LIVING HISTORY

At any Sealed Knot event you will find some form of Living History camp, giving a flavour of life in the 17^th century away from the battlefield. Here you will see a tented ‘village’ portraying a variety of professions, crafts, cookery skills and various ‘characters’ giving members of the public the chance to get up close and interact with us Knotters. Living History is a great way to get to talk to members of the public about 17^th century life, and also what it is like to re-enact it. Taking part in a camp can be a bit scary at first, but it is good fun, and Gerard’s Regiment takes quite a relaxed approach to enable anyone to take part.

At first you might want to take some time to watch what other people are doing. In Gerard’s Living History you will see soldiers playing games, find out about spectacles in the 17^th century, see cooking on an open fire, find ‘men’ practising their sword play, women making cord, knitting or sewing. The children cook pancakes on the fire, sometimes get into trouble (we have a few scenarios which we act out every now and again!) and are very good at keeping the fire going. Sometimes you will see people making musket balls, or rushlights, and of course there is usually a soldier sleeping somewhere!

I hope you are getting the picture now. There are a few guidelines to follow when taking part in Living History. We have to be very careful to hide anything modern, including modern food. This is where the 17^th century style tent is useful — put everything 21^st century in there and close it up! Also, you have to be dressed properly, so women and men should have their heads covered, women should have a kerchief round their neck and men should have their shirts tucked in. When wearing kit, there should be no sunglasses, no cameras, no walking round with coke cans, no wrist watches etc. This might sound a bit harsh, but it really does detract from the look and feel of the camp. There is no need to learn special language, although some people do take on characters for the whole time and give a flavour of 17^th century language (you will find this on the larger living history camps at major musters).

Whatever you finally decide to do within the Living History Camp, don’t be afraid to ask other members how to do things. Do some research by reading books or asking questions on the Sealed Knot website. Get yourself a wooden bowl or plate and a 17^th century spoon so you can join in with the feasting. If in doubt, there are plenty of people who will help you out and advise you on what to buy.