The Armour Archive

earnest carruthers

Glen dear, I wont get angry so don't worry. "the obvious derision in which you use the term "living history" as a perjorative" How wrong could you be. Just so you know where I am coming from I joined the White Company in late 1986. At the time probably the only Wars of the Roses group in the UK - it...

earnest carruthers

Ulv to be fair you have selected only a part of what I was saying and even then you do not seem to not the 're-enactment' the emphasis was there for a reason. The term itself is rather up for grabs. If LH is about plausibility then there are a lot of SCAers here who are apparently striving for that....

earnest carruthers

uprights
cloth
guy ropes and crows feet
pegs

as the man says - time consuming.

earnest carruthers

"At the same time one might be the lieutenant of a captain who was a corporal commanding three lances. " as in 'in lieu' of the captain? a very interesting list, thanks. made me get my Eric Partridge - Origins of words!! bingo L Locus becomes OF-F Lieu adopted by English in the phrase 'in lieu of'. ...

earnest carruthers

"IMHO, they're still "reenacting". "

I would agree, the activity is immaterial, assuming they are at least dressed up and doing somthing. Or do you not mean that?

earnest carruthers

"Moreover, their training told them that the experiential learning-by-doing that the SCA likes to call "living archaelogy" does not constitute or provide evidence that Medieval folk would have things the same way as we, a bunch of weekend amateurs." Actually I would agree with that sentiment, except...

earnest carruthers

Paper was imported in great quantities, often not meeting demand, certainly the 15thC saw the use of paper burgeon, we in England had been importing it from France (mainly) from at least the 14thC. Paper in an art context in the late 14thc - 15thC was used to practice on and produce model books. Pap...

earnest carruthers

Worsted twill is excellent for snug hose (chausses). Get a light weight and don't boil. Hand sewing basic stuff is practice and confidence and using a decent needle and thread. what the rest said basically. I find sewing quite therapeutic when I am in the mood, fitting clothes I actualy hate, but th...

earnest carruthers

Actually at the event I went to I had to assert that I wasn't a sire/lord thing but an artisan - and proud of it! Next time I wont need to assert it so much.

May even have a go at boffing if allowed.

earnest carruthers

Of course archeaologists or their next of kin are not admissable in my previous statement

But i have handled a few skulls so that was what caused my immediate suspicion, the lack of bits.

earnest carruthers

Put it this way, despite our smart arse comfy chair comments had we stumbled upon this first hand I suspect our initial comments might not be so assured, for a while at least.

earnest carruthers

The orbits in the fake skull are not detailed enough, no sinuses etc.

Pewter badge - showing almost no signs of corrosion
cloth
shield
dirt piled up around the bones, does not show signs of being buried

Apart from that, all too convenient

But what a great prop.

earnest carruthers

I would put money on that being a modern one. (hope it isn't in some ways). Clive is a well known reenactment photographer, could easily be a reenactor's sallet. Looks like a poor attempt at a Coventry-esque sallet. Paint effect is good, thick enough. Looks like some sort of primer underneath too, r...

earnest carruthers

Ewan - soak them in cold water for at least 24 hours. Once the bits are loose gently scrape off the waxy cuticle with the back of your penknife. It will come off in flakes and strips. Then let them dry. Get yourself some decent instructions and practice cutting your pen. You will find the first half...

earnest carruthers

"I notice that the History Channel doesn't call on reenactors very often to act as spokesmen" Possibly with the channel itself and in general. But there are many programmes (in the UK) now where reenactors who are known also to either have a professional interest or a well established amateur one ar...

earnest carruthers

PK "The easiest way to do this is to stick your nose in the air and degrade the efforts and/or recreational activities of those who have a different mindset or set of priorities." 100% concur with that. I was priveleged to be invited to an SCA event in England by one of the posters here, now all I k...

earnest carruthers

TH you need to read postings in the other place, an ad went up only the other week.

see me there.

