Mediaval Re-enactment

Post by **Alatar** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 7:54 pm

I know Leoba and Din are involved with this sort of thing in the UK, so I brought my son Conor along to Bunratty Castle today to see the "Living History" re-enactment society from Dublin. I must say I really enjoyed it, and Conor found it almost as fascinating as I did!

Slideshow here

Post by **Old_Tom_Bombadil** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 8:25 pm

Very nice, Alatar. Thanks for sharing.

We have similar events right here in California as well as other parts of North America. Last summer Goldberry and I went to an event called the Ardenwood Celtic Festival. (Oops! Looks like we missed this year's.

)

The festivals feature music (especially bagpipes), dancing, crafts, as well as displays of arms and falconry. The event we went to last year even had a team of very large draft horses!

Some friends of ours with whom we attended the event are members of SCA (The Society for Creative Anachronism). I would be very surprised if they didn't have a similar organization in Ireland and other parts of the UK.

Post by **Lidless** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 9:02 pm

I never got into the dressing-up thing, even for Mediaeval Knights at The Gathering. My concession then was a suit with a waistcoat that could pass for Elvish in design.

Having said that, that looked *fun*. Your kids are being trained well.

Post by **Old_Tom_Bombadil** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 9:21 pm

Eh? Waistcoats of Elvish design? Certainly you must mean of Hobbit design!

'It takes a lot o' believing,' said the gaffer, 'though I can see he's been mixing in some strange company. What's come of his weskit? I don't hold with wearing iron mongery, where it wears well or no.'

Post by **Lidless** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 9:29 pm

No, Elvish.

Alas you can't see it too much here:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/thelidles ... pg&.src=ph

(from the European premiere for ROTK in Berlin)

but the scrollwork on it was definitely Elvishlike.

Post by **Rowanberry** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 10:15 am

That was interesting to see, Alatar!

We have similar annual events here at least in Turku which would be 1½ hours by train from my home, but I've never got myself there to see one.

Post by **Old_Tom_Bombadil** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 4:39 am

I was thinking of you on Saturday, Alatar, when my wife and I attended the Scottish Highland Games at the Dunsmuir Estatein Oakland, California.

I had a lengthy chat with a falconer while I was there. He and his wife had three Harris hawks, a baby Gyrfalcon, and prairie-peregrine falcon hybrid, and a peregrine-merlin hybrid. My older brother was into falconry when he was a teenager so I have a some acquaintance with the field. It's surprising how much I retained after over 30 years.

At the end of September they have the world's largest Scottish Games in Pleasanton, California sponsored by the Caldonian Club of San Francisco. We may just make it down for one day of the event.