Ductus

Newsletter of the Royal College & Confraternity of Scribes & Illuminators of the Kingdom of Lochac

http://www.sca.org.au/mailman/listinfo/scribes

http://lochac.sca.org/scribe/index.htm

http://lochacscribes.blogspot.com/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48016044@N02/

Volume 11 Issue 2 March 2011

Greetings all and welcome extremely late February Ductus.

As you all know we have now finished the AA and scrolls that can be done with Blanks competition. Sorry for the bad name, it just sort of expanded because everyone did such a wonderful job of working through so many scrolls.

Last year we completed well over 100 scrolls. Of that number over 20 of the scrolls completed were original scrolls. This is an amazing effort and probably means more scrolls were completed last year than in any other single year in the history of the College of Scribes. So I would like to commend you all on the huge effort that you have all put in to completing these scrolls.

Competitions

It is now time to judge the competition from last year. Every person is allocated 10 points. Please go and look at the Flickr site https://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#inbox see what scrolls you like the most and then allocate your points. You can allocate them in any order and quantity you like but you may not allocate them to yourself.

So if you would like to allocate all your 10 points to one scroll please do so. If you would like to break your points down or allocate them one at a time that is also fine.

When you have decided how you are going to allocate your point please send me an e-mail at provost@lochac.sca.org I will need your name to make sure that no person accidentally doubles up on allocating their points but how you distribute your points will remain confidential.

Anyone who is a scribe is welcome to allocate points. So please if you have been working with a bunch of scribes that are not on the List but have contributed to the College of Scribes please pass on this information so that they can have their say.

If you notice that I have not put your scroll up on the Flickr site, or a scroll that you think should be up on the site please let me know. With so many scrolls being completed this year it would not be unheard of for me to have missed one. I would like all eligible scrolls to be counted in this years competition so if you think a scroll should be there and it is not let me know and I will fix that omission.

Pelican Scrolls

Many of the Pelican's have contacted me with preferences for their scrolls. I have already assigned lots of Pelican scrolls and have more to assign. If you would like a Pelican scroll please let me know I will be delighted to assign you a scroll.

If you are entering the Pelican scroll competition entries are welcome any time from the first day of Festival onwards. That will include any Pelican scrolls that have already been assigned. So all of the people who currently have Pelican scrolls are welcome to enter them in this years Pelican Scroll Competition so long as they arrive with me between the first day of Festival and the first day of the 2012 Canterbury Faire.

There are currently around 20 unassigned Pelican scrolls.

Other Scrolls

Please remember that while our competition is focused on Pelican scrolls this year we still have a lot of other scrolls that need to be completed. These include AA's, GA's and RP scrolls for those whose name and device registrations are still coming through. So if you feel that you are unable to do an original scroll but you would still like to contribute please feel free to ask me for other assignments. I have lots and will welcome all efforts to complete these.

Change in Wardens

With a heavy heart I am announcing the resignation of two Wardens Katherine Alicia of Sarum and Leonie de Grey. Both of these Wardens have held their position for a number of years and have contributed a lot of hard work to the College of Scribes. It is a sad thing to see them leaving as Wardens but I am pleased that this does not mean they are lost to the College.

In Katherine Alicia of Sarum's place will be Aeron Lasair. Aeron is currently one of the Vergers of the College of Scribes so it made sense to roll those two positions into one.

The position of Warden in Politarchopolis is currently vacant. I would like expressions of interest to be sent to me at provost@lochac.sca.org as I would like to make a decision about the new Warden and announce who they are at Festival if possible.

Deputies

All officers in Lochac are supposed to have a drop dead deputy. As the College of Scribe has grown bigger it has become more and more a formal office within the Kingdom of Lochac. For this reason I would like to request that all Wardens confirm that they have a drop dead deputy. I would like to know who the drop dead deputies will be for each Warden by the time your next reports are due.

Reporting

There has recently been some confusion about reporting. Reporting for the Provost of Scribes is set by the Kingdom. The Provost of Scribes must report to the Kingdom Seneschal by;

February 28th, May 31st, August 31st, and November 30th.

This means that I normally put out a request for reports from all Wardens to arrive to me two weeks before those dates. In other words I would like all Wardens to report to me by;

February 15^th, May 15^th, August 15^th, and November 15^th. Could all Wardens please put these dates into their diaries.

