A Roster of Smythkepe Events

Collected by Seamas Mac Daibhid

Last Updated February XXXIX (2005)

I've tried to gather here a complete list of every official event ever put on by my home Shire of Smythkepe, along with a few unofficial activities that I could pin down. This is a fairly bare-bones listing, without a great deal of detail, but I hope it can be expanded in the future. Unlike other topics in SCAdia, I've created this page as much for myself as anyone; I can't keep all these events straight any more.

In many cases, autocrat and feastocrat information has been retrieved from old flyers, so it may not reflect last-minute changes (especially regarding feastocrats, as I steer away from kitchens as I would torture chambers). If anyone has more accurate information about any event listed here (or knows about an event that I completely omitted [or knows the actual date of Lady Sine's High Persona Feast in AS XXV or XXVI]), please contact me!

• These bullets indicate official events, with published flyers and a date on the official Kingdom calendar.
  
  
  • These bullets indicate unofficial shire activities.

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  • Shire Birthday
    December 31, AS XXI (1986), Somebody's living room, Fort Smith, Arkansas
    The Shire of Smythkepe was born at a New Year's Eve party twenty years and eight months after the birth of the Society. While waiting for midnight, three people—THL Arianwen ferch Hari, Lord Willem Cleburne, and Lord Dylan Smallewoode, all former members of the Shire-March of Grimfells in Calontir—decided to create a new group. They adapted their town's mundane name and formed the Shire-March of Smythkepe. Today we traditionally celebrate the Shire's birthday at midnight on New Year's Eve.
    
    
• The Unofficial Feast of St. Dunstan
  
  • December 3, AS XXIII (1988), Heritage United Methodist Church, Van Buren, Arkansas
  • Autocrat:
  • Feastocrat: THL Arianwen ferch Hari
  This was the first true event of Smythkepe, held during the last months of our incipiency and co-hosted by the Shire of the Small Gray Bear. We named our event after the patron saint of smiths, even though Dunstan's actual feast day is May 19th. THL Arianwen, the feastocrat, was one of the original founders of the Shire; her husband and fellow founder, Lord Willem Cleburne (also known as Thomas the Beggar), gave a class on smithwork during the day. After a new member, Mariah of Powis, spent the entire day assisting in the kitchen, we instituted a shire rule: New members of Smythkepe are forbidden to do more than token work at their first shire event. This event included our first live weapons competition, with knife, axe, and anvil throwing; sterling-silver prizes were given to the winners.
  
  
• A Mid-Summer Knight's Dream
  
  • June 16-18, AS XXIV (1989), Shoal Creek Methodist Campgrounds, Midway, Arkansas
  • Autocrat: Rosanda ni Shranachain
  • Feastocrat: Ly. Siné ni Shranachain
  MSKD was our first full-weekend event. We had been confirmed as a shire just a few months earlier, at Spring Coronation. We had a door price for members of $14 for the weekend, with five meals included. TRM Richard and Ellawin attended, the first Crowns to hold court at a Smythkepe event.
  
  
  • The 2nd Annual "I Didn't Go to Pennsic Either" Moot
    
    • August 26, AS XXIV (1989), Riksa's yard, Fort Smith, Arkansas
    • Autocrat: Riksa "Brightblade"
    This was a mini-event, with classes, party games, and a board game tournament.
    
    
• The Feast of St. Dunstan
  
  • December 9, AS XXIV (1989), Trinity Episcopal Church, Van Buren, Arkansas
  • Autocrat: Ly. Dagmar Griselde von der Schmaragde
  • Feastocrat: Ly. Rosanda ni Shranachain
  Once again we moved the feast day for Dunstan from May to December. At this event, for the first time, we mounted the Quest for the Shrine of St. Dunstan, one of our most popular recurring activities. HRM Liadrachan of Meridies attended.
  
  
• A Midsummer Knight's Dream [II]
  
  • July 13-15, AS XXV (1990), Shoal Creek Methodist Campgrounds, Midway, Arkansas
  • Autocrat: Ly. Siné ni Shranachain
  • Feastocrat: Mariah of Powis
  The second MSKD set the format for those that followed, with a double-elimination tournament on Saturday and a fledgling tournament on Sunday. Once again we offered knife, axe, and anvil throwing, as we continued to do at later Midsummers. TRM Stephen and Jacqueline held court.
  
