Rufford Abbey, behind the rope line

Yesterday's post focussed on our displays at Rufford, but when we do a weekend show we are there for the duration. We arrive Friday night and camp on site until Sunday. The time after what we call "wimples off" (the blessed point at which the public have gone and so we women can remove our wimples") is therefore at least as big a part of re-enactment as the public display.

One of the many things I love about being a re-enactor is that I get to spend so much time at beautiful sites like Rufford.

Rufford is well worth a visit. Parts of it are mostly intact, as in the picture above, but then you wander upstairs and it is just a shell.

A shell with some very limber gargoyles.

You don't get involved in re-enactment if you don't have at least a passing interest in history, and Rufford this year had a great range of other displays. I spent quite a long time talking to Avrelia from the Roman Military Research Society about Roman cookery. Oh for the range of ingredients available half a millenium before our period! Note the rabbit hanging to the right of the picture: the Romans kept them in Britain but they didn't live in the wild until the Normans re-introduced them.

I would also love to have access to their dye palette, but then that's what you can get when you are part of the Roman economic system. Note that I didn't say "have an extensive trading network", because there was far more trade in the early medieval period than many might think as the Vikings travelled and traded throughout Europe and the Middle East. The difference is the lack of unified economic system underlying it which enabled Mediterranean products to make their way to the British Isles in sufficient quantities for regular use.

I'm afraid I have no idea what period the gentleman below is re-enacting, but I liked the cut of his coat.

The English Civil War Society were also here. Below you can see a blacksmith at his forge and a gentleman of the cavalry.

Blacksmith

Cavalry man

Moving forward again we come to the Seven Years War, fought in the 18th century by the great powers of the time.  From the little I know, this could also be viewed as one of the first global conflicts, since it was fought in the Americas, Europe, India, and Africa.

I'm not sure what group they belong to, but they were camping near the Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards 1815 (Napoleonic).  Of all the groups I've seen, the Coldstream Guards seem to stay in kit for the duration, not just during public hours.  

Coldstream Foot Guards, marching with their muskets and bayonets.

In contrast to De Vey's period, we are now into the era of the permanent standing army with standardised uniform, training and protocols, hence the endless marching. Although Regia Anglorum often participates in shows such as Detling Military Odyssey, the early medieval period doesn't have a "military" as such. Conflict and violence are endemic and you do get armies such as the ninth century Great Army (one of the Viking invasions), but these are merely temporary allegiances between powerful lords. The fyrd which Harold raised in 1066 (an obligation to serve the king for a period of time) exists precisely because there is no permanent national army.

Coldstream Guards playing catch in the evening

Their cooking equipment isn't vastly different from ours, but note the kettle: they have tea and coffee! America is now long since discovered so their beef stew was served with potatoes, whereas ours had dumplings. Their site is also a lot more metal-heavy than ours: it is no longer such a precious commodity.

Not everybody stays in their groups out of hours. An interesting mix of eras appeared to be involved of an extensive game of "Bang! You're dead!" 

Back on our own wic, a key element of the morning is bacon. There has been some discussion within Regia recently about whether or not they would have eaten bacon. If you think of bacon as salted pork then yes, certainly. Pork was a key meat, and salted was how it was preserved. Would they have eaten it cut like this and fried? Probably not. Regardless of whether or not they fried things much, meat simply wasn't so cheaply and widely available that it would be the key element of a dish in the way it is today. Re-enactors, however, tend to like a bacon butty in the morning, so Toki and I did a honey and apple cure for the weekend. We brought 2.2kg. We didn't take any home.

Finally, the picture below sums up re-enactment for me: the view across a smoking fire. I always tell people that if you're cooking over a fire, you won't even notice the onions making your eyes water. Smoke permeates everything, so much so that you stop noticing it. It covers a multitude of other sins as well, which is helpful in an era when half your clothes were made of wool, and therefore you didn't really want to wash it.

Well, that was Rufford. Roll on the Viking Spring Thing!

Please note that all of the photos taken above were taken out of hours and so may therefore include anachronisms that would not be there when the public were on site. All photographs taken by Caroline Williams.

Thornton Hall show.

