A History of An Tir

A HISTORY OF AN TIR by Sir Richard Fitzalan, Master of the Pelican, Baron Glymmere.

Preface

The intent of this wiki page is to act as an outline and general overview of the history of the Society for Creative Anachronism in the Pacific Northwest. To this end, it will be a constantly revised and growing “book” as research and writing allows. Most major events mentioned will be linked to fuller articles elsewhere in the wiki. Minor events or historical analysis will occur within the lines of this page.

Introduction

Since the first known SCA event in the geographical area now known as An Tir began in 1969 (AS IV), these lands have gone through many decades of growth and development. I divide these years into three general periods with further subdivisions for study and organization. First, the “Origins” period from 1969-1973, during which baronies first appear in Three Mountains (Portland, OR) and Madrone (Seattle, WA). Second, the “Principality” period from the Royal Tourney of Union in May 1973 to the creation of the Kingdom of An Tir in January 1982. Third, the “Kingdom” period from 1982 to current, though this period is further subdivided by the creation of principalities within An Tir (1996) and the separation of the Principality of Avacal into the Kingdom of Avacal (2015). While I am a professional librarian, researcher, and historian, the views I express on this page are mine and not those of other historians. An Tir is rich in history and as in any society there are many stories and interpretations of events. I encourage discussion using the Discussion tab for the wiki page. I acknowledge as a wiki page that anyone can change things at any time, though it is my hope we can discuss things before making changes.

Sir Richard Fitzalan, OP, Baron Glymm Mere 2025 (AS LX)

Origins

The SCA began in the San Francisco Bay Area of California in 1966 with Diana Listmaker’s Last Tournament? / First Tournament.

During these years records and photographs are few and memories lost or vague. Much of the research during this period relies on the publications of the Kingdom of the West, of which the PNW was then part. And the “rules” of the SCA were still very much in development and only sometimes applied. The result was a fluid period of development.

Oral tradition suggests that the first SCA branch created in a new state was automatically considered a Barony and the founder of that group, its Founding Baron or Baroness.

Sir Frederic of the West Tower had been a member of the Kingdom of the West and knighted there in 1968. By 1969 he had moved to Portland and began a new barony in Oregon.

Raymond the Mild found the SCA while attending a Science Fiction Convention in California in 1968. He lived in Olympia, and began a new barony in Washington.

The First Events

The first SCA activity in the PNW appears to have been organized by Sir Frederic of the West Tower who was knighted in the Kingdom of the West in 1968. By late 1969 he was living in Portland, Oregon.

The Kingdom of the West newsletter, The Page, in their December 1969 issue, advertised that he was “now engaged in organizing this new barony (The Barony of Three Mountains) in the Portland, Oregon area.” He is titled “Seneschal” of the new group in the newsletter.

Oral tradition suggests that the first SCA branch created in a new state was automatically considered a Barony and the founder of that group, its Founding Baron or Baroness.

The December Page, which was published in late November or early December, further stated “The first planning meeting is being held as this issue goes to press. Training sessions for fighters are being arranged.” No further information about this planning meeting or first fight training has been discovered to date.

The first name Sir Frederic submitted for this group was "The Barony of the Mountains" but the heralds rejected this name for being too general. After receiving the rejection letter, the baron is said to have looked out his window and saw three mountains; Mount Hood in Oregon and Mount St Helens and Mount Adams, both in Washington. He resubmitted the name as the Barony of Three Mountains, which passed. [From An Introduction to the History of An Tir by Dame Hrefna Ulfvarinnsdottir, 2016.]

Three Mountains’ first “official baronial event” was a New Years Eve Revel on 31 December 1969 at Sir Frederic’s home, 1867 14th St. S.W. in Portland.

Given ‘’The Page’’ was the official newsletter of the Kingdom of the West at the time, this makes Three Mountains the first and oldest Barony in An Tir.

This was followed in the January 1970 issue of The Page with the announcement of the beginning of a group in Washington state, led by “Seneschal Raymond the Mild.”

Raymond had gone to the BayCon Science Fiction Convention in September of 1968. On September 2, 1968, the Kingdom of the West held a tourney there sponsored by BayCon (26th World Science Fiction Convention), conducted by the Societey for Creative Anachronism.

Raymond was taken with the tourney and returned to his home in Olympia with “A Handbook of the [Current] Middle Ages.” At some point thereafter, he began organizing the first branch in Washington State, which created the Barony of Madrone with Raymond as Founding Baron.

