Status Change

The idea of petitioning the Crown to increase Smythkepe’s status was officially brought up at last Tuesday’s Pouplace Meeting. Ever since, I’ve been wrestling with the idea – trying to decide whether my “gut feeling” was based upon reason or just fear of change. Honestly, I haven’t yet decided. Below is the text I posted to Smythkepe’s Group List (S-List) discussing my opinions on the matter…


Dear friends,

As promised, my opinions on increasing Smythkepe’s status are below. While I make an effort to not appear to be "dwelling on the past," these opinions are based upon my experiences. As usual, I’ve become a bit long-winded, but I hope that I have also been thorough.

BARONY
A group our size can be quite a handful for one person to administer. A Baron and Baroness (or just a Baron or Baroness, if that’s what we choose) would be able to support our Seneschal(e). However, too many people fail to see the rank of Baron/Baroness as a position of responsibility. Instead, they see it as a position of power. Some of the most back-stabbing, ankle-biting, friendship-rending politics I have ever seen within the SCA have arisen out of two areas – one of those being a desire to be Baron/Baroness. Yes, there are groups that are mature enough to handle Baronial elections well. Yes, we may be one of those groups. Given my choice, I’d much rather see us remain the circle of friends we are than chance the harm Baronial elections can do.

PROVINCE

Legally, within the SCA, Province carries the same status as a Barony. A Province is not allowed to bestow awards that are official in the eyes of the Kingdom. I don’t really see that we need that privilege. I’m just as proud of my Anvil and Tongs as I am of my GOA.
Folk in this area are unfamiliar with the concept of a Province. This could give the perception that we’re non-conformists. Rather than give in to this kind of peer pressure, I see it as an opportunity to educate other groups about options that may be open to them.

WHY CHANGE STATUS?

With an increase in status comes the perception that we have the numbers and the activity that make it worth driving to our events, both official and un-official. This perception applies to the Kingdom Populace as well as Crown. Friends, no group of any size can expect a visit from Crown more than once every two or three reigns. Crown does what they can, but the mundane practicalities of life sometimes hold sway. As a Principality, Gleann Abhann treated us much better than Meridies. Our visit from HRM Ashildir, while most welcome and enjoyed by all, was the first visit we’d had from Meridies in nine years – eighteen reigns. Gleann Abhann, on the other hand, has graced us with Royal Presence at least once every four reigns. Even if we choose to increase our status, I don’t believe we can reasonably expect more visits.

Will increasing our status really gain us more land? I don’t know. Do we really need more land? We’ve quite a large area granted to us already.


We already support our friends in neighboring groups, increasing our status might give us a bit more “sway” to help them more. Still, please remember that with the status comes the responsibility. We are beholden to our duty to support these groups, and cannot fail in our responsibility.

One of the reasons we are considering a change in status is that Gleann Abhann has chosen to require that all groups over a certain size submit bids for Kingdom-level events. Unfortunately, a requirement that Gleann Abhann accept one bid from each group every (x) years was not included in this law. I’ve lost track of the number of bids Smythkepe submitted in recent years; all were ignored or rejected outright. My perception is that there is a small number of favored sites, and any group who fails to submit a bid using one of those sites will not win that bid. I do not believe that is going to change anytime soon.

I am not a strong supporter of increasing our status. However, if Smythkepe chooses to do so, I would support choosing Province over Barony.

-THL Moira nic Bryn