The Whit bank holiday weekend found us at Thornton-in-Craven, near Skipton in Yorkshire. Surrounded by some beautiful countryside, our show was in the grounds of Thornton hall, adjacent to the farm animals & children's play area. Being in an elevated position, we certainly noticed the windy conditions, & we also managed some showers & sunny spells. The tents coped very well with the weather, on the whole, which is always a relief. On our wic, we had the usual cooking activities, as well as sewing, spinning, naalbinding, etc. Other wic have similar occupations, as well as other crafts & occasionally some traders, giving us the opportunity to find some much desired pieces of kit.

In the arena our military displays were based on the meeting of Eric Bloodaxe, the local Viking leader, with the Saxons, where he was betrayed and killed. In the picture below Stephen & Debbie depict a spearmans. This was the ubiquitous weapon of the time, used in conjunction with a shield whilst fighting 'in a line' to form an impenetrable barrier. Thornton church is in the background.

After the battle, where the warriors show their skills, fighting as a team, they then get to show off their prowess, fighting as individuals. This is often done, fighting in 'circles'. This can be done 'with honour' or without. The warriors enter the field & fight, aiming to be the last man standing. Obviously it is beneficial to gang up in small groups to help defeat opponents. When honour is in play, folk acknowledge their adversary before fighting. When the is no honour, backstabbing & turning on your former comrades without warning is the norm. 

On the left, Jamie & Mike have joined forces to defeat Tom, although they later fought against each other.

 Mike survived to face Guthrum in the final fight, which he won. 

However, the consequence of this is 'death by children', where the Regia youngsters get to rush onto the field with their wooden swords & 'kill' the champion- usually with great glee!

             

Our national group, Regia Anglorum, celebrates 25 years since its foundation this year. It was decided to have a party after the show closed on the Sunday. We had cake, music, good company & lots of banter to make the evening one to remember. 

In a few days time we will have a much smaller show, in the village where we train, as part of their annual village event.

Spring training weekend

Our national group has a training weekend in the spring at a scout camp near Ashby-de-la-Zouch. It gives us chance to blow away some of the winter cobwebs, try out some new tactics, hone older skills & do some weapon tests.

Spear work is fundamental since this is the common weapon of the period we portray. The warriors tended to fight in lines, forming a shield wall. However, once this was broken down during the fight, more random tactics would be brought into play, with smaller groups fighting together.

We also have archers on the field (space permitting), so they have to train to receive arrows. The normal line formation is used when the arrows are loosed at body height. When lob shots are used, the shields are raised to protect their heads.


More tactical fighting is also practiced. Below shows one side, lining up between 2 rows of shields. These represent a bridge, with men at either side trying to gain the bridge & cross. 

                                           We also have a ship boarding 'game' where spears are laid on the ground to form the prow of a ship, which has rammed into the side of another ship, whose side is delineated by a row of shields. The attackers form up in the prow & try to board the defending ship, without 'walking on water'. It was interesting to see how ineffective a slow but steady attack was, whereas a mad rush ( in the form of a boar snout) was much more productive ( as seen in the 'photo above) . Once the defensive line had been broken, the outcome was still open.

All in all it was an excellent weekend, preparing the military for action during the summer.

Tollerton village event 2010

Our local show came rund again in June. We opted for an earlier dateline this year, and went for 937AD. This was the year of the battle of Brunanburh, a pivotal battle. The English are lead by Aethelstan, grandson of Alfred the Great, with his half brother, Edmund. His troops are all from England, basically south of the Trent. This is effectively Wessex & Mercia fighting side by side to form a national English army) Against them is the great Northern army, comprised of Vikings, Britons & Celts. The site of the battle is unknown, with loads of suggested places being named. One of the possible sites is in the East Midlands. This battle is a key moment in the emergence of an English nation-state. It is a great victory for Aethelstan, but there are heavy casulties on both sides.

Bearing in mind that Tollerton lies within the area known as the Danelaw, and the Vikings were only pushed out of Nottingham some 20 years earlier, we envisaged men from the local fyrd loyal to Aethelstan mustering & marching off to join him, but having to pass through an area whose population still had a significant Viking bias.  

Our first arena display showed the arms & armour of the time, with some single combat and fighting in 'circles' ( a kind of melee) to show how the weapons were used. The local ATC sent some volunteers into the ring to be drilled Anglo-Saxon style. 

In our second display we had a young nobleman dropping behind his warband to sample the local ale. The local ladies kidnapped him & held him to ransom. A botched rescue led to a standoff, and a fight ensued....

After this we settled down to relax on the wic, having eaten earlier. We passed the mead horn round & enjoyed the sunshine before packing up.