  
• The Feast of St. Dunstan [III]
  
  • December 8, AS XXV (1990), Trinity Episcopal Church, Van Buren, Arkansas
  • Autocrat: Ly. Rosanda ni Shranachain
  • Feastocrat: Ly. Siné ni Shranachain
  Door price for members at this event was $7. Once again we held the Quest for the Shrine of St. Dunstan.
  
  
• Spring Coronation: TRH Stephen and Jacqueline
  
  • April 5-7, AS XXV (1991), Camp Yorktown Bay, Hot Springs, Arkansas
  • Autocrat: Ly. Rosanda ni Shranachain
  • Feastocrat: Ly. Siné ni Shranachain
  This was the largest event Smythkepe has ever held. We seated just over 200 at feast, with innumerable servers and kitchen workers. Many of the guests at this event never knew where the food for feast was cookedthe feast hall and kitchen burned to the ground ten days before the event. Lady Siné, the feastocrat (and long-time seneschale of Smythkepe), received her Grant of Arms at this event, whether from TRM Michael and Judith or from TRM Stephen and Jacqueline I do not recall. Lady Siné was the first member of Smythkepe ever to receive a Grant of Arms.
  
  
• A Midsummer Knight's Dream [III]
  
  • May 31-June 2, AS XXVI (1991), Shoal Creek Methodist Campgrounds, Midway, Arkansas
  • Autocrat: Ly. Rosanda ni Shranachain
  • Feastocrat: THL Siné ni Shranachain
  Yes, you read that correctly. Less than two months after throwing Coronation without a kitchen, we hosted our regular summer event. For the third straight time, Lady Rosanda was the autocrat and Lady Siné was the feastocrat. TRM Stephen and Jacqueline attended this event.
  
  
  • The 4th Annual "I Didn't Get to Go to Pennsic Either" Moot
    
    • August 24, AS XXVI (1991), Copperhead Canyon, Chester, Arkansas
    • Host: Ly. Selina "Headbasher" Valvasar
    This was one of our largest IDGTGTPE Moots, with a huge "Frustration Bonfire" in which guests could throw anything that frustrated them. The trees probably still lean outward from the bonfire site.
    
    
• The Feast of St. Dunstan [IV]
  
  • December, AS XXVI (1991), Trinity Episcopal Church, Van Buren, Arkansas
  This was the last winter event at which we held the Quest for the Shrine of St. Dunstan. TRM Hadi and Ameraulde attended.
  
  
• A Midsummer Knight's Dream [IV]
  
  • June 19-21, AS XXVII (1992), Shoal Creek Methodist Campgrounds, Midway, Arkansas
  • Autocrat: Gerberga of Ardennes
  • Feastocrat: Lady Rosanda ni Shranachain
  This event included a genuine Catholic Latin wedding in Italian Renaissance style, held offsite at a nearby monastery, the Subiaco Abbey.
  
  
• The Feast of St. Dunstan V
  
  • December 4-6, AS XXVII (1992), Lake Fort Smith State Park, Mountainburg, Arkansas
  • Autocrat: Lady Mariah of Powis
  • Feastocrat: Lady Rohiel de Montalia
  The first time the Feast of St. Dunstan ran over a full weekend was also the last time the Feast was a separate event. Lake Fort Smith, although scenic enough to guests, turned out to be a very unpleasant site for Smythkepe. This event also holds the shire's bad weather record to date, with sleet and freezing rain for most of the weekend. Bad weather didn't stop the fighters; they rode in the back of an open truck from the hall to the list field. We had to periodically beat the built-up ice off of the outermost cloak of the list mistress, Lady Rosanda. TRM John and Jane Falada held court, giving numerous awards.
  
  
• A Midsummer Knight's Dream V
  
  • June 4-6, AS XXVIII (1993), Shoal Creek Methodist Campgrounds, Midway, Arkansas
  • Autocrats: Lady Selina "Headbasher" Valvasar, Lady Rixa Ericsdotter
  • Feastocrats: Ron of Smythkepe, Esteban the Doomed
  While I don't believe that our guests noticed anything amiss, we put on this event despite a great deal of internal strife. (I contributed my share; this event sparked my poorly-received "Kitchen Chauvinism" editorial.) In the fifteen months following this event, inter-household conflicts (and a few acts of deliberate malice) cost Smythkepe over half its population, including a number of our most valued members.
  
  
• The Feast of St. Dunstan VI
  
  • January 8, AS XXVIII (1994)
  Although we published a flyer in Popular Chivalry for the Sixth Feast of St. Dunstan, the event was ultimately cancelled due to lack of a suitable event site.
  
