LivingHistory.co.uk

Try getting hold of Nicholas Monsarrat's Mater Mariner books - central character cursed from the time of the Armada. In general, I would think that, providing the character doesn't physically age, the rate of change in society would be such that he could adapt to the changes as they happened (like m...

I Spent a good 20 minutes on Sunday, explaining to small child that they didn't have snipers in c17th century Apart from the Earl of Derby's gamekeepers who, armed with "scrued guns" picked of Parliamentarian officers and gunners in the siege lines around Lathom House - seems like a fairly sniper-i...

William wasn't a proper king, he was a jumped up Norman bastard son of a duke!

Nigel? You out there Nigel??

In my other group, if i have to explain that Tommies weren't named after Tommy guns, or hear another person say they've seen our machine guns on Call of Duty, i may scream. Sadly the "standard" stupid questions remain standard for as long as you do the job - I worked for some time on an Iron Age fa...

I don't think anyone has posted photos from the Lanark event - and I didn't take any as I forgot my camera and was in kit all day anyway! So the local papers phot gallery for the event is at: http://www.photostoday.co.uk/Gallery.aspx?GalleryID=25749 I think my legs appear in one shot (the rest of me...

There was a cooper up near Queensferry - we got some buckets from his a few years back. I'll see if I can find his details.

I was always worried by Martin Carvers assumption that the main burial is that of Raedwald though. It's such a strange thing for an archaeologist to do - put a name to a burial without more concrete evidence. I don't think it was Martin that came up with that as a suggestion i nthe first place. The...

That's really interesting, M - thank you for that. I'm now tempted to go off and research clothmaking, instead of making kit! :lol: That is the route to madness and despair!! :lol: I looked the info up and typed it while I was supposed to be helping the boss make three pairs of breeches for this we...

A slight sideline on the colours - "self coloured" linen - the slightly brownish cream of the unbleached cloth would be how it came off the loom - bleaching involved spreading the cloth in the sun with the use of various bleaching materials - Home's Experiments in Bleaching (1785), quoted in Baines,...

Dan, by an "event" I meant in the broad sense of a group turning up somewhere to do something. As you say, if its a film, then generally its for entertainment and the accuracy tends to go out the window to a greater or lesser extent (I reckon its partly for selling the film - if you try and sell a f...

Interesting mix of kit styles - is this one of these events where "It's Roman" so anything from a four hundred year period will do?

(I finished mine on Friday morning before the event xD)

In re-enactment kit terms that makes you incredibly well organised - most folks are still sewing in the car on the way to the event (and that's just the driver! )

Nice pics and good kit!

That is such a general query that its not possible to answer - can you refine your area of visiting a bit more? As a general stab at it - accommoadation - just about everywhere has some decent b&bs - some have more than others and some have a good range. Museums - define a decent museum? We have a s...

only two horses and one man were killed Possibly the casualties reported reflected the number of "important" deaths. I don't really know the source or the period but there is a theory that in an earlier age in Italy, low Roman casualties were due partly to propaganda and partly due to the reporting...

Although if we can interest you in a 1812 patter light dragoon jacket, we're taking deposits for them now

DO NOT tempt this man with ideas about fancy kit - we're going to book him into the Priory fairly soon as it is, to help him deal with his addiction!!

Neil Johnston wrote:Hi AndyR
Is Jules still making up kit, coats waistcoats etc., for the period?
Specifically Dumbartons Regt.
Cheers
Neil

Johnston, do you actually NEED any more kit??

This could also be an interesting period to portray in the run up to the 300th anniversary of the '15 and an antidote to all the Waterloo stuff that'll be going on then........eh Andy???

Battle of Preston - the main drag and market place would be ideal for a "street fight" event!

Loudoun's still have some 1680's Cameronian's kit lurking somewhere - we haven't had much chance to use it of late.

Why is it that wooden spoons are almost as common finds in Europe as wooden bowls but that they are very rare in the UK? maybe, unlike bowls, they broke..........and then they simply chucked 'em in the fire in a desperate attempt to keep warm in the traditional UK wet and windy weather? :lol: That ...

Cat wrote:I tend to have a spoon in my hat so's I'm not sans spoon if offered food! I was told once that it is a symbol of rank ...can't remember what rank though.

Does "Grubby peasant always on the scrounge for free food" count as a rank?

Marcus Woodhouse wrote:And I have a tebuchet in my classroom called Tim.

Would that be because its an Irish Catholic trebuchet??

And what was the first thing you did when coming out of the shelter after a raid? (according the my aunt).














Check to make sure the house was still there!!

As well as the big casualty incidents, there were also casualties in family Anderson shelters - just from the scatter of bombs being dropped over residential areas - some were bound to hit shelters (or land near enough to cause casualties from the concussion) One of my aunt's neighbours (she was eas...

Attilla the Bun wrote:Jim retired a year or two ago!
.

God that makes me feel old - it doesn't seem that long ago that we did a session with the YAT labs as part of my course - it was, however, in 1981!! York in the freezing cold, just before Christmas, just like a Christmas Card

If you are discussing general fishing methods, there are a number of fish traps known from around the coast, dting to the medieval period - basically the remains are shallow v shaped settings of rubble - possibly the base of low dry stone walls - or lines of stakes in the same v-shape layout - proba...

Coppergate finds were likely dealt with by the York Archaeological Trust Labs - I think Jim Spriggs is still the head honcho there.

Colin Middleton wrote:

lidimy wrote:Could use one of those baby jamjars you get for breakfast in posh hotels...

Is it a good idea to put a glass jar in a fire?

Depends on how much you value your eyesite.

A tin would be a better idea Lidi.

lidimy wrote:My smallest bits I use to pad teddy sized jacks. so really anything over an inch square I keep...

Keep the really tiny treeny bits as well Lidi, then your teddies could be equipped with very small tinderboxes with authenti-charcloth!

See if you can get hold of Reay Tannahill's "Sex in History" - can't remember how detailed it is for this period but the bibliography may give you a few pointers - its about 25 years since it was published though so it may not be bang up to date with current research.

As well as Oakshott, have a look for Stead's Iron Age Swords and Scabbards. Not sure if it only covers British examples or is pan-European but it might answer some of the queries.

And beware of using "Celtic" - its a very debateable term in archaeological thought.