Category: Living History

Tentage

On By kittycalashIn Events, Living History, making things, Museums, Research
Scene of the Camp on Hampton Green, 1781
Scene of the Camp on Hampton Green, 1781

Like many other reenactors/living historians/suckers for wool in summer, I’ve been following the First Oval Office project with interest and envy. Imagine my delight upon finding this blog by Tyler Rudd Putman, who is working on that and many other projects of interest.
The common tent project l is one that I really do hope to take on someday, though I doubt I can ever achieve a tent of this level of quality. (Reader, I cannot weave.) But I can aspire, at the least, and I see that a hand-sewn tent is something even I can achieve. It won’t get done by me in just one day, but over the course of several weeks I could get one done as long as I cleared the downstairs of all our furniture, and put up with a cat sewn into a seam. (My assistant has been lying down on the job, melting in the heat.)

The Howling Assistant Lies Down on the Job

I’ve been thinking about tents since the after-dark hilarity at Monmouth setting up an unknown tent in the dark with a brittle pole that had to be repaired with string from a pasty wrapper, and the later perhaps over-zealous cleaning by Mr S of the tent abused by a cat and identified on the NJ turnpike’s extended play of “What the Hell’s that Smell?”

I’m not sure why we’re allowed to remain in our regiments, really, I am not. But I suspect that an ability to produce Chesire Pork pie is a factor in our favor.

We’ll be setting up tents at OSV in just about a week, broken pole and all, and looking ahead to that, I give you the following links for further reading on tents.

John U. Rees on tents in both armies of the Revolution.

How to fold a tent.

Period (British) images.

Even more documentaton: scrolling down, Rhode Islan had a return of 147 tents in May, 1781– that’s about 882 soldiers, at 6 men per tent, a max of 1029 at 7 men per tent. (At least one is always on duty, so there would not be more than 5 or 6 sleeping at any one time).

Amazing and image-rich essay, The Tent Article

Lochee, Essay on Castremetation, which I read and forget by the time it is dark and some man is trying to reason with me about how a camp should be arranged, when all I want to do is sleep. With that in mind, a brush arbor is starting to look good…

Flummery, and other flimsy excuses

On By kittycalashIn Food, Living History, making things2 Comments
Flummery, in Oest India bowls.

We did not go to Salem. If you were there, you already know this. Mr S was only willing to go up on Saturday, but I wanted to go on Sunday. After looking at the schedule, we couldn’t figure out why the Young Mr would ever want to go. A bored teenager is a terrible thing to be around. So what did we do instead?

We cleaned, for one thing. We laid in provisions, which disappear at an alarming rate each week. We went to the weird antique place and found a brass kettle and a copper skillet. We went to the lumberyard, twice, and bought lumber, once. We did several loads of laundry. (By now, I know you are incredibly jealous of this glamorous lifestyle; I assure you, it gets better.) I cleaned the bathrooms and replaced the shower curtain.

Served!

What incredible banality! But this is what the kid wants: weekends where we are home, cooking and cleaning and being normal. At a certain point, if I cannot figure out what he’ll do at an event and assure him that he will be busy, he does not want to go. (Not that I blame him, for I like to be busy as well.) So a weekend of normal, when we have drilling next week and OSV the next, is probably worth having, for family peace.

Of course, I’d rather be busy in another century, so I cleaned the tub early and moved on to more engaging tasks, flummery, for one.

The guys weren’t sure about this at first, but it is fabulous. It would make an excellent “blood” pudding for a vicious pirate banquet. The recipe is ridiculously easy.

Blackberry Flummery
4 Cups Blackberries
2/3 cup sugar (up to ¾ cup if you prefer sweeter)
½ cup hot water
Juice from ½ lemon, strained of seeds
½ cup cold water or milk
2 T corn starch (AKA corn flour if you’re not in the US; the fine white stuff)

Excellent with cream.