If I do not receive a report or if I feel that a report does not give me enough detail I will request additional reports. Continual failure to adequately report is grounds for the Provost of Scribes to remove that Warden from office.

Scroll Timings

When scrolls are assigned they are not assigned indefinitely. AA and GA scrolls must be completed within six months. Original Scrolls for Peerages must be completed within 1 year. If a scroll goes over this time an extension must be negotiated with the Provost of Scribes. This extension is not automatic and if the Provost of Scribes does not feel that it is warranted it will not be given.

Currently there are a number of outstanding scrolls that have gone over this time. Those scrolls will be removed from the people who are doing them unless they have already contacted me to request an extension or unless they do contact me and ask for an extension.

It does not matter how far through a scroll a scribe is, if an extension is not granted their scroll will not be accepted by the College of Scribes. All reasonable requests for an extension are granted but continual requests by the same scribe may result in all assignments being removed from that scribe.

Doing an original AA or GA does not automatically mean that the time you are allocated for doing that scroll is extended to 1 year as it would be for other original scrolls. It is expected that you will be able to complete an AA scroll in 6 months. If you decide to do an original AA scroll you will need to complete it within that 6 months.

Newly Warranted Scribes

As we move into the beginning of even season for the new year lots of new people are starting to show an interest in scribal activities. So far this year we have had a bunch of new scribes joining our ranks from Newcomers events and from various Collegia new scribes include;

• Alannah


• Bronwyn


• Elizabeth Ong


• Erin Matuzic


• Liduina


• Melanie


• Nic Matuzic


• Phillipa Granwal


• Rosamund


• Seamus


• Wesley


• Ynedeye

express an interest in becoming scribes and have started work on their first piece.

• Madeline Kelson- warranted for illumination only

Has become warranted for illumination after finishing her first piece.

• Annabel de Swinburne- warranted for calligraphy and illumination
• Melanie Koehler- warranted for calligraphy and illumination

Have returned to us after a long absences and will be working with us to complete blanks and originals this year.

Bestiary

I was incredibly impressed with the number of entries that went into the Lochac Arts and Sciences competition for 12^th Night.

While completing the most amazing number of scrolls for the College of Scribes this year many of you have still managed to produce an entry for the Lochac Arts and Sciences competition. The entries were of very high quality and took myself and Mistress Muirghein ni Ghrainne a whole day to go through and to judge. We were very impressed with the quality of the work and the excellence of the overall entries.

Winners will be announced at Festival so please keep an eye out for that announcement. Congratulations to all those who entered. I believe a few of those entries will now become Baronial property for some groups and will be continued as the group expands and as more scribes enter the group. I would love to see those same Bestiaries in a number of years to see how they have grown in that time.

Redoing Scrolls

As many of you know earlier this year Lochac was inundated by a number of natural disasters. This has resulted in the lose of houses and property by some of out members. So far I have been approached on behalf of at least three of those members to let me know that they no longer have their scrolls. Each of them were heartbroken that the efforts of our scribes had been lost and that they no longer had the beautiful pieces of work that had once graced their walls.

I would like to be able to reassign those scrolls. So if anyone is interested in doing scrolls for those who have lost their scrolls currently we are looking for people to do scrolls for;

• Catherine the Friendly- AA and GA
• Jacques du Bar sur le Loup- AA
• Rosetta Eizabetta Cortez- instant AA

Alexandra de Santiago has lost a Caid promissory and is waiting for her name and device to be registered when we will negotiate with Caid to take over the production of her scroll.

I believe that at least one family lost their house in Victoria over the Christmas holidays as well. If anyone has details of this family and any lost scrolls that they may have please contact me so that I can put them back on our list of scrolls to be completed.

We have now reached the end of a very long Ductus. Once again thank you to all the scribes that have contributed so much of their time over the last year. You have done an amazing job and the Kingdom recognises the contribution you have put forward.

If anyone feels that some of the scribes in their area deserve specific recognition for the work they have done please let me know. I think it is important that scribes are mentioned for the work they have done and given awards where appropriate.

In this particular issue I would like to thank Branwen of Werchesvorde and Muirghein ni Ghrainne for the continuing amazing amounts of work that they put into the College of Scribes particular through their teaching.

Caristiona nic Beathain

Provost of Scribes

provost@lochac.sca.org