Histories of Montengarde, the SCA in Calgary

INTRODUCTION

These histories were transcribed from paper copies, either directly or with the aid of a scan / character recognition program. Additions by me are [[in doubled square brackets]]. I have taken the liberty of silently correcting obviously wrong dates, most spelling errors, some grammatical errors, and occasionally proper names. Nevertheless, most proper names and most detailed dates have not been checked for accuracy.

There were up to five or more semi-independent groups in existence at approximately the same time in the first two or three years of the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) in Calgary. As far as I can tell, only Montengarde both applied for and received formal recognition from the SCA. Mussenhitt was mentioned in several royal decrees, and once in the minutes of the Board of Directors of the SCA, but I can find no evidence that the group was ever formally a shire or barony.

You might wonder why I have not also written a history of these early years, since I was at a number of the events mentioned in the histories.

The answer is that I kept clear of most of the bureaucracy and politics of those times, did not always know the players, and sometimes could not understand the nuances of what I was seeing. Accordingly, I have little useful to add.

My first SCA event of any kind was Yule Feast in Borealis in December 1979. Although I lived in Calgary, I mostly played with Borealis in Edmonton, and was their archery officer. In Calgary, I remember going to a small number of Montengarde and Mussenhitt fighting practices, to a Niveus Caelum event, a Tenth Street Fair, a Calgary SF convention as part of an SCA demo, at least one Montengarde event, and at least one Ithra. Elsewhere, I was at the notorious Sherwood Park Medieval Days in Borealis in 1980; at the first Border War in Myrgan Wood in 1980; at the second Clinton War in 1981; at the first Gull Lake War Games north of Red Deer in 1982; and at the Bitterroot War in 1982. I was then travelling on holiday for a year from mid-1982 until mid-1983, and missed the Clinton Wars in both 1982 and 1983. In 1984 I was at the Sylvan Lake War Games near Red Deer, Clinton War, and September Crown near Calgary. I noticed that Montengarde had become much less ghastly politically, and so in August 1984 I joined Montengarde.

I believe that some of the statements in these histories and the chronology are wrong or misleading, but I reproduce them unchanged.

Corrections and additions cheerfully accepted. If you have a story to tell from Montengarde's early history, I would be happy to host it here.

Thorvald Grimsson
2012-March-28

Places and Persons and Wars from the early years

Places

Montengarde: an SCA group in Calgary, Alberta

Mussenhitt: an SCA group in Calgary, Alberta

Niveus Caelum [[Latin for White Sky]]; an SCA group in Calgary, Alberta

Piedmont: an SCA household in Calgary, Alberta

There was at least one other SCA group or household at this time in Calgary, Alberta

Borealis: an SCA group in Edmonton, Alberta

Bitter End: an SCA group in Red Deer, Alberta

Windwyrm: an SCA group in Lethbridge, Alberta

Appledore: an SCA group in Kelowna and the Okanagan, BC

Eisenmarch: an SCA group in Coquitlam, BC

Lions Gate: an SCA group in Vancouver, BC

Seagirt: an SCA group in Victoria, BC

Myrgan Wood: an SCA group in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Persons

Baron Pwyll pen Tyrhon, founding baron of the Barony of Angels in the Kingdom of Caid, I think the second-oldest Barony in the SCA, the oldest being the Barony of Atenveldt before it became a Kingdom

Wars

Border War between West Kingdom and Middle Kingdom, held near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Clinton War between Lions Gate and Montengarde, held near Clinton, BC

     also called in some of these documents Lions Gate War

Bitterroot War between An Tir and Atenveldt, held in Salmon, Idaho

     also called the Salmon War, and the Chocolate Chip Cookie War (though not the only war called CCCW)