Wet Start to 2012

Well the season is underway and it is about to get busy. we started off with a wet Easter weekend. All of us at Kentwell Hall, and then Ned (my son) and I went to Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire for a two day medieval event with the Suffolk Free Company.

This was the SFC's  first official outing as an independent group, and it went very well. We provided Living History for a tourney event. The Suffolks are made up from a nucleus of a dozen or so members then we have Suffolks' Family members who are part of our larger group when we go out independently, but are in their own households when we are back with the MSS. We were joined by a new member at this event, Diccon ( to be known from now as 'Turnabout Diccon')

I spent the weekend beating plates for my brigandine into shape. There are 180 plates in total and now I only have 45 to shape. We provided an interesting camp for those who braved the weather, with cooking, wool crafts, arming, fletching, leather work, tailoring, some traditional games and even some frame making for a medieval house. Very busy for a small group.

We also provided bodies for the tourney, a lord to host the whole thing, then 8 combatants to for the main melee at the end of the day. Lots of fun. The tourney chaps were Mark Vance's guys I went out and did the Tourney with last year. We got on spledidly and were quite happy for us to hit 'em pretty hard. Having been the Blue Knight last year I had to pick his side this year even though it meant dying several times.

Only down side to the weekend- The weather. God's teeth did it rain? So much so that on Easter Monday I let Ned stay in bed and read comics. It is on days like that, that I think  it is important to remember that the kids don't get a  say about going to events. It would have been miserable for him outside so we didn't bother.

Event finished and EH were most pleased.

Move onto Mayday - Pensthorpe in Norfolk. A SFC Elizabethan event for Black Knight Historical.

 We tried something new at Pensthorpe, our Alehouse, The Golden Lion. We had a good weekend in Elizabethan kit. We had the chance to try out our new cassacks which will help our Trained Band look. We wear the blue of Essex, rather than the red with white trim of Suffolk (we decided we would look too much like the Cardinal's Guards in red) The alehouse worked very well, and will be used at other events, it will provide a focal point for our camp at the Festival of History in July.

 

Me with musket parading in front of Good Queen Bess on the Saturday.

The Suffolks make a Royal Bow on the Bank Holiday Monday. Yes it was that wet.

We all like to try new things at events. The Green man above is made entirely from Marchpain (marzipan) by my very talented wife, Heidi/Bess decided that this weekend she would try Subtlety making. Bloody good job she made of it too:0)

So two events in: Common themes for the year so far: Good friends, Good fun, terrible weather. Hoping that the next events are heavy on the first two and very light on the third. We had a good weekend despite the weather, gained a new member and avoided another:0) Roll on Wool Weekend at Kentwell Hall in May.

Tim

All Quiet on the Blogging Front

Well it has been a tad quiet on the blog front recently, for which I apologise. However I have been rather busy working on a variety of different things. All of which prevent me from logging on here.

The reenactment season had already begun and I spent the Easter weekend at two different events at Kentwell Hall and Kenilworth Castle. Both good events for completely different reasons.

At home I have two or three different projects that I will post some pictures of in the next few days.

Firstly I have been blackening my 15th century armour. I have completed my Barbute (helmet) and have nearly finished the right leg, right gauntlet and left arm. Some bits need reassembling. This summer I will be the Black Knight, and just hope it doesn't get too hot.

Secondly I have been working on my Brig, armour rather than pirate ship. this is a huge task. It will have 180 plates of steel riveted to black velvet by 1400+ rivets. The armour plates are being shaped at the moment to fit my curvy form. this project I hope to have finished by the end of June. So time is pressing.

Thirdly my gaming energies have had to be redirected. I was working on a 40mm pirate project for Salute 2012. Unfortunately (for the South London Warlords and gamers), a good friend of mine is getting married mine on the same day as Salute and I am performing the ceremony, in a strictly secular way. The wedding is to be a Steampunk affair and this year instead of building wargames scenery right now I am building full scale Steampunk scenery so it can be used for photos on the day. there will definitely be photos of that, but I cannot reveal anything until after the event as the happy couple have not seen any of it yet:0)

So here a couple of photos of toys that won't be at Salute 2012:0( They might make it in to a WI article about Blackbeard though, If I can get it written.



Sash and Saber 40mm pirates. Smashing. Lots more to come. And new scenery too. Watch this space.

