The Regency of Lady Lunette
Jaimella Shaikh, 1996-1997

By some miracle (and an invitation to specific individuals to convene at the Turf Tavern the Sunday before the AGM) a new committee was formed to take over in Trinity. Jaimella Shaikh became Regent; Kat Takenaka Secretary (although as she found her free time was being taken up by her duties as Role Playing Games Society President, many of the Secretary's duties were performed by Geoff) and Ruth Veness, who after her marriage at Easter became Ruth Clark, Treasurer, despite residing in Aylesbury.

The new committee inherited a controversial speaker in the shape of Arthur Uther Pendragon, self-styled reincarnation of King Arthur, who attracted one of the largest audiences of recent Society history, almost rivalling that of Mark Ryan in 1995. Arthur spoke on his commitment to 'Truth, Honour and Justice' and explained how he viewed Arthur as the last pagan and first Christian British leader - distinctions between Christianity and whatever Paganism there was in the fifth and sixth centuries were dismissed with the mantra "Same shit, different shirt".

The former tradition of Society members giving talks was revived by Matthew Kilburn who spoke on King Arthur and the Hanoverians. There was a second attempt at a pub quest, this time involving fencing and a postgraduate student who really was called Joshua Pendragon. The term's video was the newly-released First Knight - it was noted that the episode of the Australian cartoon series King Arthur and the Square Knights of the Round Table probably had more Arthurian content than the Hollywood blockbuster.

Michaelmas saw a revival of the Arthurian quiz, and the return of Nikolai Tolstoy and Chris Gidlow. The usual Michaelmas events were present, such as the Bonfire and the Banquet, again in St Giles's. Hilary provided scope for more imagination. Geoff produced both 'The Trial of Dame Brisen', in which the Society's Dame Brisen, Hannah Means, had to defend herself against allegations made at the Banquet. There was also a semi-staged rendition of Henry Fielding's The Life and Death of Tom Thumb the Great, which proved very successful. Hilary speakers inlcuded Nicholas Jacobs, fellow of Jesus College, and the long-postponed Caitlin Matthews, whose talk The Spells of Women illuminated the western mystery tradition and was preceded by a performance by Caitlin on a traditional instrument.

Jenny Downes edited Ceridwen's Cauldron this year. She reverted to white covers but maintained as lively a selection of articles as her predecessors. The Michaelmas edition contained a number of introductory articles, as had the previous year's; of note throughout the year was the increased poetic content, thanks particularly to Geoff and Hannah.

Unfortunately there was no summer pilgrimage in 1996 as a result of the lack of drivers, although advance planning on a Scottish pilgrimage was done by Stephie. This would also curse any plans in 1997. A trip was made in Michaelmas to the usual places of interest, in particular White Horse Hill.

The AGM again follwed in Hilary, coming after the Celtic Festival. There was little competition for places but a new committee was fashioned to take the Arthurians into their sixteenth year.


Committee for 1996/97

President/Regent	JAIMELLA SHAIKH (Lady Lunette)		Lincoln
Secretary/Chancellor	KAT TAKENAKA (Lady Vivien)		Balliol
Treasurer/Seneschal	RUTH CLARK (The Lady of Hautdesert)	St Hilda's
Soc Sec/Butler		HANNAH MEANS (Dame Brisen)		Regent's Park
Mag Ed/Scribe		JENNY DOWNES (Lady Rhiannon)		Jesus
Publicity/Herald	SARAH KEOGH (The Faerie Marsique)	Balliol
Librarian/BibliothecariaSUZANNE YEAGER (Lady Ganieda)		Hertford
Lady of the Internet	STEPHIE COANE (Lady Argante)		Balliol
Chief Adviser		NEIL THAPEN (Merlin)			Merton