Is Cake Allowed?

-

Whilst happy to celebrate my Parliamentarian heritage and leaning (my great × lots uncle became General Treasurer of Lancashire for Parliament in 1643), if Parliament* was against cake I may well have to become a turncoat and rally to the King's aide.


* it being that time of year, it is only right and proper to debunk the commonly held fact that Cromwell banned Christmas. The Puritans who held the majority effectively banned Christmas as a) they believed it to be wasteful and a sin, and b) as an attempt to persuade the Scots Presbyterians that only by supporting Parliament could they achieve their goal of religious tolerance. Parliament banned Christmas, not Cromwell.


If you enjoyed reading this, or any of the other posts, please consider supporting the blog. 
Thanks.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Houses of Interest: Herefordshire

-
Image
The ECWtravelogue is beginning to turn its attention to those counties further away from Château KeepYourPowderDry. Here begins the Herefordshire entry... Goodrich  Castle has long been on the ECW travelogue's 'to visit' list, why? Roaring Meg.  There appears to have been a tradition of gunners giving their 'pieces' nicknames. Roaring Meg appears more than once, but this Roaring Meg is the only known Civil War mortar still in existence. Be still my beating heart. Goodrich Castle was started in the twelfth century, before it was completed/modified/extended in the latter half of the thirteenth century. And very impressive it must have been too. Obligatory arty photo, showing how Goodrich commands the landscape Fast forward to the turbulent times of the seventeenth century. The castle was originally garrisoned by Parliament in 1642 with the consent of Richard Tyler, a local lawyer who was tenant and constable of the castle. The garrison fled to Gloucester when the Roya
Read more

Celtic Baggage Redux

-
Image
 Jings and crivens! Even more baggage? I'm afraid so. The last part of my Montrose/Solemn League/Irish Confederate baggage extension is complete. Erm... actually it isn't. Now that I have discovered that I can't actually see the figures properly when painting, and that 2.0 readers from the cheapy shop help enormously, I will be tidying these up. The strap work on those bags is shocking! The Irish Confederates have two pack horse trains. These are Chariot figures from Magister Militum. Magister Militum are in the process of shutting up shop, and these figures are now unavailable; MM are finding new homes for their ranges, to date I haven't heard any news about anyone talking the Chariot range on yet. Originally the pony handlers had Scots bonnets, they have been replaced with Peter Pig Irish heads. The Confederates also have two, two-wheeled carts added to their baggage train. Both from Museum Miniatures' extensive baggage range. Each cart has a Peter Pig dragoon ho
Read more

Houses of Interest: East Riding

-
Image
The modern County of East Yorkshire (or East Riding as Yorkshire folk would have it) saw the first symbolic act of the First English Civil war take place here.  Those of you in need of further  Yorkshire adventures should check out:   West Yorkshire , South Yorkshire ,   North Yorkshire  , York and Marston Moor  and Adwalton Moor . Let us start with Hull , the symbolic birthplace of the First Civil War, when Sir John Hotham denied King Charles entry to the town and barred the Beverley Gate. As a consequence Hull became a significant target for Charles's ire, being besieged in 1642 and again in 1643. Hull was Yorkshire's second largest town, only York was bigger. It was a very important port and possessed a large arsenal prior to the outbreak of hostilities (the second largest arsenal in England after London). Sir John Meldrum led raiding sorties out of the town, during the siege, attacking Royalist positions: a lack of coordination of the Royalist forces would see them fall bac
Read more

Houses of Interest: North Yorkshire

-
Image
For more Yorkshire 'related stuff' you can find  West Yorkshire  here ,  South Yorkshire  here , and  East Riding  here . For sites of interest in York, and the Marston Moor battlefield see here ; Skipton Castle see here , and Knaresborough Castle here . All Saints Church  in Ripley (Harrogate way, not the one in Derbyshire) was used by the Parliamentarians as a billet for their soldiers who were pursuing fleeing Royalists from Marston Moor. A number were captured and executed against the walls of the church which still bears the scars of musket balls. Inside the Church they added graffiti  "no pompe nor pride let God be honoured" to the tomb of Sir William Ingilby (1546-1618). Interestingly Sir William's children are both claimed to have fought at Marston Moor: Sir William (junior) was a Royalist cavalry officer, and his sister Jane is supposed to have disguised herself as a man wearing full armour in order to take the field. After the Battle Sir William (jr.) hi
Read more

So You Want To Know About The New Model Army?

