he could have left it for the dogs, but he gave it into the keeping of Alonzo's seconds for honourable burial, showing his honour and courtesy.
Join us for a day of fun, fighting and feasting. As the day draws to a close, put on
what finery best becomes you {and may win you a lord or lady to your desire},
Refresh your soul with dancing and merriment, music and laughter!
•
•
•
•
Heavy Tourney, Rapier Tourney Lists open 1pm close 1:45pm no exceptions:
Diddams Close Park, Lake Ginninderra, Belconnen
Rapier Tourney (through the Heart style), Heavy Tourney (Consorts fate card
can raise raise the spirit of even the most beaten fighter once)
Novelty Archery shoot 10am til 1pm at Acton Peninsula, behind Old Canberra
House.
Games including tierce, ring-the-pot and jingles will run throughout the day
Hall opens at 6 pm - Kaleen Community Hall, 28 Georgina Crescent, Kaleen
(behind the shops).
How Much (Members):
$ 26 for pre-booked Tourney and Feast (inc. Lunch).
$ 4 Lunch at Tourney (Must be pre booked)
$ 2 Tourney only (for combatants)
$ 20 Feast only.
Non-members surcharge $ 2. Late booking fee $ 5 (later than the 3 rd Feb). Add $5
at the door.
NB: Numbers for feast strictly limited to ninety.
There are very limited shower facilities at the hall (BYO towel), which can be used
after 4:30pm.
Send bookings with payment to: Raymond du le'Puy (Thomas Boulton), 4/77
Freda Bennett Cct, Nichols, ACT 2913. Make cheques payable to SCA
Politarchopolis. Please advise of any dietary requirements when booking.
Enquiries: contact Raymond on (02) 6255 0591, or
email: [email protected]
Making the Worlds Simplest
SCA Legal Fencing Coif
Caia & Lissa's "Let's Sleep on It"
B i r thday Extravagala W eekend
by David Falcone D'el Phoid
Febr u a r y
24th- 25th
2001
If you know how to sew, their are any number of coifs you can make. I
don't know how to sew. But I figured, "Hay, how hard can it be?". The
answer is, not very... if you can get the machine to work. So I spent a bit
of time trying to figure out how to get a machine to run a seam, and then
designed a coif that used as few seams as possible. There are actually
only 2 required.
The sewing part is quick enough that you could probably get someone to
do that for you fairly easily. It should only take them about 4 min. Learning to thread the bobbin took me about an hour......... The choice is yours.
Most coifs are designed to go under the fencing mask where it is pressed
to your head. There is no possibility of any air movement. It gets hot
where I am, so I designed a coif to go outside of the mask and to block
ventilation as little as possible. This is an original design. You may feel
free to make as many for personal or club use as you like (if you want to
go into the business, we can talk). All I ask in return for my investment in
time to design this, is that you make one from scrap or cheep material
first so you know how it is done and don't waste your chosen material.
You can always donate the test piece to your Golden Key for cold
weather, non fighting gear. You will end up with a good bit of odd shaped
left over fabric. But as the total cost for this should be about $10, I was
not too worried about thrift.
Materials:
• 2 and 1/3 yards 60" wide Trigger cloth in your choice of color
• 1 package extra wide double fold bias tape in matching or contrasting
color
• 1 spool of matching thread.
Unto the populous does Caia and Lissa extend greetings. Unbeknownst to our innocent
stewards, birthday's are an annual event... so come and celebrate at the SECOND annual
extravagala weekend. There will be something for everyone - tourneys (Rapier and
Heavy), archery, feasting, quaffing (FREE Ginger Beer), dancing, collegia, and even
swimming. The site is located half an hour south of the Rowany central, and half an
hour north of the Agarican College of St Malachy in beautiful bushland surroundings.
Just turn off the Princess Hwy next to Heathcote Railway Station and follow the SCA
signs. Camping is available on-site (no extra charge), however, note there is no
dormitory accommodation available this year.
Event Timetable
Site:
Site opens 5pm Friday, closes 5pm Sunday.
