The Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) and the Barony of Seagirt welcome you to the Middle Ages. The SCA is a non-profit worldwide organization with over 60,000 people who re-create the Middle Ages from 600 to 1600 AD through songs, dance, clothing, weaving, combat, archery, metalworking and much more. Honour, chivalry and courtly love are valued highly in our society. We bring our knowledge, skills and love of history together in a safe and fun environment for all to enjoy.
The SCA's Newcomer's Portal has a myriad of resources available for people who are new to this society.
SCA Newcomers Portal
Our Barony
The Barony of Seagirt is a branch of the SCA located in Victoria, British Columbia. We are a non-profit educational group that seeks to learn about pre-17th century history. We do so by creating the persona of a person that could have lived at that time and participating in a variety of period activities such as dance, arts and sciences, medieval games, warfare, archery, cooking, and more.
Our Principality
The Barony of Seagirt is part of a regional group called the Principality of Tir Righ, which covers all the lands of British Columbia and the northern part of Washington. There are a number of branches in the principality, if you are not from Victoria and wish to find a group near you, go to the branches page on the Tir Righ website.
Our Kingdom
The Barony of Seagirt, and the Principality of Tir Righ are part of a larger regional group called the Kingdom of An Tir, which covers all the lands of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and part of northern Idaho. There are a great number of branches in the kingdom. To find a group near you, go to the branches on page on the An Tir website.
How Do I Begin?
Send an email to the person in charge of greeting and guiding newcomers (called a Chatelaine or Castellan) to find out more information about upcoming events and classes, locations and times of practices, helpful information on how to make armour, what you need for your first SCA event, how to begin creating a persona and more. Our Chatelaine is here to help answer your questions.
Events
Events are a large part of what we do in the society from those that focus on recreating medieval foot combat to those that focus on recreating the crafts of the medieval period. Many events will have multiple activities going on. Events vary from weekend-long camping events to an evening of feasting and dancing. For upcoming events in Seagirt, visit the official list of upcoming events.
If you are going to your first event, you could contact the Event Stewards (person in charge of that event) and let them know that you are new and ask if you can help with something at the event. This is a great way to get started in the SCA, and get to know people in the SCA.
You should also contact the local Chatelaine for the area and talk to them about what you need to bring to the event – for example, it is common for people to supply their own plates, cutlery and beverage containers for feasts they attend.
The Chatelaine can help guide you as to what you will need for the event that you are choosing to attend.
You may attend an event whether you are a member of the SCA or not. For some events there is a Member's Discount of $5.00. (e.g. Adults $20, Members $15.).
If you wish to become a member of SCA, visit the SCA website for more information.
Practices & Meetings
Practices are what we do each week in order to get ready for an event or just have fun and socialize. We have many different practices which include:
Armoured Combat (sword fighting)
Rapier Combat (fencing)
Archery
Dance
Arts and Science (arts and crafts)
Bardic (e.g., songs, poetry, music, etc.)
All of our practices are located in the Greater Victoria area. Please contact the Officer in charge and let them know that you are planning to attend as there is loaner gear available to use.
What is Garb and where do I get it?
"Garb" is our term for the medieval clothing we wear. There are many ways to get ideas for garb. All we ask is that you make an attempt to be period and arrive in garb for event. For your first event we can provide loaner garb for all ages. For more information on loaner garb, contact our Chatelaine, or you can contact our Arts and Sciences Officer for information about making your own garb.
Court in the SCA
The word "Court" generally refers to a formal gathering of an SCA chapter, presided over by its ceremonial leaders. The primary activities of a court include announcements, presentations and awards from the leaders to individuals in the group.
A second meaning for this word refers to the retinue of the royalty, as in "Talk to a member of the court." These are people who are trusted by the royalty to assist them during Their Reign ... sometimes this includes the herald, but not always. Sometimes members of the court "run interference" to keep the royals from being overwhelmed, they are also a good way to find out details about the plans the Royals have for future events, etc. If you find it hard to talk to the Royalty, try to talk to a member of Their Court. Some people refer to members of the court as the Retinue or Royal Retinue.
Largesse
The generosity of royalty has been termed "largesse" throughout history. The giving of largesse allows Crowns and Coronets to show that Their wealth and happiness is a direct result of the wealth and happiness of the people of The Land. Not only is gift-giving expected of Royalty: it is an extension of Their courtesy. It is Their chance to give something back to the populace and say thank you to those who are deserving.
The populace - the craftspeople, artisans, merchants - any and all interested, are asked to donate items to be given away as gifts. These donations have benefits that are two-fold: the Royals will have a wide and diverse stock of items to choose from to give away as gifts to help alleviate the burden of financial expense; and the artisans have the opportunity to have exposure for their work, not only to be recognized by the Royals and populace, but perhaps even throughout the Known World.
It should be stressed that the largesse items are ideally handmade or period in nature, for example, lengths of fabric, hand-blown glass, etc. can be acceptable. Items should be as period as possible, or at least medieval in flavour. Items that can be given away in sets, pairs, or individually are also acceptable. These items are bestowed by the Royals as They see fit: gifted to other Royalty, as prizes for event winners/sponsored prizes, or to other such deserving gentles.
Remember that items will sometimes be travelling, perhaps even great distances, both to and from events. Therefore size, weight, and breakability must be considered. When accepting donations, the items should be well packaged, and a written description (including name of artisan and branch) should be included with the item. Items that are not given away are passed on to the next set of Royalty. All the items should not be given away during one reign. Ideally, the requests to keep gifts coming in should be continuous, so there is enough to fill the need of one reign with enough left over to continue on to the next.
Let us show the populace of the Known World the quality of work that our people can produce.
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