Re: your mail

["H L. Falls" <hlf@holmes.acc.virginia.edu>]

Poster: "H L. Falls" <hlf@holmes.acc.virginia.edu>

 
   Well, no doubt I'm putting myself back on the OHC watch list, but...

   Good My Lord Jonathan, I *do* hope you're not saying that a group
(or person) is only worth knowing if they have a "hat"!  :-)

   More seriously, I think you're looking at it from the wrong angle.
As I see it, baronies are (usually) larger, so they have more people and 
resources to put on more and larger and more "OOPMH"ful events, so
they get more notice.  It's not the presence of a "hat" that magically
makes a barony and its events more noticable than a shire.

   I must admit that Isenfir is the only shire I know well, having 
lived here my entire SCA "life", but I honestly can't imagine it 
as a barony.  For one thing, the greater part of our populace is 
made up of students from UVa, which means that a lot of our folks 
move away after 4-5 years, which keeps our population fairly small.
And the smaller "cadre" of townies have, for the most part, been
fairly well indoctrinated into the "shire" mentality, and have little
desire to go barony.  Indeed, I suspect that trying to go barony would 
likely stir up nasty politics, more due to outside pressure to maintain
sufficient population than to any internal discord.
 
   In other words, much depends on the character and "personality"
of the group.  Some shires are indeed "baronies in training" and 
others are functioning "teams", to borrow Lady Rowan's analogy.  I
don't think there's any profit in arguing the "One True Way".

--Landi Haraldsson, Lord by Grant of Arms from 
                    His ("Late") Majesty Anton II  :-)

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> Poster: "David H Ritterskamp" <dhritter@dpcmail.dukepower.com>
>
>  <snip...>
>      
>      I have to toss this in, since this subject is of interest to me...
>      
>      Quick, name all the active shires.
>      
>      Now, name all the baronies.
>      
>      Which do you know better?  
>      
>      There are those out there who know both.  However, I for one don't.  I 
>      know most of the baronies and d**n few of the shires.  I didn't even 
>      know that Wilmington (Seareach) wasn't part of the Barony of 
>      Windmaster's Hill until somebody told me they were forming their own 
>      barony, and even then I just thought it was a canton.  Didn't know it 
>      was a shire.
>      
>      Shires do not AS A RULE have the representation/noticeability that 
>      Baronies do.  How many events is Seareach known for?  One.  Sheep 
>      Raids.  Never been to it.  Going this time.  Heard it's fun.
>      
>      How many events is/was Crannog Mor known for?  One.  Spring Thaw.  
>      Hasn't been held in awhile, I think.
>      
>      Those are the only two shires I know of.  Everything else in NC/SC is 
>      taken up by Baronial status.  I don't even know the Shires in the 
>      north, but I know Dun Carraig, Lochmere, and Caer Mear, which is doing 
>      pretty well for somebody who doesn't get up there enough.  I don't 
>      necessarily know the exact geographical areas, but at least I have a 
>      NAME to associate with a person or group.  Can't say the same for 
>      shires.  They just don't stick out.
>      
>      How many events is Windmaster's Hill known for?  Sacred Stone?  Black 
>      Diamond?   A MINIMUM of two each; Black Diamond has Ice Castles and 
>      Assessment; Windmaster's Hill has Boat Wars, Ymir (and I'm sure I'm 
>      leaving at least one or two out of that list); Sacred Stone has Novice 
>      Tourney, Baronial Birthday, Phoenix' Eye, Auxillium et Concillium, 
>      Boar Hunt, Siege of Troy, etc.  Nottinghill Coill has Feast of Thirty, 
>      Pennsic Pauper's Potluck, etc.
>      
>      Possibly, part of the problem is that shire-level events don't seem to 
>      have the...sangfroid?  panache?  OOPMH that makes you WANT to go.  
>      Crannog Mor isn't that far away from where I live, and I attended 
>      college there, and still have friends in the area, and yet I just 
>      don't bother.  I have some very old friends in Hindscroft, which is 
>      even closer, and yet I don't even think of Hindscroft in SCA terms, 
>      because it's a shire.  See?  I forgot about them completely, or else 
>      I'd have listed them a couple of paragraphs ago.
>      
>      You can argue the point all you want and say that representation 
>      doesn't matter, etc., but the simple truth is that it does.  I'm as 
>      active or more so than most people I know, and if *I* can't remember 
>      about shires, do you think the average SCAdian is going to?  I 
>      remember people and places based on the level of interest I have in 
>      them, which is directly related to the amount of time I spend or even 
>      contemplate spending around them.  That's why I know Sacred Stone, 
>      Nottinghill Coill, Black Diamond, Caer Mear, Windmaster's Hill, and 
>      Hidden Mountain, and I don't really think about Crannog Mor, Seareach, 
>      and Hindscroft.  They're just not VISIBLE.  It's entirely possible 
>      that their lack of visibility is directly related to their lack of 
>      events, which is directly related to their lack of enthusiasm, which 
>      is directly related to their lack of visibility, etc.  
>      
>      And before the Hindscroft and Crannog Mor and Seareach people get on 
>      my case for calling them less visible, remember; I spent four years in 
>      Crannog Mor and I saw it all happen.  This isn't just coming from me; 
>      this is coming from listening to the Crannog Mor populace and seeing 
>      what happened to Hindscroft after they broke away from Sacred Stone.  
>      (And not even knowing about Wilmington in the first place!)
>      
>      Now, it's possible that I'm a ridiculously atypical case and everybody 
>      else is better off at remembering people/places.  But I doubt it.
>      
>      Food for thought (enough to choke on!)
>      Ld. Jonathan Blackbow
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