Sealed Knot

[Susan W.]

This one is for Rosemary I found this picture of the Sealed Knot when they were in Ruthin a few years ago (Prince Rupert) believe.
I was amazed at the costumes is this what you used to make when you were with them ???

[Susan W.]

Yep, that is the sort of thing we got up to - although we were not the Knot!. Here are a couple of recentish photos of me in my everyday kit. I also have a cream jacket embroidered in red which I wore with this skirt for banquets etc.Steve's suit is black with black braid every 2" horizontally across the sleeves. He was particularly pleased that I was able to hide pockets in his front tabs on his doublet, and he insisted that the breeches were lined with satin :wink: :lol:

[Lois B.]

What is Sealed Knot? Great Costumes!

[wendy w.]

Wonderful!

[Susan W.]

Great costumes Rosemary you look wicked as they say nowadays , don't blame your DH wanting that lining with all that itchy wool .
Lois The Sealed Knot is a re enactment group who focus on the Civil War in Britain The Roundheads and the Cavaliers The Cavaliers
are the ones who have the fancy costumes, they are very good and go round the country enacting various battles. I was very
impressed when I saw them . Thanks for posting Photgraphs Rosemary .

[Anne B.]

I love all the stuff I learn on this site! Never heard of the Sealed Knot before. Love the costumes!

[Lois B.]

Great costumes Rosemary you look wicked as they say nowadays , don't blame your DH wanting that lining with all that itchy wool .
Lois The Sealed Knot is a re enactment group who focus on the Civil War in Britain The Roundheads and the Cavaliers The Cavaliers
are the ones who have the fancy costumes, they are very good and go round the country enacting various battles. I was very
impressed when I saw them . Thanks for posting Photgraphs Rosemary .

We have groups here that do the same with our Civil War.

[Lois B.]

The Sealed Knot was the first re-enactment group that was started by Brig. Peter Young back in the mid 60's, the tale I have heard is that during/after a fancy dress party they started discussing how did 17th C battlefield tactics actually work and decideded that it would be good idea to try them out.... it then developed from there. In the early 70's when the average costume was crimpilene, lace & feathers for the common soldier (ugh) a breakaway group who wanted to be much more authentic in everything, wearing wool, leather & steel, broke away and became The English Civil War Society. These days there is much more of a parity for authencity, but this was pretty much the start of re-enacting different periods of history to see what could be learnt by doing things with the actual equipment available during that period, and can be fascinating to research.

There is an interesting video about putting on a muster http://ecws.org.uk/cms/watch-our-video

The Cavaliers are the ones who have the fancy costumes, .

This is a great misconception that is always peddled! The fancy costumes are worn by the gentry - the people who have money to spend on their backs, these would be the men who would raise a regiment, at their own expense, and would then become the Colonel regardless of experience. The common soldiers on both sides would be wearing the same style of clothes. There was no common standardisation of uniforms, it depended up, a)what colour the Colonel decided upon as his; b)what colour could be obtained. c) if it could be afforded to supply all the men with a new coat or suit at the same time.
There are many instances of fathers and sons being on opposite sides, as well men who were good friends, one example being Lord Hopton and General Waller, who, despite being on opposing sides they still remained good friends all through the war. They would have dressed pretty much the same because of their station in life, rather than their political convictions.

The two terms, 'Roundheads' and 'Cavaliers' are both period insults, The 'Roundheads' were originally the shaven headed London apprentices - think 'skinheads' today, always up for a ruck! The 'Cavaliers' were the 'Hooray Henrys' of their day -a bunch of swaggering (richer) trouble makers ..... not a lot changes really :wink:

PS for most of the Civil War Oliver Cromwell was an indistinguished MP and a very minor cavalry captain.

[Susan W.]

Rosemary that is so interesting I never thought I would learn so much from a quilting site, just proves that you are never to old to learn new things
you sure know your stuff on this subject , hope you did not mind me asking you about this like you I love anything Historical . The Tudors are doing it
for me at the moment probably because I watched The Showtime version, or should I say I drooled at the Showtime version I think some of it was
correct but it was great fun to watch and I was in awe on the costumes . Clothes are so boring nowadays .

[Susan W.]

I don't mind being asked at all. Personally I fell in love with d'Artagnan & the Three Musketeers at the age of about 8 (saw the Michael York/OliverReed/Frank Finlay/Richard Chamberlain version first) and got hooked on that period of history big time! - I even took up fencing when I had the chance :wink: Collected videos of all the different versions, collected all the books by A. Dumas Pere, (there are actually 6 in the series!) Because the time period crosses over with the Great Civil War of 1642, when I tripped over a small re-enactment with my best friend we were very easily recruited I also am interested in the tudor period, partly because for my O level embroidery I had to write about embroidery from a previous period and I chose to do the Elizabethans, at which point nearly all books lead you back to a)The Bradford Table Carpet, b)Bess of Hardwick and c) Mary,Queen of Scots, sometimes it was tricky getting past these three to find out anything else that was happening :roll:

With the re-enacting it is a very rounded look at history, you consider everthing, clothes, food, drink, why drinking beer was endemic (safer than water) how things were cooked, what was cooked, going back to the documents of the day for first hand references and then trying out how things were done following their records, it can become utterly fascinating. And you could follow this down for everything that was used, weapons, tools, tactics, surgery, carpentry etc, etc.. Then you get charactors like the gentleman who got so into period brewing that he became known as the Hooch Master General for 'brewing and vintning above and beyond the call of sanity' He got this title for trying out a period recipe for chilli mead - 4 oz of chilli to 1 gallon of mead (and that would have been the smaller sized gallon that the americans still use too) This was the stuff of legand, and the bragging rights of having survived a small mouthful were enormous 8)

[Susan W.]

Fascinating Rosemary I bet you miss it now. Bet we will get in trouble for talking History and not quilting , one last
Question were you at Hampton Court which I where I believe the Royal School of Needlework are based ?
Had a look at the Bradford table carpet on the V and A website , it looks in amazing condition for its age
Which is 1600-1615




I loved Michael York as well this was a great version of the Three Musketeers not been bettered since.
Just posting a bit of eye candy as a treat Henry Cavill from the Tudors , now I am getting all Hot and
Bothered ops:





Back to reality now must go and do some more Paper Piecing sorry the pictures got a bit mixed up somehow.

[Anne B.]

Holy moly! He's gorgeous! Didn't know who Michael York was. Thanks for posting this pic!

[Anne B.]

No getting in trouble for educating us--love the eye candy.

[Anne B.]

When I was at the RSN it was still at 25 Princes Gate (I left when they moved to Hampton Court) Just up the terrace was the Iranian Embassy that got seiged, and the RSN was used as the base for operations during the seige, but that was before my time there.

Part of the reason that the Bradford Table Carpet is in such good condition is probably because - as the name says - it was kept on the table rather than on the floor, and I guess, when it went out of fashion it was rolled up & put in the attics and forgotton about. I really must go and find out it's history now I think about it...

And for Ann, and any others who want some extra eye candy

[E.M. T.]

Ah...That's the Mr. York I remember !!