The 4th Annual Gath of Baal Memorial Jousting Tournament
Scarborough Faire 1996

The Gath of Baal Memorial Jousting Tournament is hosted by The Free Lancers of the Cimmerian Combatives Company. The Tournament takes place during the 3-day Memorial Weekend during Scarborough Faire.

The Tournament begins with the arming of the knights. Getting into a suit of armor is best done with the assistance of one or more squires. Here Mihalik (yes, SCRIBE's very own Ed Westfield) helps Sir Robert Hampton (Robert Windham) with his gorget (if I didn't get that right, I'm sure some friendly soul will correct me). Meanwhile, back at the knight's camp, Ripper (Ripper Moore) helps Sir William Blackthorne (Wesley Bonser) with some final adjustments.

After the knights are suited up, it's time to suit up the horses. Here's Robert the Bruce, affectionately called Bob, all decked out in Sir William Blackthorne's colors.

Either the Lord Mayor of Scarborough or King Henry himself presides over the day's events. After these personages are settled in the stands, the knights ride out and display their colors. Each knight carries a banner displaying his personal insignia. The Tournament Director comes forward to confer with the officials on the stand. This year, the Tournemant Director is Lady Katherine of Shrewsbury (Kate Cox). The King (or the Lord Mayor) explains the rules of the tournament and asks the knights to signal their willingness to fight under these rules by waving their colors. The knights then ride up to the stands to receive favors from the various ladies of Scarborough. As the ladies offer their favors (a ring tied up with ribbons) each knight selects the lady whose favor he wishes to bear for this passage of arms. Meanwhile the squires are quickly setting up the lists and making sure everything is in order.

For this year of our Lord 1553 (a.k.a. Memorial Day Weekend, 1996), the knights competing in the Annual Gath of Baal Memorial Tournament are:

Sir Nicholas Carew (Roy Cox)

Sir Nicholas Carew is the Royal Champion of King Henry in the year 1533. In 1996, Roy Cox is a member of the American Academy of Stage and Screen Combat Choreographers. Roy has over 10 years of experience in jousting techniques backed by a life of work as a actor, stuntman and fight director.

Sir Nicholas' mount is Silver Dancer. Silver is a headstrong Percheron and it takes someone of Roy's horsemanship to ride him successfully in the lists.

Sir William Blackthorne (Wesley Bonser)

Willian Blackthorne is a renegade Englishman, the dark knight who draws as many jeers as he does cheers. Wes Bonser grew up in Ennis, Texas, and has been attending Scarborough since the second year of the Faire. He has been a pirate, a salesman for Starfire Sword, a squire/groom and finally a senior knight.

William Blackthorne's mount is Robert the Bruce. Bob is a Belgian Draft (Brabant). Nothing upsets Bob; in fact, sometimes it's hard to tell if he's even awake.

Barchan of Dinglebury

Who is Barchan of Dinglebury? An itinerate knight errant? A champion in disguise? No one knows for sure. Just as Barchan is unknown, so is the man behind him. All I know is that he lives in Maryland, is a horse person (who in Maryland isn't?) and knows exactly where Nanjemoy is (the first person I've ever met who knows that bit of information!).

Jean Requin de Monte Carlo (John Perry)

Jean Requin de Monte Carlo is a French knight, newly arrived in England after serving as a mercenary in the wars in Italy. John Perry is the armourer for the Free Lancers. He has made armour for many of the knights, including Roy Cox and Wes Bonser. If you visit the Royal Hall of Armour at Scarborough, you can see many examples of his work.

Sir Robert Hampton (Robert Windham)

Sir Robert Hampton has recently returned from patrolling the borders of Scotland to participate in the Tournament. Robert Windham has a thirst for adventure that has led him to become a knight with the Free Lancers. He is always looking for that next challenge.

Rogan Lors (Willian Garrison)

Rogan Lors is the acknowledged illigitimate son of an English knight who was raised in France and is participating in the Tournament in the hopes of winning fame and fortune. William Garrison was born in Oklahoma and raised in north Texas. He was drawn to historical re-enactments through his love of fantasy role-playing games.

Rogan Lors' mount is Peter the Great. Peter is distinctly different from the other horses in the Free Lancers. He is a Thoroughbred, a horse bred for speed. His quickness and agility make him a match for the heavier Percherons, Brabants and Fresians.

Now that the preliminaries are out of the way, on to the Joust! For this Tournament, the contenders joust using 3 styles, a different style each day. There are 3 jousts daily; each knight faces 3 differnt opponents each day. By the end of the Tournament each knight has riden in 9 jousts and faced each opponent at least once.

Points are scored for touches.

• A touch is worth 1 point.
• A broken lance tip is worth 3 points.
• A broken lance is worth 5 points.
• An unhorsing (knocking the opponent off his horse) is worth 10 points.

On Saturday, the joust is in the French style. The knights carry a shield emblazoned with their arms on their left arm and pass in the lists left to left.

Here Sir Robert and Sir Nicholas come together. Sir Robert has broken the tip of his lance on Sir Nicholas' shield for 3 points.

Sunday the joust is in the Northern Italian style. The knights do not carry a shield and they pass left to left in the lists.

de Monte Carlo gets 1 point for a touch on Rogan Lors' pauldron while Rogan manages to break the tip of his lance (3 points) on the French knight's couter.

Sir Robert reels from the force of the blow against Barchan of Dinglebury that shattered his lance (5 points). You can still see the pieces of the splintered lance in the air.

The knights fight in the Southern Italian style on Monday. In Southern Italian, the knights do not carry a shield and they pass right to right in the lists. This exposes their arm holding the lance to their opponent. In my opinion, this is the most dangerous of the 3 styles used at this Tournament. Most of the injuries I have seen have occurred during this style of fighting.

Sir Nicholas takes a lance to the helm delivered by de Monte Carlo. From this angle, it is difficult to tell if Sir Nicholas' lance tip touched de Monte Carlo, but you can see how the force of their impact has drawn the side of the lance acorss the French knight's body.

Barchan's lance has passed under de Monte Carlo's left arm. It looks like the Frenchman has scored a touch on the side or back of Barchan's fauld. There is definately a touch on something; you can tell that from the bow of de Monte Carlo's lance.

Both Sir Robert and Sir William are carried backwards in their saddles from the force of the impact. Sir Robert delivers a touch to Sir William's pauldron, but the blow to Sir Robert combined with the fact that Sir William's lance is behind Sir Robert's carries the smaller knight off his horse. Ten points for Sir William.

21 November 1997