Lundy

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     This page was copied from http://www.bethisad.com/lundy.htm and serves primarily as a notebook for it.     



The Island of Lundy, called Ysla Luydon in Kerno and Isul di Llund in Brithenig, is a little island (3mi by .5mi) about 10 miles off the coast of Dûnein at the mouth of the Sefern Channel. The name Lundy derives ultimately from the Norse 'Lund Ey', or Isle of Puffins; and indeed one of the island's more famous attractions are its numerous puffins.

In 1922, a wealthy English gentleman bought the island from the Provincial Government for £14.000 and built an estate in the island. [For a further £8.000, he bought the Island of Tortuga in the Caribbean in 1923.] In 1929, as "King of Lundy", he issued the island's first currency called, appropriately enough, the puffin. The puffin was equivalent to the FK penny.

In 1979, another wealthy Englishman, Andrew Morris - purported to be the wealthiest man in the Federated Kingdoms - bought the island from Mr Harmon's heirs. He has made of the island a National Park with wildlife refuges and has decreed that various localities should remain free of development due to historical interest. Since the mid-1980s, Lundy has come into its own. It boasts several estates, including a vacation residence used by His Britannic Majesty, Gereint XIII; and many tourist attractions for the thousands who visit the island each year.

The island's Government operate a daily ferry, postal service, constabulary, Park Warden's Bureau and several other essential services. The currency in use is the ecu, valued at £6/-. It is not a rare occurrence to find Martin Harmon's old puffins in circulation along with other provincial and national coinage.

The Master's Men

The local druidic tribunal on the Island is known as the Master's Men. They, three in number, are appointed by the Master of Lundy, but are not beholden to him, for a term of nine years. The job is fairly cushy as far as being a judge can be called cushy, for the Natives of Lundy include three basic populations: monks, puffins and a few thousand local folks. Tourists can become pesky, and in season often stir up trouble.

Like most High Courts, the Master's Men are jurists, and are accorded some honour. Since this is Dunein, they are generally drawn from the pool of druidic jurists of the common or traditional law system rather than justiciars of the national courts, though an occasional justiciar has been named to the Master's Men. Thus while Lundy's court is deemed a "high court", it is equivalent in competence to the low courts of the rest of Kemr.