Kingdom of Lochac

The Kingdom of Lochac is one of twenty "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 King Gilbert Purchase I and Queen Bethony Gaitskell I.

The Kingdom takes its name from a Dutch term for Australia dating from 1630.^[1]

General

The group has around 2000 members,^[2] and is one of Australia's oldest Living History groups, having started in 1980.^[3] The Australasian Branch includes Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica^[4]

History

The SCA in Australia was initiated with a local SCA inspired group, "The Society for the Current Middle Ages"(SCMA) holding its first event in November 1980^[5] The SCMA joined the US based SCA in Sydney around 1981, and in Christchurch shortly after.^[6] Other cities in both countries formed groups, but the New Zealand groups became part of the Kingdom of Caid,^[6] while Australia became the Crown Principality (and later the Principality) of Lochac under The West Kingdom. Lochac became a kingdom its own right in 2002, and the New Zealand-based groups joined in 2003.^[7]^[8]

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,^[8] greater Sydney itself is the Barony of Rowany.^[4]

Other groups include:

Barony of Aneala - Perth, Western Australia
Barony of Ildhafn - Auckland, New Zealand
Barony of Innilgard - South Australia and the Northern Territory.
Barony of Krae Glas - South Eastern Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Barony of Mordenvale - Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Barony of Politachopolis - Canberra, ACT, Australia
Barony of Riverhaven - North and Western parts of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Barony of Rowany - Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Barony of St Florian de la Riviere - Brisbane South and Redland Shire Council, Queensland, Australia
Barony of Southron Gaard - Christchurch, New Zealand
Barony of Stormhold - Inner and west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Barony of Ynys Fawr - Tasmania, Australia
Canton of Abertridwr - Part of Aneala
Canton of Cairn Fell - Ballarat, Australia
Canton of Cluain - Part of Ildhafn, New Zealand
Canton of Draks Fjord - Part of Riverhaven, Queensland, Australia
Canton of Stowe on the Wowld - Part of Rowany, Australia
College of Blessed Herman the Cripple - Adelaide University the first of the Colleges registered in Lochac
College of Saint Aldhelm - Australian National University
College of Saint Andronicus - University of Canberra
College of Saint Bartholomew - University of Melbourne
College of Saint Basil the Great - University of Western Australia
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
Shire of Adora - Illawarra, New South Wales, Australia
Shire of Boesenburg - Bunbury, Western Australia
Shire of Darton - Wellington, New Zealand
Shire of Dismal Fogs - Blue Mountains, New South Wales
Shire of Dragons Bay - (Perth Southern Suburbs, Western Australia)x

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
Order of Defence - for martial prowess and chivalry in Rapier fencing

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 at Easter every year, near Sydney. Amongst SCAdians it is known as "Rowany", except those who live in the Rowany (Sydney) area, where it is known as Festival.

The Festival has been running since April 1983,^[9] is the longest running medieval/living history event in Australia. It has grown to its current size at which 1000 people may attend. It is the largest SCA event in Australia, and is a de facto "National event".

Some SCA members are involved in the Crossroads Medieval Village near Yass, New South Wales, 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 are often people cooking in accordance with the very special customs that relate to that.

Traditionally large battles involving SCA Heavy Combat are fought at Rowany Festival that may include up to 300 combatants. Medieval feasts are held by the households participating. A "merchants row", a street of merchants, runs for the whole weekend, as well as a Saturday only market. Typically, the merchants sell arts, crafts and off the peg armour.^[3]

Rowany Festival has had five different locations. It was held from 1981 to 1997 at Fairholme Park in Wilton. It then moved to Tara Girl Guide camp in Silverdale in Western Sydney from 1998 to 2002, thence to the Crossroads Medieval Village medieval community in Yass. In 2008 it moved to the Glenworth Valley Horse Riding centre at Peats Ridge, New South Wales, and it has taken place at Camp Wombaroo near to Jellore State Forest since 2014.

Other events

Other large, multi day event activities include Canterbury Faire held in New Zealand, "Great Northern War" held in Queensland, Spring War held in Newcastle, "Autumn Gathering" and "Pencampwr" held in Western Australia.

References

^ "Day Turns to knight in the battle of Northbridge". , The Sydney Morning Herald, 15 May 1995.p2
^ McIntosh, Deborah. "Sunday". The Sun Herald 28 Jun 1998.p 6
^ ^a ^b Fennel, Tim. "They love the Knight life" HQ Magazine, Sep/Oct 1995, p63.
^ ^a ^b Taylor, Andrew. "Forsooth, A Fair Damsel, Mate". The Sun Herald, 12 August p 34
^ [1]
^ ^a ^b [2]
^ [3]
^ ^a ^b Willis, Robyn. "Back to the age of Chivalry". The Sun Herald, 14 October 1990. P 155
^ http://history.westkingdom.org/Branches/Lochac.htm

(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

External

Kingdom of Lochac - official website
[4] - A short history of Lochac
[5] - The History of the Kingdom of the west - The longer history of Lochac