Right I am off to try to finish a F&IW article for WI. Only a few weeks late.
Cheers
Reverend Timmy

Top Medieval Re-enactorisms

Last weekend was the AGM of the MSS (Medieval Siege Society) and I ran a session about Reenactorisms. This was not a lecture more an open discussion. The following is kind of what we talked about, however I didn't have any notes, just a powerpoint presentation I made which had nothing much to read, so I will fill in the gaps. The talk was not intended to point fingers at anyone in particular it was really to promote discussion and thinking about what we do, say and wear.

It is hard to define exactly what a reenactorism is as there are many different types which I will identify in a moment. Basically a reenactorism is an inaccuracy, an unfact that has been introduced into the common understanding of a period through Historical Reenactment. How they come about varies, some are unavoidable, many we could really do with losing.

Why is this important? Well, as reenactors we are in a position of power. Members of the Public (MOPS) will often believe what ever they are told by the person in funny clothes as being completely true. These inaccuracies that are shared over and over at some point become accepted as being true.


This doesn't only happen in Reenactment of course, my favourite example of this is actually from TV land. The TV series Not The Nine O'Clock News is guilty of this. One well known sketch featured Gerald the Gorilla.

In this sketch, Mel Smith's character (The Professor) described a family group as Flange. Gerald corrects him as says that it is a Whoop of Gorillas it is Flange of Baboons. Both words were just picked as the sounded funny. Thirty years later, in the world of zoology, the accepted collective noun for a family group of baboons is now, a Flange.

Next came the PIKEY EXPERIMENT. This started as a humourous conversation between two reenactor friends of mine at Kentwell Hall. It was 1535 and we had a number of Landsknechts on the manor. Whilst talking to some MOPs they explained that the term Pikey was first used to describe Landsknechts who arrived in a town, camped where they wanted, stole what ever they needed, behaved in an unpleasant manner, then leaving the area in a state of ruin when they go. The Pikey part coming from the fact that they were famous for using pikes in combat and when folk saw the pikes approaching they just referred to the soldiers as 'pikeys'. Now whilst it was quite amusing at the time what surprised us was that in less than 10 months another reenactor friend of ours was at a presentation about medieval warfare where this description of a pikey was given as 'fact' almost word for word. What surprised us was how fast something can get into the real world and how powerful the costumed reenactor can be.

Necessary Evils.
Some reenactorisms are unavoidable, necessary evils. These are things that have occurred for a variety of reasons but they are deemed crucial and will never change. I believe then when we are in 3rd person events it is our duty to inform MOPs that this is the case so they do not get the wrong idea. Here are a few examples (I am sure you might come up with more)
Fire Baskets: It is highly unusual for us to be able to have fires properly. Our fire baskets and other devices to support a fire 18" off the floor are not, on the whole, authentic. They are protecting the ground and what is below.
Bevoirs and Gauntlets: The proportion of plate armour worn on most medieval battlefields is totally wrong. Far too many combatants wear far too much. There are very few images of ordinary fighting men wearing bevoirs or gaunlets. However as soemone pointed out to me very early on. A bevoir costs a fraction of reconstructive jaw surgery. And MSS H&S rules insist that stout gloves are worn by all combatants.
Being under canvas: I pretty much get asked at every LH event whether everybody in the middle ages lived in tents? Getting across to people, that the tent is just the vehicle that enables us to take our hobby on the road, is really important.

Combat Compromises:
Some Medieval reenactorisms have occurred as some form of compromise on the battlefield.
Women on the battlefield This topic has had much debate recently about this very subject in the MSS. Not whether women fought in open battle, there is some (not much) evidence of women fighting on the field in the middle ages, very little evidence of women fighting in English battles and even less of them fighting in our part of the middle ages. However we have yet to find any credible evidence that they wore anything else than men's attire to do so. In the 21st century in our inclusive world it is only right and proper that women fight on our battlefields (in several cases they are some of the meanest opponents you will find) afterall we have women in combat roles on the real front lines around the world. These women also wear male attire on the battlefield. I think discussions about how women should be dressed may run and run. It all boils down to practicality and how much you want to get things right.
Nine foot polearms Excessively long polearms do appear on various battlefields around the country. We have the some in the MSS but not too many. I am not talking about spears here, which by nature are pretty long, I am talking about bills and similar weapons. This has really come about because we are not able to really use a bill in the way it was intended to be used. So in many cases they just get used as pokey sticks, and the longer the pokey stick the better. MSS members who fight with bills who are reading this should consider getting their short shaft comp test done, then they could chop their bill down to an appropriate size and join the growing numbers who use them in a similar manner to a pollaxe.
Two hand weapons Sword/knife, sword/axe, axe/axe I believe Non medieval weapon combos have come about for a number of reasons. Firstly some real weapon combos are not great on the battlefield (well not as good as they would have been) Sword and bucklers aren't as effective as they should be as the buckler can not be used as it is intended. Few combatants would acknowledge a hit from a buckler, especially heavily armoured ones, so the use of parrying knives has become very popular sometimes in combination with a buckler and sometimes the buckler has been disposed of. This far more like a 16th century weapon combination. Other two hand weapon combos I am sure have come from the worlds of film and Warhammer. They look cool and are good fun, but are there many examples from the 15th century of these combinations? hmmm.