  
• A Midsummer Knight's Dream VI
  
  • June 3-5, AS XXIX (1994), Shoal Creek Methodist Campgrounds, Midway, Arkansas.
  • Autocrat: Lady Selina "Headbasher" Valvasar
  • Feastocrats: Lord Docron & Lady Darlene of Smythkepe
  Subtitled, "Featuring the Feast of St. Dunstan", this was our confession that, at least for now, the Feast of St. Dunstan was dead as an independent event. For the first time, we included the Quest for the Shrine of St. Dunstan (its fourth appearance) as part of our summer event, an activity that wouldn't have been possible without the assistance of several members of Small Gray Bear. HRM Juliana held court and gave several awards to Smythkepe members.
  
  
• The Cracked Anvil Collegium
  
  • February 25th, AS XXIX (1995), Christ the King School, Fort Smith, Arkansas
  • Autocrat: Lady Moira nic Bryn
  • Feastocrat: Lady Mariah of Powis
  The first Cracked Anvil was created as a backstop event. We weren't sure whether we'd have a site for the next MSKD, or enough people to put it on, so we threw a small event in late winter to satisfy our Kingdom requirement of one event per year. Cracked Anvil was the first official Smythkepe event actually to be held in our home city. Attendance was quite small, and feast was quite large.
  
  
• A Midsummer Knight's Dream VII
  
  • May 25, AS XXX (1995), Shoal Creek Methodist Campgrounds, Midway, Arkansas
  • Autocrat: Lady Moira nic Bryn
  • Feastocrat: Lady Mariah of Powis
  This was the fifth Quest for the Shrine of St. Dunstan, and our last appearance at Shoal Creek. We weren't surprised, as we'd been having trouble with the management for several years, but we were left without a suitable summer site. It would be more than five years before MSKD and the Quest returned.
  
  
  • Picnic at the Runestone
    
    • July 29, AS XXX (1995), Heavener Runestone State Park, Heavener, Oklahoma
    We joined with the College of Gnome Vale (since renamed Rundel) of Ansteorra for a picnic, fighter practice, and revel at the Heavener Runestone, the only authentic period site in America, so far as I know. Norse explorers carved several runes into a large slab of rock in eastern Oklahoma; the site today is a beautiful park, a small verdant cleft at the very top of a tall ridge.
    
    
• The Cracked Anvil Collegium II
  
  • February 17, AS XXX (1996), Christ the King School, Fort Smith, Arkansas
  • Autocrat: Lady Moira nic Bryn
  • Feastocrat: Lady Mariah of Powis
  Another small event to keep ourselves busy and Kingdom happy, Cracked Anvil II also saw the introduction of "Plague Frog", a circle game imported from the then-College of Gnome Vale.
  
  
• The Cracked Anvil Collegium III
  
  • February 8, AS XXXI (1997), Christ the King School, Fort Smith, Arkansas
  • Autocrat: Lord Denys de Houtbewerker
  • Feastocrat: Lady Mariah of Powis
  For the third year in a row Lady Mariah prepared the Cracked Anvil feast, but this time with a difference: She was applying for the rank of Grand Chef of Meridies. Thanks to Lady Mariah's feast this Cracked Anvil was a huge success, with attendance larger than the first two combined. Their Royal Highnesses Padruig and Linnet attended and helped judge the feast; Meridies royalty would not return to Smythkepe for eight long years.
  
  
• The Cracked Anvil Collegium IV
  
  • June 20, AS XXXIII (1998), Christ the King School, Fort Smith, Arkansas
  • Autocrat: Lady Mariah of Powis
  • Feastocrat: Maire Siene nic Grahame
  The fourth Cracked Anvil, in a curious departure, moved to a date nearer to midsummer than most of our Midsummer Knight's Dreams had ever hit. Instead of our usual knife, axe, and anvil throwing, we held a "Live Kitchen Weapons" competition: cleaver throw (at a wooden target), spoon toss (at a large kettle), and cast-iron skillet throw (for distance).
  
  
• Ragnarok—The End of the World
  
  • October 22-24, AS XXXIV (1999), Rogers Scout Reservation, Ione, Arkansas
  • Autocrat: Eldrid Ulfson
  • Feastocrat: Sorcha Rhys
  Our first weekend event in four years used a new site, a simply enormous Boy Scout reservation. A number of fairly new members to Smythkepe distinguished themselves by throwing an enjoyable (if smaller than hoped for) event.
  