-
Image
The second instalment in what could be a very one sided, short lived series. But first we need to talk about the term 'New Model Army'. 'Tis nought but a Victorian affectation (courtesy Thomas Carlyle in 1845). The New Model Army was not called that in the C17th, you know... when it actually existed. It was technically, just 'the army', but was described as 'the army, newly modelled' or the '' newly modelled' army' so as to distinguish it from Parliament's previous field army (the Earl of Essex's Army), and the fact that they had a new structure.  Now we can move on. Although I will type NMA, as it is much quicker. My 1940 edition ex-Nottingham Reference Library copies. Wondering why it says Firth and Davies as authors? Godfrey Davies assisted and checked Firth's research  When looking at the NMA our first port of call has to be with the venerable Sir Charles H Firth. His 1902 two volume work "Regimental History of Cromwell&#
Read more

So You Want to Know About the Armies of the Associations?

-
Image
So what were the Associations, and give me a reading list... During the Wars, Parliament devolved local government to local Associations of counties where it held sway. These local Associations raised money, provided supplies and men for Parliament's great field army, which was under the command of the Earl of Essex. Each Association also raised its own army, which was responsible for garrisoning towns, protecting the borders of their Association, and they were also called upon to augment Essex's force. Some also went about their own campaigning. The Association Armies were*: The Midlands Association,  covering predominantly Warwickshire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Leicestershire. A slightly complicated affair, there were briefly two Midland Association armies. Initially commanded by Lord Brooke, then Sir John Gell took command after Brooke's death at Lichfield. Cheshire is a little different (it still is a little different, I can say that having been born in the county
Read more

Coat Colours Part 2: Royalist Regiments of Foot

-
Image
Continuing my therapeutic blogging (write rather than rant) antidote to incorrect English Civil War coat colour tables for wargamers, I give you the Royalist Regiments of Foot. For all of my coat colour articles see: Introduction   Part 1  Parliamentarian coat colours Part 3  Scots coat colours Part 3B  Montrose and the Irish Brigade Part 4  Dragoons, Horse and the New Model Army coat colours The Trained Bands London Trained Bands Auxiliary regiments Scarves   Same rules apply here, as they did with the Parliamentarian coat colours: Regiments often got renamed when command passed to a new colonel - these regiments are listed under their first name e.g. Jacob Astley's Regiment was originally Richard Fielding's Regiment. Coat colour notes refer to contemporaneous references and some of the deductions made by Reid, Spring,  Peachey and Prince. You will also notice that some regiments have several coat colours listed. Where there is some question around a coat colour I have t
Read more

Coat Colours Part 1: Parliamentarian Regiments of Foot

-
Image
When I first started my Civil War gaming project I relied upon the many ECW coat colour tables on wargaming websites. As my project has progressed, my library has got bigger, my research has gone back to primary sources rather than relying upon second and third hand sources; and I have noticed quite a few errors in these lists for wargamers. I have also noticed the same errors appearing in multiple lists.     As a result of continually seeing 'the London Trained Bands and their Auxiliaries wore red coats' (there is no evidence supporting this at all, the evidence, whilst not explicit suggests that the London Trained Bands wore civilian clothes - some of the Auxiliaries might have been issued with blue winter coats) I decided to write my own list.  So here it is. If your allegiance lies elsewhere you might want to look at  Introduction   Part 2  Royalist coat colours Part 3  Scots coat colours Part 3B  Montrose and the Irish Brigade Pa
Read more

Flags and Colours Part 2b: Evidence (Irish Confederacy)

-
Image
Irish flags... a conundrum. I knew that a number of flags were recorded, but without any reference to allocation to particular regiments. I also remember reading one internet reference that stated that each flag had two different sides. But I'd never come across the source material supporting this claim, or even a secondary source that described/illustrated the flags thus. Until now... But first a little bit of flag nomenclature (which if you want to impress people you can call vexillology). If you cut a flag down its middle and spread it out on a table, positioning the pole sleeve in the middle, the left hand side is the 'reverse' and the right hand side is the front of the flag, or 'obverse'. Regular readers, hello all twenty of you, will have realised that clothing issue 'floats my boat', I'm not really very good on flags. Most of my flag knowledge is gleaned from secondary sources, and the handful of more readily accessible primary sources.  The sour
Read more

Which Figures? Part 2b: True 15mm/Epic Compatibility - Foot

-
Image
My original Which Figures posts have grown exponentially, so much so that I decided to revise the information. For the full picture see:- Which Figures?   - the original post, where I ruminate about what I want from figures, and what led me to choose Peter Pig Which Figures? What is Available   - the state of play with current 'ECW' 15mm figure ranges; a continually updating look at what figures are available, and what is included/missing from ranges. Which Figures? Part 2a: Size Matters: Foot   - I take a look at what is available in 15/18mm and show side by side comparisons  Which Figures? Part 2b: True 15mm/Epic Compatibility: Foot   - a more in depth look at smaller 15mm compatibility Which Figures? Part 3a: Size Matters: Horses   - I take a look at what is available in 15/18mm and show side by side comparisons Which Figures? Part 3b: True 15mm/Epic Compatibility: Horses   - a more in depth look at smaller 15mm compatibility I had a little rummage in my spares box and found
Read more