Right getting past that lot we now get onto the real crux of the conversation. In particular order then here are some of the Top Reenactorisms that made it on to my list

The Bells, The Bells I am always amazed by the number of people who insist on wearing bells on their person at all times. Why do this? Well in some cases people might wear bells when on a pilgrimage; Cool, if you are going to do this set up your camp as a pilgrims encampment, have a priest or two, do religious type things etc. Some others might wear them as they are part of their attire as they are musicians or mummers; Again Cool, Perform a mummers play within your camp, learn some period music and dances, other wise stop it:0) Attaching a bell or two to a toddler good idea, not to grown ups, they don't appear as part of every day clothing.


Glasses Right I am no expert on this subject. I put it in as I was asked to. The basic MSS Kit Standard suggests that wire rimmed glasses are ok at a push. Well they aren't! If you wish to know more about this ask GOCB If you don't know Nick The Grumpy Old Charcoal Burner go here GOCB WEBSITE Nuff said!

Magic Hose This is a simple one really
Your hose shouldn't stay up by themselves. they need to be pointed to a pourpoint or petticoat. There were no fitted waist bands in the Middle Ages, no hose held up just by a belt and no hose made of lycra. A chap in hose and shift like that above is not properly dressed for the Middle Ages, alright for a trader in the market but is it ok for us? Hmmm

Fox Tails Many folk have worn one at one time or another (me included) But why? The possible reasons that have been offered and laughed at mercilessly include: Archers use them to wipe their arrows clean. Seriously? They help to keep you clean by attracting fleas and lice, which can then be drowned or smoked out. Oh yeah? Some women might have used them for feminine hygiene, yuk!Traders sell them so they must be OK. Hmmm. The only evidence that I have heard of for this item suggests that a woman wearing one is a lady of loose morals and a man wearing one is cuckolded, neither status is desirable really is it?

The Christmas Tree Not too bad these days, but we still see some folk who seem to want to wear all of their small personal belongings hanging on their belts. Everything from pouch, knife and rosary, all fine (although most women would have worn her pouch/purse between layers f clothing) to spoons, drinking vessels, BELLS (see above) Fox tails (See above) and any other tat. Stop it you look silly!

Archers' Salute This one could be one of the most well known reenactorisms of them all (although many people do not realize) Sadly there is no evidence that English archers stuck two fingers up at the French in a defiant salute, this is almost certainly a creation of reenactors, probably in the 1970s, shame really as it is great fun.
So? So What? This is the important bit I suppose. What do we do about these things? I am sure if you are a reenactor or historian you can think of several more examples. The question that I pose is this... Should we perpetuate these Unfacts? Some are avoidable, some are not.

Personally one of the main aims of the hobby is to get it right. I feel we have a responsibility to those we encounter, both reenactor and MOP, to try and portray the period we are fascinated by as correctly as possible, this way we can really get across to others what makes it so special. There is so much out there which is interesting, intriguing and wonderful and true, why should we feel the need to keep what isn't no matter how amusing or 'cool'.

Think on it and then let us see which of these things we can remove from our made up history.

NB I stand to be corrected. Being some one who is passionate about the period we reenact, if you have real evidence to suggest that any of the reenactorisms listed are actually historical fact, please message me. I would love to see it.

From Wang to WoW!

I am delighted to say that the blackening of my Burgonet has been completed and for a first attempt at blackening some armour, in a (semi) traditional method, I am really chuffed. It was a very lengthy, and extremely smelly process but the results were well worth it and have turned a bit of cheap kit that was quietly rusting in the garage into something that is unique and I will be proud to wear it.