  
  • Shire Birthday Party XIII
    
    • December 31, AS XXXIV (1999), Fort Smith, Arkansas
    The way we figured it, with the Shire of Smythkepe turning thirteen years old at the same moment the year 1999 ended, the world just had to end. So we threw a party.
    
    
• A Midsummer Knight's Dream VIII
  
  • September 1-3, AS XXXV (2000), Rogers Scout Reservation, Ione, Arkansas
  • Autocrat: Eldrid Ulfson
  • Feastocrat: Sorcha Rhys
  Our second event at Rogers Scout Reservation marked the return of Midsummer, with the Feast of St. Dunstan and the sixth Quest for the Shrine of St. Dunstan. For the first time, we had equestrian activities at an event.
  
  
• A Midsummer Knight's Dream IX
  
  • August 31-September 2, AS XXXVI (2001), Rogers Scout Reservation, Ione, Arkansas
  • Autocrat: Lord Cinaed of Eden
  • Feastocrat: Amber Rhianna Morgan
  Titled "The Feast of the Forbidden Fruit," the delicious feast for this event featured apples. This was our largest summer event in years and included the seventh Quest for the Shrine of St. Dunstan.
  
  
  • The Cracked Anvil Collegium V - Smythkepe 15th Birthday
    
    • December ??, AS XXXVI (2001), Fort Smith, Arkansas
    • Autocrat: THL Moira nic Bryn
    • Food Wrangler: Bridget O'Fallon
    This event, Cracked Anvil V combined with the Shire Birthday Party, didn't make it onto the Kingdom calendar, but we had a good time anyway. It took place in the athletic building of a Fort Smith apartment complex.
    
    
• A Midsummer Knight's Dream X
  
  • August 30-September 1, AS XXXVII (2002), Rogers Scout Reservation, Ione, Arkansas
  • Autocrat: Lord Lucas Von dem Schwartzwald
  • Feastocrat: Tristan Morgan
  • Questocrat: Seamas Mac Daibhid
  Viking hordes descended upon the Shrine of St. Dunstan, complete with runestones (Quest VIII).
  
  
• The Cracked Anvil Collegium VI
  
  • AS XXXVII (2003), St. Michael's Catholic School, Van Buren, Arkansas
  • Autocrat: THL Moira nic Bryn
  • Food Wrangler: Bridget O'Fallon
  Cracked Anvil unexpectedly blossomed into a real event, with about 90 people attending. A new game appeared, using steel-tipped wooden kitchen spoons as lawn darts.
  
  
• A Midsummer Knight's Dream XI - The War of the Roses
  
  • August 29-September 1, AS XXXVIII (2003), Rogers Scout Reservation, Ione, Arkansas
  • Autocrat: Frederick Alten
  • Feastocrat: Geoffrey?
  • Questocrat: Dante
  This was Smythkepe's first four-day event, with fighting on Saturday and Sunday. The ninth Quest for the first time broke with our traditional "linear" quest and allowed free exploration by quest teams.
  
  
• The Cracked Anvil Collegium VII
  
  • February 14, AS XXXVIII (2004), Cedarville, Arkansas
  • Autocrat:
  • Feastocrat:
  
  
  
• A Midsummer Knight's Dream XII
  
  • September 3-6, AS XXXIX (2004), Rogers Scout Reservation, Ione, Arkansas
  • Autocrat: Lord Cinaed of Eden
  • Feastocrat: Amber Morgan
  • Questocrat: Seamas Mac Daibhid
  A Roman-themed four-day event. The tenth Quest was a murder mystery in a small Roman town.
  
  
• The Cracked Anvil Collegium VIII
  
  • February 19, AS XXXIX (2005), Franklin County Fairgrounds, Ozark, Arkansas
  • Autocrat: Lady Eva Helena Vettori
  • Feastocrat: Morin Inghen Ruaric
  HRM Ashildr, Queen of Meridies, attended and held court, granting a wide variety of awards to a number of deserving members of Smythkepe. HRM Ashildr was the first Meridian royalty to visit Smythkepe in eight years (since Cracked Anvil III). Total attendance was astounding, over 130 people.
  
  
• A Midsummer Knight's Dream XIII (Planned)
  
  • September 2-5, AS XXXX (2005), Rogers Scout Reservation, Ione, Arkansas
  • Autocrat: Lady Bridget O'Fallon
  • Feastocrat:
  • Questocrat: Dante