IKAC:
10am Saturday
Fencing:
2pm Saturday
Feast:
7pm Saturday
Heavy:
11am Sunday
Site:
Steward:
Address:
Phone:
Email:
Cost:
Heathcote Scout Camp, 2 Freeman Rd, Heathcote, NSW
Ælfred þe Lef (Nicholas Sheppard)
2/26 Rann St, Fairy Meadow, NSW, 2519
(02) 4285 9591,
[email protected]
$20/$25/$27 before Feb 10/before Feb 21/at door full weekend
$13/$18/$20 before Feb 10/before Feb 21/at door feast only
$5/$7 day only booked/at door
Cheques payable to: SCA Rowany, Inc.
Bookings to the steward are appreciated by 21/02/2001
The Process:
You are supposed to wash your cloth first. That way it will not shrink
smaller than you want it to be. So cut your cloth into two pieces at least
40" long by 60" (the width of the cloth) and wash and dry it.
Known World Academy of the Rapier Art Contest
Be It Known Throughout the Known World that a Contest for Art to be
Used by KWAR 2001 is now Open.
Take one piece and lay it out so the 38" is left to right and the 60" is top to
bottom. Fold it once bottom over top. Fold it again left over right. Now
you have 4 layers of cloth. Take a piece of string or even a piece of thread,
and tie it around a pencil. Measure the string to be 19" long. Hold one end
of the string in the lower left corner of the cloth and draw an arc 19" in radius as shown. Cut off out side the line.
All Artists are invited to enter the contest. The art is to be used on the
official KWAR 2001 T-shirt and the cover of the KWAR Book of
Proceedings.
If you were to unfold the fabric you will have a circle with a 19" radius
(but don't unfold it)
Art may be in black and white or color. Art work must include the words
"Known World Academy of the Rapier, Province of Tree Girt Sea,
October 12-14, AS 36. Art work may be sent by electronic file to
[email protected] or a disposable photocopy of your camera ready
art work to Allen Reed, 4739 N. Luna, Chicago, IL 60630 ATTN: KWAR
Art, by May 1, 2001.
Please include with your entry your mundane and SCA name/title and
contact information. Winning artwork will be used only for KWAR 2001.
The artist will retain all other rights.
Winner of the contest will receive TWO free entries into the Known
World Academy of the Rapier as well as two Official KWAR T-shirts.
The winner of the contest will be announced on June 1, 2001.
Questions may be directed to Baron AElfred of Chester/Allen Reed at
[email protected] or 773-202-9024.
Now, on the left side of the material, draw a vertical line 4" from the left.
Draw another line across 5" up from the bottom. Freehand, draw a connecting ark between the lines
Cutting through all 4 layers of cloth, cut out the cloth shown shaded in
the picture. Save these pieces. You can sew it into a nice belt pouch when
you are done. You get two pouches as a bonus from this project. *S*
Repeat theses steps again so you have two identical pieces that look
like......
Lay one on top of the other. Fold bottom over top, and left over right so it
looks like.....
You will note that what will be the bottom is already a finished edge (as it
is folded), and the chin is done as it is not cut. At this point you can take it
to someone who can sew to run a seam over the back of the head (upper
right of cloth). Now turn it inside out (which will make it right side out)
and check the fit to your mask (if you did your own sewing, you may need
to trim the fabric closer to the seam to avoid a wad of fabric...). Insert
your mask into the hood and check for fit. The "chin" of the coif should fit
over the bib of the mask, under the mask. The wire mesh of the mask
should extend through the opening, but be fairly tight. You may have to
enlarge the face opening a bit. Once that is right, sew on (or have sewn)
the bias tape to finish the face opening. That's all there is to it. If you are
doing your own sewing, give this one to your local practice for loaner
gear, and make yourself another one, you know, with out that mistake you
made in the first one *grin*
Oh, and if your kingdom requires a separate strap to hold the bottom of
the mask to your head, take a luggage strap, small belt, or some of that left
over bias tape, and sew it to the inside of the chin of the coif. As this will
go over the bib of your mask, when you fasten or tie it around behind your
head, your mask is secured as per the rules .