If you remember my burgonet before Christmas looked like this...


Now it looks like this...


All the brass fittings were taken off, cleaned and replaced after the blackening. On the neck guard I have added an extra band of brass as the guard was recessed to take one.


The inside of the helmet has also had a whole bunch of work done to it too. Being a cheap Indian helmet it didn't fit very well and I was always trying to find ways of stuffing it and had to wear two arming caps to make it work at all, most unsatisfactory. Now I have sewn in an arming cap, which is riveted back and front to leather. The cheek guards have leather linings which are also stuffed to make the whole thing fit more comfortably. I have even gone to the lengths of making each brass washer that the rivets are peened into on all the leather work, even the ones that can't be seen.


This now looks great and is comfortable to wear. I am now going to get on with the gorget I have and then will start on my medieval kit. All of this should be far more straightforward than this helmet.

Now all I need is the time to blacken all my armour and make my brig. Busy busy:0)

PS
I need to thank Erasmus Hyll for his excellent assistance in making sure I didn't cock it up!

Helmet Blackening Update: Goodbye 2011

New Year's Eve and just enough time to put up some pics of my Elizabethan Burgonet and how the blackening is getting on.

Yesterday Jon T came round to do the next bits for my brig that I am making (Hmm going to need some articles about that too) and we just had a little time to do some more on the burgonet. So with blow torch and paint brush in hand. The main part of the helmet needed all its brass fitting stripping off and the chin strap too. We then went about heating the helmet and applying the oil.

This is an extremely smelly task and needs to be done outside. Unfortunately we had left it rather late and the darkness came down and then it started to rain, which eventually drove us indoors and forced work to stop.


Blackening the neckguard. you can see the rain on Jon's van, hence why we had to stop.



Friday afternoon's progress



So Saturday came about and as luck would have it a couple of spare hours. Now I could either cut out new plates for my brig or get the blowtorch out again. Blowtorch won, and I decided to take advantage of the reasonable weather. (It wasn't raining)


I got quite a way with it before I lost the light again. Most of the helmet now is black, to some degree or another. The oil in several places still requires some more cooking off. Then it will need another coat or two, at least. Some places are proving quite tricky, like the ridge of the comb and the roundest part of the crown of the helmet as the oil needs cook on it immediately or it flows away. Even so I am delighted with how it is going and I am looking forward to putting the whole thing back together and adding all the brass fittings.



What I am really pleased about is that if I can do this helmet successfully I should have far less problem with the helmet I really want to blacken which is my 15th century Barbute, the helmet I do most of my medieval combat in.



This one. Can't wait to give it a go. Next will be the finishing of the burgonet and polishing it, then the leather work for its web to make the whole thing fit better. But that will all have to wait until next year. See you in 2012:0)

Well that was 2011

I started to write a review of my year. It included a round up of most stuff and then it was going to have my top five things I was most chuffed with. However it started to become a mammoth task and I decided to start from scratch, so here goes...


From a Conflicting Interests point of view 2011 has been ace! We roamed up and down the country, went to (not in order) Kenilworth Castle (Smashing) Dover Castle, twice, (Fantastic) Bodiam Castle (Very satisfying) Herstmonceux Castle (Brill) Kentwell Hall (Always a pleasure) Tewkesbury, Bosworth, Hatfield, Kelmarsh, Weald, Collchester, Bentley, Wellwyn, Hadleigh Round House, Mannington Hall. We fought in battles, skirmishes, tourneys; from 1 on1 crest melees with the Knights Tourney of Foote (Thanks Mark Vance et al) to 1000 a side dust ups like Tewkes (thanks the Tyrrels) and everything in between. We have enjoyed a wide range of Living History activities and displays. I have become the MSS Script Writer's Guild and have written and co-written several scripts for our battle displays, which is a very satisfying thing to do. We met some great new friends and reaffirmed old friendships. In fact reenactment this year has proved itself to be everything I got into for and more. I can't wait for next season.

In the wargaming world, I have completed projects, started new ones. I have had two more articles in print in Wargames Illustrated (that's five now) I had a photo shoot for some more articles for next year (F&IW) and was asked to write a special article for the 300th anniversary edition for next September too. I have managed to get a wide variety of games played, and found some new opponents with whom I hope to play more. Our Very British Civil War campaign is off and running and there are lots of new models to paint and play with. So on that front all is good too.

