More 1685 Society nostalgia

I bet you're getting bored with my old reenactment photos already aren't you? These photos by John Norris are interesting in that they were in Issue 1 (1999) of Skirmish magazine - quite a coup for us at the time and we didn't exactly get overwhelmed with enquiries but I think it was in its own way influential. I'm the one with the half pike. What do you think of the length of the Rebels musket on the left? It's a fowling piece and they were often that long.

1685 Society at Lyme Regis

Reenacting the landing of Monmouth for a tv programme in the late 90s. The cameras were filming us come in and I had one chance to leap out the boat and fall down on my knees and make some sort of gesture. I was petrified I'd fall on my arse. If I remember rightly everyone wanted to be in the boat and those on the beach got a bit grumpy waiting for us to row ashore as it was a little dull as these things are. Happy days.

Late 17th century Compagnies franches de la marine

I got my old scanner working and scanned these images of cfdlM in the late 17thc. Also here is an interpretation of the ceinturon with plug bayonet and sword set-up. The image is from the Wursthorn collection and reproduced in Neptunia.

It's a rare and detailed look at the subject and well worth looking at in close-up. The fusil looks like the Marine musket repro I blogged before. Of course this set-up may have been modified for winter warfare with capot and tapabord.

See a colour scan of the cfdlM here

Gentlemen of Fortune

If I say 'pirate' to most of you you'll probably shudder at the thought of it but this website manages to get behind the myths and present some useful information. For example the types of pistols available or things like monmouth caps and so forth. Worth a gander, as we sometimes say as this is probably the War of Spanish Succession in its most popular form.

Music for the Coronation of James II

This album looks like its worth tracking down if you're a fan of the period - composers include Purcell naturally.

More information and audio samples here

Francis Hawley 1685

Thought it was time for more of my artwork - this is Francis Hawley who led the attack on the barricade at Phillips Norton during the Monmouth Rebellion. The original portrait is in the National Army Museum and is of interest in that it shows a grenadier officer of the time.

Peter the Great miniseries (1986)

I am old enough to remember this being screened on tv. It's now available on dvd for the movie fans among you. The Great Northern War battle scenes were a little disappointing (if only they could have filmed what I was expecting!) but the casting was good - Laurence Olivier as William III was particularly inspired. Plagued by freezing temperatures in St Petersburg (it was quite a big deal filming in Russia in 86) and having to use a stand-in for Schell in some scenes it also suffered at the hands of another miniseries 'Sins' starring Joan Collins which was screened in the USA at the same time ...but that's showbusiness. Wiki on the series
NY Times review Peter the Great is very, very clean.