Second Caid Rebellion 1976

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Location: Rieslingshire Date: 05/15-16/1976

The second Caidan "rebellion" against the Kingdom of the West.

Event Staff

• Autocrats:

From the Crown Prints

From the Feb-Mar 1976 issue of The Crown Prints

The 2nd Annual Caid Rebellion will be held in Bakersfield on May 15. Fighters: If you intend to go to the Rebellion (or are interested in more details) send a card to Charles of Dublin (personal information omitted). If your plans are only tentative, please say so, but he needs some idea of attendees.

More details of the Rebellion will be announced in the next issue of The Crown Prints: map of battle location, places to stay, etc. For those in doubt--THIS IS ALL IN FUN! We did try to discuss a double-or-nothing deal with the King of the West during Southern 12th Night (if WE win, Caid gets Kingdom status and Rieslingshire; if THEY win, they get Bakersfield & London Bridget...) but His Majesty seemed uninterested, for some strange reason.

From the April-May 1976 issues of The Crown Prints

TO ALL ABLE-BODIED NOBILITY & POPULACE OF THE PRINCIPALITY OF THE MISTS: We of the South bid you greetings...and WAR!

Once again while winter grips the North, as we are wont to call all lands on the cold side of the Isles, the warm winds of Caid are stirring thoughts of independence & rebellion. These very thoughts, I take pride in pointing out, led to a bloody & protracted battle last spring in which the Royalists were caught with their hauberks down & nearly returned home without them. Some of your finest nobility was left belly-up on the field. Unfortunately, Caid suffered a similar fate & our fighters were forced to retire to our castle, which I might add, was never taken.

We realize, of course, that should our skill at arms (& good fortune) prevail this year, it does not, alas, make us a kingdom. For one thing we are far short of the necessary 200 PAGE¹ subscriptions, although this is not to say that we have under 200 active Caid members. At least that many people attended Southern 12th Night, not counting visitors from the North. The problem is that many Southerners prefer to get the Caid schedules for $3.50 (Crown Prints) than for $7.00. In addition, the Crown Prints is able to devote most of its news to people, places & events that are more immediate to us. I'm not faulting THE PAGE. I subscribe to it. I just don't see how one publication can give detailed coverage to three widely separated principalities without rendering much of its news irrelevant to a given reader.

At any rate, as far as kingdom status goes we have more problems to overcome than just membership in the SCA. We still lack a sufficient core of knights & other vital nobility, & our baronies are as yet fiercely independent of each other. This is not surprising, considering the short time we have been a principality, but the feeling of unity is growing. I am pleased to note an enthusiasm & a spirit of cooperation in the organization of our rebellion that I had hardly noticed before. People from all the baronies are pledging support & offering services in one form or another.

I have discussed the need for eventual Kingdom status for Caid with several dukes & knights I was able to single out at the 12th Nights, & there was hearty agreement that the distances involved between North & South put tremendous pressures on King & Queen & their officers as well as the people in the outer areas of the kingdom. We Southerners are fast approaching kingdom status & are eagerly awaiting another chance to test ourselves in the important area of fighting. Many of our men at arms have never fought a Northerner & are under the impression that we will win this year. Good King William² has already stated his intention to appear in person in Bakersfield on the 15th of May with those men who are willing to stand by him. I hereby state our intention to kill him (courteously & respectfully, of course) if he is not supported as befits a King of the West.

