Lady Paramount / Celebrity Lady P ?

[Watch_Man]

Could someone please tell me why most shoots have a Lady (or Lord) Paramount who has not actually taken part in the competition nor the highest scorer?

I was asked at the weekend what a Lady Paramount was and said it was someone who presented the awards and raffle prizes. When I consulted the all knowledgeable and wise 'Google' it came up with the following:


Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Paramount \Par"a*mount\, a. [OF. par amont above; par through, by (L. per) + amont above.

See Amount.] Having the highest rank or jurisdiction; superior to all others; chief; supreme; pre["e]minent; as, a paramount duty. ``A traitor paramount.'' --Bacon.

Lady paramount (Archery), the lady making the best score.

Lord paramount, the king. Syn: Syn. Superior; principal; pre["e]minent; chief.

Now this indicates to me that it should be the lady (or gent) making the highest score on the day. I appreciate this is from a 1913 version of the dictionary, but at what point did it become a non-shooting role?

In relation to this, I was talking to our Postie today who is a civvy instructor with the ACF. He came along to our club a while ago for a have-a-go and he mentioned to me that some of his ACF youngsters had expressed an interest in archery after watching the current series of Robin Hood.

Referring back to the article in the Mail on Sunday featuring Lucy Griffiths; I can imagine the publicity archery would get if GNAS invited Lucy or the guy who plays Robin, to be Lady or Lord Paramount at a major GNAS competition next year. It may even make the BBC news - which is more than the World Cup did!

[Little Miss Purple]

I think it depends on the club as to who they ask for Lady / Lord P..

I've certainly seen in and around Yorkshire where the chosen person was the winner from the previous year, or a person with some stature in archery (or specific to that club).

[grimsby archer]

I've always understood the Lord or Lady Paramount to be an honoured guest invited to act ceremonially as the supreme arbiter, hence the quotes you found on google referening to the highest jurisdiction. I'm sure it says somewhere in the gnas rules of shooting that the Lady P has the final say on all decisions.
Tradition is a wonderfil thing.

[WhitehartFB]

Originally Posted by grimsby archer

I'm sure it says somewhere in the gnas rules of shooting that the Lady P has the final say on all decisions.
Tradition is a wonderfil thing.

Don't know about the history of LP.

Agreed be good publicity to have Lucy or what's his name who plays Robin.

I was a bit behind the times and I was corrected as explained here

Under rule 305(b) '......the judge is in sole control of the shooting, shall resolve all disputes in accordance with the rules of shooting.....' and as another example, rule 306(f) '...subject to appeal to the judge, whose ruling is final.' There is also rule 316(b) which defines the Lady Paramount duties as 'shall be the supreme arbitrator on all ceremonial matters connected with the tournament at which she officiates.' These therefore defined the Lady Paramount and the judges responsibilities at a tournament.

[clickerati]

So Lady P is like the Queen. Ceremonial more than anything these days.

[Trunkles]

At Bridlington on Sunday the Lady P was from the company who sponsored the tournament.

[vics]

At our club shoot, we always have a lady novice as our LP

[Justmista]

At our recent Record Status FITA 18m Tournament, we invited the Elected Mayor of Torbay to be the Lord Paramount.

We try to keep as high a public profile as possible. In particular, with the powers that be. We feel that this not only promotes our sport, but keeps archery in the minds of the people, who may one day be making decisions relating to our sport.

We have had a previous Mayor and one or two other councilors officiate in the past, as well as our own lady members.

[Rhys]

wow . . . .

[Watch_Man]

Originally Posted by vics

At our club shoot, we always have a lady novice as our LP

We do sometimes, or a mum of one of the juniors.

Horesbowman has a point in that it would be good to have someone who has done something in the local community, however I can see practical issues getting someone to each tournament.

In the past - say pre 1960, did the Lady P come from the archers or non-shooters? or do we not have anyone on here who goes back that far

High profile Lady P's such as mayor's and MP's would probably get the tournament into the local paper.

I quoted the actors who play Marion and Robin as examples for GNAS but it could be anyone with a high public profile - how about Seb Coe in his IOC/IAF role?