Punta Dritta - Newsletter of the Royal Guild of Fence

This is the monthly newsletter of the West Kingdom's Royal Guild of Fence. It may be viewed, copied and distributed for free providing none of the content is changed. If you wish to use articles from the newsletter in your own publications, please seek permission from the authors.

From the Editor

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.

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.

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.

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).

If you have questions about SCA rapier, please feel free to send them in. Often lots of people will be wondering about the same thing and if we can publish an answer it will benefit everyone.

From The Lord Guildmaster of Fence

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.

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.

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.

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.

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)... :-)

From the Kingdom Rapier Marshal

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 (bbrapier@yahoo.com).

Fourth, we now have our own newsletter (Well, if you're reading this you already know that - Ed.)

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

Advisory on New Steel Daggers

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.

From the Lochac Principality 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.

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.

Articles of Interest

Duelling Stories of the 16th Century - From the French of Brantome 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.

Making the Worlds Simplest SCA Legal Fencing Coif

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

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.

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.

If you were to unfold the fabric you will have a circle with a 19" radius (but don't unfold it)

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*

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.

Known World Academy of Rapier Art Contest

Be It Known Throughout the Known World that a Contest for Art to be Used by KWAR 2001 is now Open.

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.

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 KWAR200One@aol.com 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 KWAR200One@aol.com or 773-202-9024.

Upcoming Events

St. Valentines Day (Lochac - Politarchopolis)
February 10th

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 3rd 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.

Caia and Lissa's "Let's Sleep on It" Birthday Extravagala Weekend (Lochac - Rowany)
February 24th - 25th

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: Heathcote Scout Camp, 2 Freeman Rd, Heathcote, NSW
Steward: Ælfred þe Lef (Nicholas Sheppard)
Address: 2/26 Rann St, Fairy Meadow, NSW, 2519
Phone: (02) 4285 9591
Email: nps@zeta.org.au

Cost:
$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

Upcoming Prizes

The following Journeymen will be playing their Provost Prizes at the Estrella War:

Sincerely,
Joe Bricky (SKA John Carter)
Maestro, Crimson Rose Academie of Fence
SCA Provost

Recent Prizes

West Kingdom Marshallate Directory

Kingdom Rapier Marshal

Michael of Castle Keep (Michael Jacobs)
835/355 N. Wolfe Rd. Sunnyvale, CA 94085
Ph: 0011 408-732-4903 Email:mikej@netmagic.net

Principality of Cynagua (Northern Central California) Rapier Marshals

Cynagua Principality Rapier Marshal
Fergus (Sean Kiernan)
Email:kiernan@efortress.com

Golden Rivers Marshal
Nytshaed (Douglas Leonard)
2808 Honeysuckle Way, Sacramento, CA 95826
Email: dleonard@pcocd2.intel.com

Principality of the Mists (Bay Area) Rapier Marshals

Mists Principality Rapier Marshal
This position is vacant. Contact the KRM if you are interested.

Prinipality of Oertha (Alaska) Rapier Marshals

Oertha Principality Rapier Marshal
Lady Catherine of Birchfeld (April Carney)
PO BOX 873816, Wasilla, AK 99687 Ph: (907) 373-3715 Email:ladykat@alaska.com

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:rcull@ozemail.com.au

Shire of Agaricus (SW Sydney & Illawarra)
Artemisia da Quieto d'Arzenta (Leonie Kirchmajer)
20 Montague St. Fairy Meadow NSW 2519
Ph: (02) 4285 9169Email:malachy@sca.org.au

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:psychis_med@yahoo.com

Barony of Riverhaven (Brisbane)
Edmund the Lame (Paul Sawtell)
"Silverthorn" P.O. Box 929 Maleny QLD 4552
Ph: (07) 5429 6176 Email:rapier@powerup.com.au

The Royal Guild of Fence Directory

Lord Guildmaster of Fence
Francois Henri Guyon (Shayne Lynch)
PO Box 836 Woden, ACT 2606, Australia.
Ph: +61 2 6294 1609 E-mail:Lynchs@my-deja.com

Arenwald Van Hagenburg
Övre Slottsgatan 18C, 753 12 Uppsala, SWEDEN.
Email: arnoldp@docs.uu.se

Jan Kees Dudel d'Ende (Josh Eisenberg)
1435 Washington St. #3 San Francisco, CA 94109
Ph: 415-775-0557 Email:JanKeesDudel@yahoo.com

Jose Ramirez de Coronado (Doug Coronado)
959 Oregon Street Gridley, CA USA 95948
Email:zspaniard@yahoo.com

How to Subscribe to Punta 'Dritta

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.

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.

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)
David Falcone D'el Phoid
c/o David Ball
1305 Stockton ave
Modesto, ca.
95358