Keep Your Powder Dry

It all began in a car park in Macclesfield about 40 years ago. A Saturday shopping trip to Treacle Town started a fascination with events 350 years (or so) ago that has lasted a lifetime. So it's all the Sealed Knot's fault. Or the ECWS. One of the two. Under my dad's Vauxhall Viva windscreen wiper was a flyer for a battle reenactment at Lyme Park. Much to my father's chagrin (he hated anyone fiddling with his car, and believe me putting anything under his wiper blade was very much in the 'fiddling' category) a 9 year old me was fixated with the imagery used, which led to "mum, dad, can we go please?" Needless to say we did go to the reenactment, and I loved every minute of it. The imagery used was the Battle of Naseby engraving (Streeter's Plan), the representation of the troops was right up a 9 year old's street, and has stayed with me ever since. A brief dalliance with 1/300th Heroics and Ros ECW figures (very badly painted) in the ...

Welcome to 'Keep Your Powder Dry'.  This blog is my way of storing a load of information that I have found whilst researching my British Civil War 15mm wargames armies.  It is no way exhaustive, nor do I claim that it will be completely definitive. I expect to make errors, if you spot one please tell me.  This blog is mainly a lesson in self-indulgence: it is mine, and it is primarily for me. But I do of course welcome visitors, and if it helps you out then I consider that a bonus. Why is it called 'Keep Your Powder Dry'? There is a maxim often attributed to Oliver Cromwell ("put your trust in God and keep your powder dry") in a whole host of situations. The first time he was alleged to have said it to his soldiers was at Edgehill, only he arrived too late for the battle, indeed if he arrived at all. The words first make their way in to print in 1834; the poem 'Oliver's Advice' appeared in the Dublin University Magazine, and was penned by Fitz ...