Loch Smythe is centered in Smithville, Missouri. We are comprised mostly of the Platte and Clay counties in Missouri. We derived the name Loch Smythe from the Scottish Gaelic word for Lake ("Loch" pronounced like "lock") and one of the old English spellings of Smith ("Smythe", the "y" in Smythe is pronounced like the "y" in shy and the "e" is silent). If you are from this area you are probably familiar with the lake that is in Smithville called Smithville Lake. We just removed the "ville" from the name.

We are period re-creationists. What is a re-creationist? In the world of living history re-enactors there are those who re-enact specific events. Civil and Revolutionary War re-enactors re-create the different battles that took place during those periods. We do not re-enact specific events in the SCA. We re-create many of the aspects that have otherwise been forgotten over time. We do, however, take on personas like many of the other living history groups. When at SCA events we are generally referred to by our persona's name. This is all part of the re-creation of history because our persona names are created from names that would have been in use during the time and location we have chosen our personas to be from.

The SCA's time period is from any part of the "known world" in history up to 1605 AD or around the death of Queen Elizabeth I of England. It can go back as far into history as you are able to find information about but typically most people do not go further than about 1000 AD. The "known world" is any part of the world that had been discovered or visited by Europeans prior to 1605. Individual personas developed by our members can be from anywhere in the "known world".

Ancient metal working, wood working, sewing, knitting techniques and other crafts are kept alive in the SCA.

We are also involved in re-creating medieval battle as well. We train and do competition in ancient martial arts but not with real weaponry, however, we do use real armor and some of our members are set up to actually make armor. We are also involved in Archery.

All of the skills learned by our members are openly shared with whomever is interested. At some of our bigger events classes are taught in many of areas of crafts, history, heraldry, chivalry and so much more.

But most of all we have fun. There are several reasons why we belong to the SCA. For some it is the love of history, for others it is sewing and costuming and others it is the combat. For most it is a combination of one or more or all of the above. To be involved with the SCA you do not have to participate in all that the SCA has to offer, only what might interest you. And if nothing else there is the fun of hanging out with a bunch of people that are about as crazy as you are.

For more information on the SCA in general visit www.sca.org.

Below is a series of other links that might be of interest and will help you on your journey into history.

SCA Demo	An excellant place to start for beginners. This is not an offical page of the SCA but they offer a good description of what we do.
The Kingdom of Calontir	If you live in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa or Fayetteville, Arkansas then you live in the Kingdom of Calontir
The Barony of Forgotton Sea	If you live in Jackson and southern parts of Clay and Platte Counties, Missouri or Wyndotte or Johnson Counties, Kansas then you live in the Baroney of Forgotton Sea
Shire of Lost Moor	The Shire of Lost Moor is located in St. Joseph, Mo. and the surrounding communities