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| == Recent and Upcoming Events == | | == Recent and Upcoming Events == |
| * '''September AS XL'''
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| ** Medieval Village Ithra II
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| * '''August AS XL'''
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| ** [[Warren War VII XL/2005]]
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| * '''April AS XXXIX'''
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| ** [[Sir Edward's Memorial Tournament 27 XXXIX/2005]]
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| ** Tir Righ Spring Coronet
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| * '''March AS XXXIX'''
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| ** Shittimwoode Spring Ithra
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| * '''January AS XXXIX'''
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| ** An Tir's 12th Night
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| * '''October AS XXXIX'''
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| ** Medieval Village Ithra I
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| * '''August AS XXXIX'''
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| ** [[Warren War VI XXXIX/2004]]
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| * '''April AS XXXVIII'''
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| ** [[Sir Edward's Memorial Tournament 26 XXXVIII/2004]]
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| * '''March AS XXXVIII'''
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| ** Shittimwoode Spring Ithra
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| * '''November AS XXXVIII'''
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| ** Tir Righ Investiture | | ** Tir Righ Investiture |
| | | ** Sir Edward's Memorial Tournament |
| ==History==
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| Lord Wade inquired:
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| "Well I know that someone can elucidate, but if I am not mistaken
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| Shittemwoode is the home of the Royal Hunting preserve where the bunnies
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| make their home and you need Royal permission to hunt them. Probably Sir
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| Eddy has something to do with it..."<br><br>
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| And Her Ladyship Hélène de Navarre answered:<br><br>
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| I consulted with the The History of the Shire of Shittimwoode, written by
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| Meresigha Stonegatta, Megan Althea and others during the early 1990s, as
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| well as my own murky memory to answer your question (at length).
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| As for the Royal Permission to "Hunt" in the Preserve--yes, there are rules
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| (and history) to playing that "game".
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| Once upon a time (as all great tails...I mean...tales begin), the Shire was
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| almost entirely comprised of Ladies. The King decided that it was good
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| "hunting ground" for single men, but selfishly wanted to keep it all to
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| Himself, and thus became the Royal Hunting Preserve.
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| In order to gain Royal Approval to hunt his "game", one must first pay a
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| fee...a Poaching Fee. The fee for one man to hunt in the Preserve was: One
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| Dozen Chocolate Chip Cookies, One Pan of Rice Krispy Squares, or a small Box
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| of Legos.
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| (The King liked Legos. The King's Word is Law. Who can argue with that?)
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| The ladies would gather to test the cookies or treats to make sure that his
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| tithe was acceptable before bestowing upon him a favor to wear to indicate
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| that he has paid his tax and has the right to poach on the Ladies of the
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| Shire. Once annually, a portion of the taxes would be given to His Majesty
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| (a fresh batch of cookies or treats; not the old, stale ones) at Twelfth
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| Night.
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| Some time later, the Shire grew and it was no longer just single women
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| living in the bounds of the Preserve. The Queen said that now that single
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| men were starting to settle in the lands of Shittimwoode (the married men
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| were now called "Game Wardens") it was *unfair* that only the King collected
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| taxes, so she levied her own Poaching Fee.
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| For WOMEN to hunt the single men of Shittimwoode, the women must pay with
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| either a cheesecake or two strands of beads. The single men, in turn, would
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| test the cheesecake before bestowing a favor for her to proudly display.
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| Mistress Megan Althea was, and continues to be, the facilitator of this
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| Game, being one of the matriarchs of the Shire. You can refer questions to
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| her if you require a Poaching License or would like more details on the
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| history.
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| We now turn to the History of Sir Edward....
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| Once upon a time , there was a young Knight of Lions Gate by the name of
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| Edward Ziffran, the Bastard of Gendy, who moved (with his Green Tennis
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| Shoes) to the Shire of Fairehaven in about AS XI (1977). Edward decided
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| that Fairehaven was a rather mundane name, being also the name of the south
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| side of Bellingham, and needed to be replaced by a branch name that "no one
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| would EVER forget." He consulted a very reliable and period and
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| documentable source...the Holy Bible.
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| Yes, indeed.
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| In Exodus 25:10, he found that the ark of the Tabernacle was commanded to be
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| built of acacia wood (2 1/2 cubits by 1 1/2 cubits by 1 1/2
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| cubits...approximately 45" long, 27" high and 27" deep, covered in pure
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| gold, etc., etc.). In the version of the Bible that he was using, the word
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| "acacia" is written as "Shittimwoode"; that is, the wood of the Shittah
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| tree.
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| Eddie says, "No one will EVER be able to forget that!"
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| It was submitted.
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| And passed.
