About the Shire of Smithwick

The Shire of Smithwick is located mostly in the mundane county of Aroostook with some area in Washington County, Maine. It shares borders with Endewearde to the South, Lyndhaven to the North and East, and Havre des Glaces on the West.

The Shire was started by five people who were interested in the SCA when they realized that the territory that currently held the lands they lived in was over three hours away. They met for the first time on the 9th of January, 1999 and made plans to start the ball rolling to create their own group. Initially the Gentles decided to act as a Household to get a feel for how everything in the SCA worked. Not long after, however, the paperwork was submitted to move the group to Shire status. After some minor hiccups, the Shire became officially recognized as "incipient" in March of 2001 at the Baronial Investiture of Havre des Glaces by His Majesty King Andreas. The first name chosen for the group was Silva Cerdonis which roughly translates into either Yeoman's Wood or Artisan's Wood. This name was chosen to reflect the fact that all the members at the time were either archers or artisans.

After a couple years the group was informed by Dame Catriona that the formal step of applying for Full Status should be started as everything had been running smoothly. At this point it was discovered that the original name submission had been lost so the name and device were resubmitted. Unfortunately they were both rejected. The name was gramatically corrected the Cerdonis Sylvan and the device was corrected. Both were resubmitted. Once again, the name failed to pass.

At this point the members decided to try a new name and, after reviewing many choices, finally settled on Smithwick. This was sent in and was accepted about three years later.

During the time of the 'name game', the Shire's territory grew from the original area consisting only of Aroostook County to include a section of Washington County along the Canadian border. These lands were also acquired from the gracious and supportive Gentles of the Shire of Endewearde.

Once the name and device were both finally passed by the College of Heralds, the final work began. All the paperwork was completed and sent to the Kingdom Seneschal. After a slight delay for final reviews, everything finally clicked into place and Smithwick became a Full Shire at Endewearde's Tourney of Love on February 14, 2009 by the grace and hand of Her Majesty Queen Alethea.

Overview

Meaning: Since the majority of Gentles residing in the Shire are artisans, the name was chosen to reflect that. See more detail about the name above.

Established: Founded on 01/09/1999 when a group of people gathered in the mundane city of Caribou, Maine to form a new group. Initially the group formed a Household as the planning went through to create a Shire. Incipient status was granted in March of 2001 at the Baronial Investiture in Havre des Glaces. The group became an official Shire on 02/14/2009 at Tourney of Love in the Shire of Endewearde.

Blazon: Per chevron Or and purpure, two dragonflies and a laurel wreath counterchanged