Of Living Histories:

Living histories are an extension of our seventeenth-century activities, taking us one stage further than our battles. They are an attempt to show an entire slice of seventeenth-century life, from both the military and civilian standpoints. As such we are exposed to far a higher degree of scrutiny by the public, since the displays are fully open for them to wander round at will. The events will have script of sorts, usually based on the actual events of the place and time. A lot of research goes into these, and a briefing package is usually produced for those attending. Many have a military basis and end the day with a military action. It's quite normal to see half the people skulking off, to form up and come back for the surprise attack at three o'clock. We are usually on display from about 10.00am to 5-6.00pm.

Most living history events are based on a castle or house of our period, with a supplement of period tentage where appropriate. Individuals are asked to take on specific roles, either military or civilian. A typical event might be that the Society is asked to garrison a castle, you would expect to see some of the following cast of characters:

• the Governor of the castle and two or three officers
• the Governor's personal servants and retainers
• the Governor's wife and family and their servants
• a passing regiment or garrison and all that it entails
• a chaplain
• one or more clerks
• local gentry
• kitchen workers
• traders and craftsmen
• armourers
• soldiers and new levies being trained
• peasants and layabouts

We try to put on shows where everything is as authentic as possible; food is cooked in iron or brass pots over wood fires, soldiers are billeted in the rooms of the house, their kit strewn around and the inevitable tension generated between the military and civilians, people eat from wooden or pewter bowls (depending on their wealth), were forks are a new-fangled import from Italy and only available to those of higher station. Where it is a military event arms and armour are prominent. On a more civilian occasion domestic items, tools, and simple agricultural implements come to the fore.

It is an era when the water is not safe to drink, so the common refreshment is beer or cider. A soldier's pay is 4d and bread costs 2d a loaf.

The roles can be anything from common soldier or peasant to a fine gentleman/lady or a great noble. As a newcomer it is usually advisable to take a lowlife role, for then you can legitimately plead ignorance of what's going on around you and point Joe Public to someone else if they ask questions you can't answer. (Passing the buck this way can be quite fun - you can easily set people up and watch them squirm, as the general idea is to stay in a credible seventeenth-century character.) Lording it about is only viable if you can sustain such a character, and the most likely way to get setup is to play above your station.

You may find yourself being asked/told to do things by people you don't know. This is because the hierarchy at a living history rarely reflects a regiment's structure. The nobs and officers are usually selected for acting ability rather than military skills, so be prepared to a bit of forelock tugging.

If this seems a bit daunting, don't be put off, the intention is to have a lot of fun. You don't need to fully equip yourself with seventeenth-century accoutrements before you start, and you don't need to be greatly versed in the history of the period. We nearly all started off totally ignorant and learned as we went.

John McGowan, Turncoat