This group is unnamed in the January article, but after consultation with a visiting herald from the West, named Boncueur, it would be named Madrone. The first use of Madrone as the name for the Washington state Barony appears in the March 1970 ‘’The Page’’.

The first event of the then unnamed Washington State group was “A Sewing Fest and Practice Session”, held at the home of Maid Laurellen of Evergreen on Mercer Island at 3705 90th Ave S.E. on 31 January 1970. 

The Seneschal, Raymond the Mild “will be present to practice with interested fighters.” Lady Sheen of Ire (Raymond’s wife), Maid Laurellen, and “other ladies will be sewing and chattering, and Maid Anne Borst will instruct all interested in a few simple bransles.”

In The Page for March 1970, Edwin Bersark, Earl Marshal to His Majesty of the West, announced the appointment of Sir Frederick of the West Tower as the first marshal, representative and assistant for the Baronies of Three Mountains and Madrone.

“Maid Cynthia, Maid Marquet, and Dame Sheen of Ire at Leisure.” At the First Tourney May 3, 1970.

In April 1970, the Barony of Madrone is listed in ‘’The Page’’ as scheduled to hold their “1st Tourney” on May 3rd in Olympia, WA, on the land of Raymond the Mild’s father on Johnson Point Road.

The early SCA has a well documented connection with Science Fiction conventions. Many members joined after seeing a demonstration of SCA folks at a Sci-Fi Con. This early relationship between the two “geekdoms” occurred in An Tir as well. At Norwestercon 70, held in Portland at the Heathman Hotel, the Barony of Three Mountains did a demo and tourney on May 29-31.

According to ‘’The Oregon Journal’’ (1 June 1970), part of the SCA presence included a “ceremonial salute” for a pagan wedding in Washington Park that weekend. As well as “jousting matches between members of Society of Creative Anachronism to determine who would be first baron to rule over Portland society.”

The June 1970 ‘’The Page’’ announced a joint event to be held on June 20th, hosted by the Baronies of Three Mountains and Madrone, at the land of Raymond the Mild’s father on Johnson Point Road in Olympia, WA.

Branches

Oral tradition has it that in the beginning the Barony of Three Mountains and the Barony of Madrone were considered to be the branches covering all of Oregon and Washington respectively.

Such baronies were without any official paperwork or charter in the early days, so their founding date is often listed as the date of their first event, as recorded in The Page, as the publication of record for the SCA in the early days.

According to the The History of the West Kingdom: a Summary of the First Kingdom of the SCA by Baron Hirsch von Henford, OL, OP, and other timelines from the Kingdom of the West, on July 28, 1973 (A.S. VIII), Baronial Charters were given to all existing Baronies in an effort to officially anoint historical branches.

Some SCA historians have tried to define the formation date of Three Mountains and Madrone to this 1973 date due to the official charters. This seems wildly inaccurate as both branches had developed several years of events and activities prior to that date and were considered by the Crown of the West and the Society for Creative Anachronism as fully functional baronies during those years.

The baronies of Three Mountains and Madrone in what would become An Tir. From the April 1971 Lydd newsletter.

As you can see from this early (1971) map, the Barony of Three Mountains was Oregon, centered in Portland, and the Barony of Madrone was Washington, centered in Olympia.

Earliest known photo of SCA in Three Mountains, June 1970.

Barony of Three Mountains - 1969. See First Events above for the first mention of the Barony of Three Mountains in ‘’The Page’’ in December 1969. By April 1970, Three Mountains announced “sewing parties occur at Sir Frederick’s address ‘Friday and other times.”

In the caption of the earliest known photograph of Three Mountains folk, in the 1 June 1970 Oregon Journal, it stated at the Northwest Science Fiction Convention [Norwestercon ‘70] at the Heathman Hotel, “jousting matches between members of Society of Creative Anachronism to determine who would be first baron to rule over Portland society.”

The June 28, 1970 Oregonian had a four page article on this new Barony. In that article, an interview with the then Seneschal, Lady Nicorlynn, it states Baron Frederic of the West Tower was “invested Baron June 20th at a [[First Tourney|tourney] in Olympia.”

Barony of Madrone - 1970. See First Events above for the first mention of events in Washington that become the Barony of Madrone. The first use of Madrone as a Barony appears in the March 1970 ‘’The Page’’.

Madrone held the First Tourney in the Pacific Northwest on May 3, 1970 in Olympia.

Events 1969-1973

While a fuller list of events during this period is being developed, here are a few that have fuller pages currently:

The First Event in the Pacific Northwest: New Years Eve Revels in Three Mountains, held at the home of Sir Frederic of the West Tower at 1867 14th St. S.W., Portland, Oregon, on December 31, 1969.

