[Ansteorra] Imperium Compound

[tmcd at panix.com]

For those who might be unfamiliar with the song "Imperium Compound": I
believe the original version started in the early days of the Middle
Kingdom and the Dark Horde.  Certainly a lot of the verses in the song
Pooky posted are about people from then/there.  In particular

On Thu, 15 Sep 2011, Pukhta 'Pooky' Lovtsevich <pookyloves at gmail.com> wrote:
> CHORUS:         Oh, we think, we think, we think,
>                  The king is a fink, a fink, a fink,
>                  A figure of respectability!
>                  (He) rules the Kingdom with Imperium Compound!
>                  The results are plain to see!

The comic strip _The Wizard of Id_ has a very short king, and from
time to time, a man gallops thru proclaiming "The king is a fink!"
The first king of the Middle Kingdom was Cariadoc of the Bow, who I
think organized the Dwarves versus Giants tourney at Pennsic and
fought on the side of the dwarves.  I think "The king is a fink!" is a
very early war cry of the Middle.  Other fair to Middling names I
recognize are Andy (probably Andrew of Seldom Rest), Robert Aspirin
(Yang the Nauseating, one of the founders of the Dark Horde), Azarael
the Soul Separator (early Horde), Dagan, Laurelen Darksbane, ...

> The Board of Directors, styled themselves "Electors",
> And another con they tried to swing;
> Now the BOD drinks Imperium Ccmpound,
> And we no longer need a king.
> CHORUS: The Bod, the Bod, the Bod,
> It thinks it's God, It's God, It's God,
> The figure of supreme authority,
> And if we'd 0.D. on Imperium Compound
> There'd be no need for royalty!

There was a lot of complaining about Board of Directors meddling up
thru the mid-1990s.  Indeed, for a time, on the medieval / game side
of the SCA they called themselves "Imperial Electors" and used the
title "His / Her Serenity".  They established and gave the Order of
the Pelican.  Only later did they allow kingdoms to give it also, and
only later still did they stop giving it.  I believe they gave
existing Laurels the one-time option to convert over (as kingdoms had
earlier given Laurels both for arts and for service).  Only more
recently (1980s? 1990s?) was there the notion that the BoD should stay
firmly on the modern interface / running side and out of the medieval
side.

> Jon deCless rules as if we were all fools
> And won't even try to change his way,
> Once the Horde drinks Inperium Compound
> The Board will be de Clesse!

Early Board member, and I hear he was rather dictatorial.  I think he
was part of the original SCA Inc incorporation (which was done against
California law in that it was without a vote of the membership, but
after decades of implicit acceptance by the membership, it's too late
to change that).

Danett de Linccolne
-- 
Tim McDaniel; Reply-To: tmcd at panix.com