Judith Proctor's Journal

 As some of you may know, I've gotten involved in English Civil War Re-enactment.  It's an interesting period, and social history is interesting in almost any era.

At the moment, I'm making myself a proper costume.  Hand-sewing it all - which is an interesting experience in its own right - and using authentic materials as far as possible. ie. Wool linen, period fastenings, etc.

I'm currently having fun with coifs. Coifs are what women wore on their heads in this era. Part practicality - kept all the wood smoke out of your hair, and added a bit of warmth in the little ice age. Part fashion, and, possibly, part modesty. (there's a biblical thing about women keeping their hair covered in church and Bible reading was getting quite wide-spread at this time)

I've got patterns from several sources, and my friend Pat let me take some photos from one of her books, and there some good stuff on the Marquis of Winchester's site (they’re a regiment of the English Civil War Sociey - http://www.marquisofwinchesters.co.uk/living-history-guide-coifs-and-hair/, and Pat's blog https://costumehistorian.blogspot.com/search/label/coifs

 Two weeks ago, my daughter, Lindsey, said she'd found a living history village set in 1642 (the year the Civil War started) in Gosport.  An hour and a quarter's drive away.

WE went early, stayed late. Great place and really knowledgeable volunteers. Some of them know incredibly detailed things about every day life in that era. eg.  One lady makes soap from animal fat and lye (you extract it from wood ash).

Went again two weeks later and Lindsey, me and Oswin all joined.

I want to try their big loom!

This isn't my video, but it gives you  very good feel for the place.

 The style and design of some items can be very conservative.

eg.  Custard powder is yellow, because it mimics the appearance of custard made with eggs.  The actual produce is white cornflower with yellow colouring and  little bit of flavouring.

Yellow is also the commonest colour of duster - I suspect it's to mimic the colour of a shammy leather. 

But have you ever wondered about the shape of a laundry basket?

If you google 'laundry basket', you'll find the commonest design by far is a rectangular or oval basket, make of plastic or wicker, with a handle at each end.

Why at the ends?  When I pick up a laundry basket, I usually balance it on my hip and hold it by the side, not the end.  It may be that some people hold it by the handles, but it's not the easiest way.

So, why handles at the ends?

I think the answer is here in Tales From the Green Valley.

If you want to see the rest of the laundry process, including the importance of fermented urine and how to make lye from wood ash, then start at 9:30, and then 12:30.

But, to return to the handles of the laundry basket. Although Ruth does pick up the basket with both hands when the contents are still dry, I think the most likely reason for the handles being on the ends, is to allow two women to carry a heavy basket of laundry to a nearby river! 

https://www.google.com/search?q=laundry+basket&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t

I suspect I shall end up buying a number of books from Stuart Press. They publish all their work as staple-bound A5 booklets, and they obviously work on very tight margins as they don't take card payments (though they can handle bank transfers), but the research going into them...

eg.  The cookery series encapsulates 8 years of research and experimentation by the team based on the examination of over 71,000 books published before 1660, over 20,000 will and inventories and a wide range of sources from archive papers to artefacts.

Everything is here - military, social, cooking, clothing, games, social mores, every kind of agriculture (several kinds of livestock, lots of kinds of fruit, cereal crops in vast detail, medicinal plants, aromatic plants (for strewing and in bedstraw),  the lives of agricultural workers, cutlery (no forks in this era), several volumes on different cooking vessels, fish, cheese, salads.

And more!

If anyone living overseas wants any of these (and I can think of one or two of you who might want to know how to drill your pikemen, or learn all about pocket sundials, or to know how dining with the common people differs from dining in a great house....)  I'm willing to work out a way of buying and mailing them to you if you're interested.

STUART PRESS CATALOGUE 20

( Read more... )

 This one is potentially the correct date, but the date can't be authenticated.  It has 1688 carved on it.

It's Scottish, with string heddles and is designed to stand on the floor.

 On Friday, one of my friends told me that there was an English Civil War re-enactment battle in Wimborne over the bank holiday weekend.

Sounded right up my street.  So, on Saturday afternoon, I popped into town on the bus and watched the Royalist troops march into Wimborne and make a proclamation on the Minster Green (very nice location in the centre of Wimborne),  then listened to their leader make a speech, explaining how Wimborne would be protected by his troops from the forces of parliament -and incidentally, the people of Wimborne were expected to come forward, billet and feed the soldiers and give money to support the Royalist cause...

Fantastic ability to project his voice.  I chatted to him later and complimented him, and he said he'd trained as a singer.

On Sunday, I came in again.  There was a big group of 'Living History' volunteers (who came with the military re-enactors) and were willing to chat and demonstrate Tudor clothing, how it was made, what people would have eaten, what shoes they wore, etc.  Also an interesting display of what a sutler (a person - sometimes female) who sold goods to the soldiers.  And  lute player, and people doing embroidery, etc.

Thoroughly enjoyed talking to people who really had studied the period in depth -and was able to hand on a few handy tips on tablet weaving by way of exchange.

Headed for home, when that session finished. Headed for the loo before catching the bus, and on the way to the public toilets (which turned out to be closed for renovation...) I passed the Oddfellows Arms, where I heard the sound of a really good sing around.

Listened for a few minutes, then decided to catch a later bus and spend the next two hours happily singing along with the men (and women) or the Norfolke Trayned Bands (fought for parliament and Cromwell).  Best evening I can remember in a very long time.

The local folk clubs all seem to be 'sit and listen to a performer' now.  I don't want that.  I want the kind of sing-around where you're packed into a small space, everyone is singing, and it passes from singer to singer to start the next song.  I knew 90% of the folk songs they were singing, so led a couple myself.  They made me feel really welcome, so I've written a song for them, and I hope they'll like it!  

Monday, I watched the actual 'Battle for Wimborne' which is where the photo comes from.  Had interesting chats in the morning with people from several regiments who were incredibly knowledgeable about things like manufacturing gunpowder, rotating ranks of musket men, penetration of various weapons into armour.  Muskets basically made armour redundant, which is why most civil war regiments didn't wear it - apart from helmets.

A great weekend, so good, I'm tempted to go and see another battle and meet up with these wonderfully insane people again!