earnest carruthers

"A group needs these people, or there'd be no group; there's always a hole to be filled in the pike block." yes, ok so they don't speak to the public are not brimming with wider knowledge but as long as they know the task they are dressed up for then fine, this is as you point out certainly fine for...

earnest carruthers

"Frankly, I didn't expect this level of excitement over "writing" Wink" welcome to the dark side. Soon you will worrying about whether your hand poise is right or not, should you use a slope (recommended as it reduces the tension in your arm if you are doing lots of writing). "Playing with geeky thi...

earnest carruthers

" When I was young in the SCA it was explained that re-enactment was portraying actual documented people at an actual event in history" the historic events, possibly and even then not often. In the UK the big history groups, ECWS for example do not always seek to re-fight Naseby etc, they do generic...

earnest carruthers

Brewer, sounds familiar I have straightened out and reshaped squashed barrels by using hot sand, or salt as it happens, I get most of mine from wild waterfowl at a nearby lake so they are invariably softened in the water.

earnest carruthers

So a guy who has just returned from reenacting a skirmish sits down to make himself some food authentically suddenly becomes a LHer? doesn't make sense as it pre-supposes that a reenactor only does military. Ironically his food preparation activities are more likely to be closer representations of s...

earnest carruthers

Anyone who dresses up does 're-enactment' whether hard core LHers or SCAers, after all the latter are 're-enacting' battles, the former are 're-enacting other things (inc. military). Some re-enactors like to think they are so dis-similar from SCAers that they think there is a distinction, as a dyed ...

earnest carruthers

Anjouleme, between you and me I find no difference, especially if the feather is cut down, the curve just means (to me) that the end of the feather obstructs the view, a bit. I use both or either, my nibs are also square cut with no slant as ideally (traditionally) the nib end is held at near 90 deg...

earnest carruthers

Check out Gottingen Model Book - see it all online m 15thC but gives very handy hints on composing diapering and acanthus leaves - common items throughout the late middle ages. Note an illumination is a miniature that has gold leaf on it, if it doesn't it is a miniature - miniature deriving from the...

earnest carruthers

Has the thread starter got any contributions to the subject?

earnest carruthers

You might want to add some egg white to the gouache, toughens it and gives it a sheen, look up 'how to make glair' on google or pm me or anjouleme. Vermillion - (cinnabar) = red - the slightly orangey red that we are familiar with. Ultramarine (as per Anjouleme) personally prefer titanium white as i...

earnest carruthers

Also treat them as separate disciplines, as has been said before they were different jobs by different people. Modern calligraphers often do both, with varying degrees of success. Also modern calligraphic techniques are not the same as medieval ones despite what you may be told, one example is that ...

earnest carruthers

Supposed etymological links with Berne and Bears, some legend about it being named after a bear slain there in the 12th.

earnest carruthers

Elrik What Ivo said not much more to add than that. Linen/hemp certainly 15thC as Ivo says on pavises, assuming some pavises were made in the 16thC - which they were then the 16thC On a pavise in Delft there seems to be evidence of horse hair and glue underneath a cloth layer, all part of the tensio...

earnest carruthers

do you mean covering as part of the shield or as a jacket? If the former then: leather rawhide parchment fabric - linen/hemp sinew plus other things were used to reinforce various shields over the ages, glued on and sometimes painted or worked (if leather) if the latter The Romans are believed t hav...

earnest carruthers

Out of interest what traditionally non-heraldic devices can be used? I ask because surely at some point the devices were new or adaptations on a theme, eg crosses and quatre and trefoils etc?

earnest carruthers

Bascinets are also mentioned as late as 1480 in London Import rolls, along with sallets.

What a bascinet was in 1480 compared to 1380 is anyone's guess.

earnest carruthers

Hawkwood - Frances Stonor Saunders, came out late 2004.

earnest carruthers

As I said previously I don't find the idea of coloured points (multi coloured) to be a big leap of faith given the plethora of coloured braiding information out there, however as Gwen rightly points out there is a dearth of visual reference to show them as such. If I were to start asking questions i...