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| A few years later we hear that Lord Laurel, chief Herald of the SCA, used
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| the name of our Fair Shire as an example of what NOT to name a branch, as is
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| told to Megan Althea by Edward the Stuffy in 1984, while Megan was
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| Seneschale of Shittimwoode. (Apparently, Edward the Stuffy was trying to
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| get the Shire to consider changing the name, but Megan was thrilled at the
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| news that we were rather notorious, and Edward the Stuffy thought she had
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| completely lost it.)**
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| In June of AS XV (1980) the blazon was submitted. It was a small Bunny with
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| fangs, symbolic of helplessness, but defensible...or something. Admittedly,
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| considering the times, there was some Monty Python influence ("What, behind
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| the rabbit?"). The Ermine background--which looks like raindrops--is the
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| same as Viscount Sir Edward's. The Shepherd's crook may symbolize leading
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| to knowledge or through dangerous times (or perhaps past the vicious
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| rabbit?). Rising from a gold lake--more water (no, it's not urine).
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| Possibly indicating that we live in a wet shire...or we're all wet.
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| Designed by Constantine Alexius Palaeologus.
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| In February AS XV (1981) the blazon for Shittimwoode passes.
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| That Spring is held the second Sir Edward's Tournament, at which Lady Sir
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| Bolverk wins--she is now a Knight of Lions Gate--and is given the title of
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| "Miss Shittim", a title that is proudly passed down to all Shittimwoode
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| Champions.
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| It was a few years later, at Twelfth Night, AS XXIII (1987), we were
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| accidently gifted to the West. Apparently, there was some confusion over
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| what the "Royal Hunting Preserve" was; I think the current King (Arthur?
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| Loki?) thought it was a dessert that the Shire of Shittimwoode had come to
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| present to Their Majesties of An Tir. His Majesty was in a generous mood,
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| and thus wanted to give him the whole "preserve." The ladies of the Shire
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| thrice protested (in perfect unison) "But, Your Majesty...!" and were told
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| "Go down to the end of the table and speak to your new Soverign!"
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| And so they did.
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| And the King of the West sat back in his chair and said, greedily, "What did
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| I get?"
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| "Um..." mumbled the ladies, "You got the Shire of Shittimwoode..."
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| "The Shire of Shittimwoode?" He mused. "Claims to lands in An Tir...."
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| (rubbing his chin, thoughtfully)
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| "And we have a Yeoman of Lions Gate...." Added one of the ladies.
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| "A Yeoman of Lions Gate, eh? Claims to lands in Lions Gate..."
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| "And we have a Knight of Madrone!" Added another of the ladies.
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| "Claims to lands in Madrone!"
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| Suddenly the King of the West stood noisily, gripping his mug, raising it
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| high in the air and shouted, "A Toast!" and a hush fell on the room. "A
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| toast to his Majesty, the King of An Tir, for giving me LANDS in An Tir!"
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| A hush in the room suddenly became dead silence.
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| "What?" booms the King of An Tir, "I didn't give you lands in An Tir! I
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| gave you the Hunting Preserve!"
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| "But Your Majesty...." wailed the ladies of Shittimwoode, still in perfect
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| unison, "We ARE the Hunting Preserve!"
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| "Oh." He sat and thought. "I'll...uh...I'll kill him. Yeah, I'll kill
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| him! WAR! Yeah, I'll have a WAR!"
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| And thus, the Kingdom of An Tir went to War in July of AS XXIV to win back
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| the Royal Hunting Preserve.
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| Unfortunately, no one kept score, and thus, no winner was declared, and
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| Shittimwoode remained part of the West.
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| The next year, they fought over who won the year before, but there was no
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| final court, and thus the winner was not announced.
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| This went on for several more years until the story of the Shire of
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| Shittimwoode was almost forgotten.
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| Almost.
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| In the Spring of AS XXX, Hwolf Einarsson won the Throne on An Tir, and
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| having been a Champion of Shittimwoode before (proudly bearing the title of
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| "Miss Shittim"), was determined to regain His territory. King Hwolf
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| recounted to me how he won it back at another An Tir - West War.
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| King Hwolf met with His Majesty of the West at a river bank--one-on-one--and
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| addressed His Majesty, "I want my Shire back!"
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| "What?" The West King asked.
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| "I said, 'I want my Shire back!'"
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| "What Shire?" He asked, "What are you talking about?"
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| "The Shire your predecessors stole from my predecessors! The Shire of
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| Shittimwoode!"
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| "The Shire of What?" He laughed.
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| They fought in the wet, sloppy sand of the river's edge, sinking ever deeper
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| but not landing a good blow as the soft sand did not allow for a powerful
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| swing. Finally, King Hwolf sank deep enough into the soft sand until he
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| touched a rock, threw a good snap, and won us back!
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| I hope you have enjoyed this retelling of Shittimwoode's tales.
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| In Service,<br>
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| The Honorable Lady Helene de Navarre<br>
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| Shittimwoode, GAc, Ac, BC<br>
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| Principality of Tir Righ, Order of the Red Flame<br>
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| Kingdom of An Tir, GdS<br>
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| Chancellor, Borderlands Campus<br>
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| Apprentice to Ariel de Courtenay, OL<br>
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| ==Notable Residents== | | ==Notable Residents== |