There were a couple of moments that haven't really got a mention on this blog this year and I am slightly remiss for this so here are a couple...

Our season always starts with the Suffolks' COW (Council Of War) our household gathers together in the spring to discuss the forthcoming season and which events we are aiming to go to. The calender discussion is usually fairly brief, we then focus on the main part of the COW, dinner! This takes the form of a medieval banquet usually cooked by Francis, Bess and Mirabel. Everyone else strips our livingroom and redecorates it with suitable medieval kit. We all dress for dinner and then have a slap meal. The highlight of this year's COW was the bird within a bird, within a bird, within a bird. Partridge, in pheasant, in duck, in chicken nom nom!

Already looking forward to the COW 2012.

Another highlight was when five of us went down to the Bentley Wildfowl trust in Sussex for an MSS event. We only went for one day, so went light. The highlight of the day (Aside from fighting for our friends the Ap Harrys) was the walk in. We kitted up in the car park and then marched into camp with all of our kit, just as we would have on campaign. It looked pretty good. One day I will do an event where I literally take just what I can wear and carry... one day.

Right at the end of the season I was called to do something I don't usually do, Victorians. Again new friends made, this time Daisy and Alex Richardson of Past to Present Historical. We spent a weekend at Audley End, in North Essex, entertaining the masses who queued to see Father Christmas. I went essentially as a 'Dodgy Victorian pub dwelling cove' not too tricky you would think for me. We cobbled kit together for me, thanks for all the loans guys, and off I went with a pocket full Victorian pennies and some cards to find the lady. In the end very little lady finding occurred but a great time was had, the highlight of which was getting several hundred queuing folk to do a Cockerney wave, ( Just like a Mexican Wave, just with more Dick Van Dyke) you had to be there. and we certainly will be next year:0)


So what was the best moment of the year? I thought it would be really hard to select, but as it turns out it was a piece of cake. It happened at Kentwell Hall during the Grand Recreation of Tudor life. On the third weekend of the event the military types put on a Tudor Pageant to celebrate the Master's natal day (birthday) the pageant took the form of the Battle of Azincourt. Now this essentially was a ruse to get a handful of fully armoured Men At Arms to be shot at close range by English archers, always great fun for those taking part and those watching. The rest of the 'battle' included combat between the French and English: The French and English Kings going toe to toe: The French cavalry, played by 9 and 10 year old lads on hobby horses assaulting the English lines and lots of other silliness. On the whole it was great success. The battle ended with heavily armoured and French and English knights fighting to the inevitable defeat of the French.

So was that it then? The best bit of your year? NO...

The best bit came moments later. Usually a 'battle' like this ends with the dead coming back to life and the combatants all indulge in some self congratulatory back slapping, but on this occasion it was a little different. Our pageant in 1553 had been hijacked to celebrate the accession of Lady Jane Grey and we just happened to have her eight year old sister Lady Mary Grey on the manor. At the end of the battle, in a flash of genius of whom I do not know, the Queen's sister took the field to accept a Royal Bow. In one moment our show and my season was topped off by an eight year old girl nervously walking amongst a collection of sweaty, armoured warriors who all fell to one knee in deep reverence, heads down and eyes averted in silent tribute.


I know it was all pretend but it was just a perfect moment on an English Summer's day. For those of us lucky enough to have been there it will stick with us forever. For those of you not lucky enough to be there I suggest you get out to some historical locations next summer in case some thing as cool as that happens again.

Thanks to all who have been on the road with us this year.
Roll on 2012. I'll see you in the 15th or 16th centuries.
Swallowtail Ted
Pollet Virtus

Helmet update

Quick update on the helmet blackening... I thought I would have a crack at blackening without Jon holding my hand this afternoon. It turned out pretty well. Brass fittings stripped off first and all put into Coke to clean them. Then same process as the other day. I think I need to replace my blowtorch as I had difficulty getting the metal hot enough to start with however it looks like it turned out in the end.



Next I need to make the web to go inside the helmet, so I can drill any hole required before blackening the main part of the helm. I have also started on the gorget. As you can see it is a well loved piece of kit that has been extremely well looked after. Hoping the blackening will vastly improve its appearance.

So keep coming back to see how I get on. New blowtorch then I should be in business:0)