Nottingham Castle show

Due to the launch of the new Robin Hood film (starring Russell Crowe), Nottingham city council decided to make May their Robin Hood month. Subsequently we were quite busy at various events throughout the month, culminating in a national Regia show at the castle.  To fit in with Robin Hood, our dateline was much later than usual, being 1190s. This enabled our norman ladies to wear their fashionable droopy sleeved dresses. 

It also meant that we were joined by some friends depicting a Knight Templar & a Knight

 Hospitaler (the green cross depicting that he works with lepers). 

He is holding a turkish style mace/club, which Trevor turned on his pole lathe at the beginning of the show.

In the morning, a series of one on one tourneys were held. This was a new type of competitive fight for us as they were marshalled, with points being awarded. 

The winners then fighting against each other in an elimination contest. 

As usual we had the wic set up, cooking on some days, with 

pre-cooked meat pies & other cold dishes on others. When not cooking, folk kept busy with craft work, or catching up on gossip (or even discussing things of great portent!). An exhibition of items from the film was on display in the castle, as you can see from the poster in the background.

In the afternoon we had a Robin Hood themed display in the arena, with Will Scarlet & Guy of Gisborne verbally & then physically abusing each other.

A masses fight was then staged.  Debs & Jamie valiantly helped block a boar snout attack by the opposition.

In the aftermath there will always be a few bodies & Sarah played the part of the grieving widow to good effect.

At the end of the day we gathered together for a Regia group photograph, before packing up & heading off home, tired but happy.

St Ives

We had a lovely setting for the St Ives show, alongside the river in a pleasant meadow. Sadly the weather wasn't of the same caliber, and the Saturday was particularly wet & cold. However, it improved after that & by the May bank holiday Monday, we had a bit of sunshine, even if still chilly in the shade. 

The proximity of the river meant that we could row one of our new ships down to the 

site, giving Regia members chance to examine its sleek lines & construction. 

There was sufficient space for the horses to be deployed. After showing the development of the mounted knight over a couple of centuries, some 

horseback skills were demonstrated before mounted combat ensued.

The warriors of Regia then had their chance to display their skills in the arena, with some line fighting. The mounted knights continued their own battle.

Trevor donned his ecclesiastical robes to bless the men and give absolution to the dying.

We had the chance to do some more woad dyeing on the Sunday. Hanging round the fire was a popular pastime!

Doing a 3 day show is always good as it enables the group to settle into the lifestyle more. After all, we're there to try & feel what it was like to live in that way, a thousand years ago.

Tollerton Village Event 2009

Every year the villagers of Tollerton get together for the annual village event on their open space. As the parish council kindly let us train there, we put on a display at the event by way of 

thanks. This year we decided to put on a later period event, based on the revolt of Henry II's sons 1173-74. This gave the chaps to get their surcoats out & full face helms.

 The weather was very kind to us, giving us a sunny, pleasant day. Perhaps it was a bit too warm to be fighting in full mail, but it suited the audience.

 Conroi de Vey were joined by their friends from other groups of Regia Anglorum, and Conquest. 

We set up our wic & got breakfast sorted, so that the real cooking of the day could begin. 

As usual Sue did us proud with a tasty menu, and interesting things to try, including a pearl barley 'risotto' style dish. 

Our panel for the Wychurst wall hanging got an airing & some more work done on it.

There were also various other crafts being practiced on the wic, including spinning & leatherwork.

We had a couple of sessions in the arena. As Nottingham was loyal to Henry II & Leicester was for the rebels, we envisaged some aggravation between the two forces. An announcement of some of Leicester's men being spotted nearby caused the Nottingham men to rally, giving us a chance to explain the clothing & armour as the men dressed for battle. 

A clash between the forces followed. 

In the later session, the warriors showed their skills with different weaponry, and different styles of fighting, in groups and as individuals.

Mike demonstrated that the reach of a spear & the speed of a lightly armoured man can prevail over the heavily armoured knight (just not very often). Being a seasoned, sneaky, back stabbing fighter helps!

Even after their exertions in the displays, Conroi de Vey was still ready to give their all in the 

tug-of-war competition. We entered a couple of teams, but the slippy turn shoes didn't help our efforts any & we came 2nd. 

This event always gives us a friendly, relaxed show. We always enjoy ourselves & the local folk are most appreciative of our displays.