LOOK TO YOUR AMRS!!! CAID IS REBELLING!!! - Your humble Servant (until May 15), Gregory of York, Prince of Caid

¹ Kingdom of the West official newsletter ² William of Hoghton

From the Crown Prints Follow Up

ANNUAL CAID REBELLION FAILS ... AGAIN On the 15th of May Rebel Forces under Prince Gregory of York marched into Rieslingshire, hoping to crush the Loyalist Forces before the rest of King Paul's army arrived. Had the Rebels arrived a day sooner, they might have succeeded, but Paul arrived the night before with a large army. Although Caid mustered a record 36 fighters, King Paul's army totaled 52 fighters, 6 of whom were Dukes. Cleverly observing that he was outnumbered, Gregory, aided by the noted Rebel, Baron Sir Hugh the Undecided, chose to defend a bridge just south of Rieslingshire. Much to the Rebel's concern, the King's army slowly advanced behind a shied wall, over the top of which a vast array of pole arms protruded. Despite the North's large numbers and shield wall, the fight was long, hot, fiercely contested, hot, dusty, and hot. After more than an hour of fighting 2 Loyalist fighters had uncontested control of the bridge. However, by the time Paul's army had licked its wounds and began to march South, Gregory & Hugh had rallied 29 Rebels to meet Paul's army in the open field. The King faced the main Rebel line with his unbelted fighters & shield wall, then led all six Dukes plus other knights in an attack on the Rebel left, which gave ground and was overrun. Meanwhile the main line was cut down one by one from the left. The surviving Rebel forces finding themselves surrounded, charged through the Loyalist main line and rallied into a small group, which was promptly butchered by King Paul's army. Paul's army then spent so much time celebrating their victory that Gregory & Hugh were able to rally about 25 survivors at a nearby castle. As soon as King Paul noticed this last act of defiance, he marshalled his army and sent them over the battlements behind their shield wall, where their mass was sufficient to push many defenders off the battlements into the courtyard below. The question of rebellion having been definitively settled beyond any reasonable doubt (for this year, anyway), the populace returned to camp to bathe in the stream, have dinner & sing around a campfire. A small pack of die~hard crazies fought challenges Sunday morning presumably having found parts of their bodies that were neither sore nor bruised. P.SAt Opening Court, Awards of Arms were given to Charles of Dublin, Charles de Rouen, Guy Marchand de Montvert & Robear du Bois. Robear du Bois (Bob Wood)

• from CROWN PRINTS, VERY LATE MAY & EARLY JUNE, 1976 ISSUE-

Memories

The Second Caid Rebellion Held on a field East of Fresno, CA. At opening court, King Paul of Bellatrix gave Awards of Arms to Charles of Dublin, Charles de Rouen, Guy Marchand de Montvert, and Robear du Bois. The forces of Caid, led by Prince Gregory of York, formed themselves at the bridge. King Paul led the Northern forces toward the bridge and demanded that Caid yield. When this was refused, he ordered the attack. After a long and bloody hour of fighting, the bridge was taken at last. Of the fifty fighters that the kingdom army had started with and the thirty seven that Caid had begun with, all that was left were two Kingdom fighters as had happened before at the last rebellion. Once again one of them was Sir William the Lucky, holding the Kingdom Banner. Then the forces of Caid formed themselves into a line in a nearby field and the West Kingdom forces also formed a line and charged. King Paul led the amassed Dukes and senior knights in a charge around the right flank that broke through and surrounded the Caidan forces who were soon killed to the last man. After another pause, the forces of Caid made a last stand at a castle near the bridge, constructed out of haybales. The West Kingdom forces advanced from two sides behind shield walls and engulfed the castle, and thus emerged victorious.

---

Lest any think their life too dull, devoid of blood and gore, There rose again in far Caid rebellious talk of war. The battle set in Rieslingshire, in hills parched by the sun, The Prince of Caid swore he'd own them when the day was done. We topped the pass at Altamont as dawn colored the East; Looked down into a valley gold where ravens soon would feast. Our vanguard came unto a bridge within an arid wood, And there, drawn up in bold array, the men of Caid stood. The King stepped forth before the foe and called on them to yield; No answer did the rebels give save crash of sword on shield. Then forward did our forces go to put them to the test, And as the ranks together grew 'twas first blood to the West! But stoutly fought the Caid lads, contesting every inch, And never in the fierce affray did one among them flinch.

~ Excerpt from “The Second Annual Caid Rebellion and Fighter Bake,” by Sir William the Lucky, published in THE PAGE, July 1976

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