A Glimpse into the Past part II

Me on the butts in 2003 - my costume's pretty shabby. Wouldn't be accepted these days!

As you stroll about the manor, you will pass a variety of people. Some are modernfolk, come to observe and enjoy being immersed in living history. Others are common Tudors about their daily work - perhaps young men carting a load of wood to the bake house, a woman gathering herbs to make a poultice in the still room, or maybe some players leading a merry dance in the courtyard. Everyone has a role to play - sotlers making the noonday meal, spinners turning fleeces into wool for cloth, dyers with their vast bubbling pots, felters, potters, swordsmen, farmers, a family in the cotte looking after their young childer, basket weavers, bakers, brewers, archers, players, dairymaids, still room attendants, cooks in the grand kitchen, ladies creating the sweetmeats, a scribe, an apothecary, and of course the grand gentlefolk; the Lords and Ladies resplendent in silks and velvets - every aspect of the manor is represented and works in harmony, weaving together an incredibly rich tapestry of 16th century life.

When the gates are closed, the merriment continues, often long into the night. The memory is hazy now, but I think my favourite evening was when we celebrated one of the feast days with a massive bonfire; flames licking the sky, and many shouts of 'huzzah!'.

During the recreations, we speak in Tudor English; lots of yea, nay, thee, thou, and mayhap! The toilets are the jakes, littlies are childer, and we talk about things being 'many summers ago'. It became second nature for me, as I think it does for everyone, to the point where it slips into everyday language when the punters have long gone and we are relaxing in the evenings. I've had regular folk tell me that when they have visited they feel a little awkward conversing and being responded to in old English - although it makes the experience more authentic, they feel as though they should reply in kind. I tell them not to worry - personally I scarcely notice I am talking 'strangely'!