Sewing Fest and Practice Session in Madrone, held at the home of Maid Laurellen of Evergreen at 3705 90th Ave S.E., Mercer Island, Washington on January 31, 1970.

The First Tourney hosted by Madrone held in Olympia, WA on May 3, 1970.

Norwestercon ‘70 demonstration by Three Mountains at the Northwestern Science Fiction Convention, May 29-31, 1970.

First Baronial Tourney the first combined event sponsored by both the Baronies of Three Mountains and Madrone. Held in Olympia on June 20, 1970.

First Overnight Tourney hosted by the Barony of Three Mountains, held northwest of Portland, OR on Aug 15 - 16, AS V (1970).

House of York Tournament and Revel held in Madrone on July 16, 1972.

Lammastide Tourney held in Madrone on August 5, 1972.

The Royal Tourney of Union held in Madrone on August 25, 1973, united the baronies of Three Mountains and Madrone into a Principality.

Groups

Several households and groups developed during the early years. It appears that such groups were the main building blocks for branches and, though often unofficial, such groups were very well known and important to the development of branches and events.

Ordure of Motley

The Voice of the Turtle (Musical Group)

The House of York (Household)

Principality of An Tir

By 1973 there had been sufficient growth in the PNW that the membership in the SCA numbered sufficiently (100+ subscribers to The Page) that the Kingdom of the West created them jointly as a Principality. This action occurred at the Royal Tourney of Union in Madrone, with the signing of a Charter by Baron Frederic of the West Tower for Three Mountains and Baron Raymond the Mild for Madrone and King Paul of Bellatrix for the Kingdom of the West. It was noted at the time that the Board of Directors of the SCA had not yet approved and their charter would hopefully follow soon after. An Tir, in what would become a not uncommon trait as a cadet of the West, offered to “send our collection agency down for the real one.” The union of these two baronies into the Principality of An Tir was then followed in August 1973 with the First Coronet Tournament.

Coronet Tournaments and Coronations

Coronet Tournaments would continue throughout the years from 1973 to 1981. For the first six, the victor and their inspiration were immediately coronated as Prince and Princess. Starting in 1975, a separate event for coronation would be held a few months later. From 1973 to 1978 there were three coronet tournaments and coronations held each year. Beginning in 1979 this was reduced to only two reigns per year, a tradition that continued into the Kingdom years and continues to this day.

Here is a list of all the Coronet Tournaments and Principality Coronations from 1973-1981.

Growth of Branches

After the creation of the Principality of An Tir in 1973, following the Royal Tourney of Union, and the Coronet Tourney 1 in September 1973, new branches began to spring up across An Tir.

From 1969 to 1973, the Pacific Northwest had only known two SCA branches: the barony of Three Mountains centered in Portland which covered all of Oregon, and the barony of Madrone (whose population seems to have ranged from Olympia to Seattle, but eventually settled in Seattle) which covered all of Washington.

Tracing these new branches is often difficult, as they may be short lived, have existed for only one event, or changed names. The SCA was still working out how branches were made, what they were called, and how they were chartered. The first “official” list of the branches in An Tir doesn’t appear until the September 1979 Crier.

The first among these new non-baronial branches appears to have been first mentioned in the November 1973 The Crier, which mentions: “December 1st is the date for the bardic revels in the shire in Snohomish.” This event was autocrated by Lady Alyson and held at her home in Redmond (Emerald Hills).

In the February 1974 The Page, this December 1st Bardic Revel event was mentioned as having occurred in the “Canton of Entíce,” a name which seems likely to have been a play on early SCA flirtations.

In the December 1973 The Crier, Edward Zifran invited folks to the “Shire of Xerophil” who was going to hold “its first event - the Tourney of Snow” on January 18-20, 1974 in Cheney, WA.

The January 1974 Crier added yet another new branch when Silvae Magnae announced it would hold a St. Valentine’s Revel in Olympia. Francesca and Osmondia were to host.

Also in the same issue, the “incipient Shire of Adiantum” (Eugene, OR) announced its first event, a revel to be held on January 26, 1974, hosted by Alyanora of Vinca and Eowyn.

The April 1974 Crier lists the prior groups along with Flaming Hall, location unknown.

The Crier of December 1974 mentions the Shire of Lion's Gate (Vancouver, B.C.), later (Apr 1975) clarified to be an incipient Shire.

Events 1973-1981

The Chronicles of An Tir provides a listing of all the major events in the Principality of An Tir in chronological order.