QUEEN Ally and King Simon, the new Balingup Medieval Festival royalty, have a royally interesting story to tell about the king’s birth.
Simon was born in the snow on the side of a mountain early one morning in South Wales.
He moved to Australia with his family two years later.
Ally was born and raised in Perth.
The pair went to the same high school for two terms, where they never met each other once – it was later through friends that they met, at the age of 18.
In right royal romantic style, they have been together ever since.
Simon and Ally have attended the Balingup Medieval Festival for the past seven years.
“Balingup has been drawing us like a magnet for years – the people, the shops, the countryside – every year we’d go to the festival and it would get harder and harder to leave,” Ally said.
“Two days expanded to a week and a half, so we decided we’d have to move.
“We just decided to wait until our kids settled into their lives before moving.”
Simon and Ally moved to Newlands in February of this year.
They first became involved in the Medieval Festival through their business, Medieval Mayhem, in which they run medieval-themed parties and shows for schools.
“We make it a fun and educational day,” Ally said.
Simon and Ally have also been involved in the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) for many years.
“Simon was the martial and I was the list keeper for three years,” Ally said.
“Simon was into making armour and I got into making costumes – it was something we could do as a family.”
The couple have been helping a Bunbury SCA group, the Shire of Boesenberg, to get started.
When Simon and Ally first began attending the Medieval Festival, the only medieval group around was the Grey Company, a re-enactment group.
“We came down with four people and set up a fighting display with some armoured suit-wearing guys,” Ally said.
“They asked us to join the parade, and we’ve been coming ever since.
“The numbers of the carnival started getting bigger, so we suggested a few more SCA groups come down.”
Medieval recreation and social group Darksun soon added colour and character to the carnival.
“SCA, Grey Company and Darksun are the three main groups down there now,” Ally said.
Simon and Ally assist the carnival coordinators to provide entertainment, while Simon has helped with the design and approvals process for the new stage.
“This is the first year we haven’t fought or led the parade, so we were looking for alternate duties,” Ally said.
“The committee asked us if we’d like to become king and queen.”
As king and queen, Simon and Ally put a face to the carnival.
They will lead the parade, coordinate the groups on the field and meet and greet people over the whole weekend.
According to Simon, medieval groups are about much more than just dressing up in armour.
“It’s a lot about behaviour,” he said.
“Some of us purists believe quite strongly in pursuing the ideals of chivalry – protecting the weak, striving for justice, fair treatment of women – we’re not middle ages knights, we can only strive to uphold the ideals.”
Simon also believes women in the Middle Ages were more highly valued than they are today.
“Women were more highly valued for their real skills, their administration skills,” he said. “Equality wasn’t such an issue – women were more equal.
“The lady would run the entire castle, the farms, food production and peasants.
“She was a politician, an accountant, a director and administrator.
“A noble woman had a very good life – she didn’t suffer the inequalities women do today.”
According to Simon, the main attraction of the medieval re-enactments is escapism.
“It’s an extreme form of escapism,” he said.
“Most people that do it have a high stress or high technology job.”
For Ally, it is about the creativity.
“I like the historical and educational aspect,” she said.
One of those historical aspects of the SCA is the creation of a medieval persona and a name to go with it.
“This is the creative part of it,” Simon said.
“You’re not allowed to be a historical figure, but your name has to be historical and sourced from a primary document.
“Everybody is assumed to be of noble birth, and the minimum form of address is M’Lord and M’Lady.”
Ally is the Lady Alazais of Chainbridge and Simon is the Lord Chulain of Chainbridge.
Simon and Ally have plenty of plans for the future, so far as all things medieval go.
“In the next 12 months there’s going to be an inland South West club,” Simon said.
“We’re going to bring together all the people.”
There are also plans for four events a year, including tournaments and feasts.
“Having 100 people at a spit roast feast is one of the most fun things you can do,” Simon said.
Ally and Simon hope the tournaments will attract some younger people to learn about chivalry.
“It can be a very good way of instilling values in the right people,” Simon said.
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