Wash the blackberries and put into a large saucepan with sugar and hot water over medium high heat. Bring to a soft boil and cook until the fruit is soft and falling apart.
Remove from heat, and push through a fine sieve with a spoon. Discard seeds and cores.

In a small bowl, whisk cornstarch into milk or water.

Return fruit to pan and place over heat, bringing to a soft boil again. Stir in cornstarch mixture until completely blended and fruit begins to thicken.

Slowly stir in lemon juice, taking care to keep fruit from thinning or thickening too much.
When blended, remove from heat.

Pour into 3 to 8 individual ceramic or glass serving dishes; portions will depend on audience.
Chill for at least two hours. Serve with whipped cream or yogurt.

Almost gone!

I made three servings, because I thought that was right, but I think six would have been better, based on intensity rather than richness. Not to worry: we ate it all.

Cooking this up is easy, but the blackberry mixture does have a tendency to get everywhere and make you and your kitchen look like your hobby is home butchery. Don’t wear white, and keep your sponge handy.

Washington’s Army En-scamp-ment

On By kittycalashIn Events, Living History, Reenacting2 Comments

It is known that the troops serving as the Army of Observation in the months after Lexington and Concord lacked discipline. General Washington found them sorely wanting when he took command of what became the Continental Army, superseding General Artemus Ward. You can read the measures Washington put in place here, from Artemus Ward’s orderly book in the collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

This lad became Washington’s Aide-de-camp, scampering out of trouble…barely….

When you have this kind of documentation, it makes recreating an event that much easier, and more fun. (We did note that sometimes striving for authenticity makes us behave very seriously; perhaps a little more fun is in order.)

Luckily for us, the Young Mr was assigned to be General Washington’s aide-de-camp. Aide-de-scamp would be more like it. He thoroughly enjoyed carrying the General’s equipment and accouterments, handling the items with obvious care and confusion–he was clearly impressed by what he was carrying, acted (rightly) as if he’d never seen things so fine, and then proceeded to place them carefully on the ground outside the general’s tent…respectful but not quite right, thus a little disappointing, but setting the proper tone.

After lunch, the sergeant standing guard caught the aide-de-camp stealing fruit from the general’s table. This made a fine show with the sergeant yelling at the aide-de-scamp and shaking him by the scruff of his jacket (the sergeant being shorter than the scamp). The scamp continued to eat the peach, but it was ripe, and part of it went flying off the pit, fortunately not into the sergeant’s face. All were pleased by this little scene, no one more than the scamp.

The Lexington Training Band was busted for card playing, and for drying their dirty laundry on the general’s tent. The scamp was accused of stealing stockings, and chased, in another very satisfying scene. Next weekend, he’ll have General Gage to reckon with. I expect to find him in irons.

Fun and Feasting in Cambridge

On By kittycalashIn Events, Food, Living History, Reenacting2 Comments

Well, we didn’t feast, it was too hot. But I helped make a feast. I didn’t document it with  photos because I didn’t think my companion would appreciate it. But here’s what we did.

General Washington was set to dine with the gentry, so a repast needed to be made. The captain’s wife volunteered to provide the meal and I served as scullery maid, a role I do find comfortable. (Anyone else identify with Daisy on Downton Abby? She’s the character I feel most like.)

The menu:

Salmagundi
Onion Pie
Bread & Cheese
Pickles
Fruit
Ratafia Cakes
Claret

We worked in the NPS staff kitchen in the carriage house behind Longfellow House: air conditioned, but the kitchen is in a former bathroom. Still, there was a sink and some counter space, so we were set.

A salmagundi is a kind of mixed salad, by which I do not mean tossed. It is perhaps most similar to a chopped, layered salad today. Colonial Williamsburg has an adaptation here, and that formed the basis of our creation.

We used one bag of pre-washed leaf lettuce, one roasted chicken (I did not have to rip it up! I got to chop eggs instead), two tins of anchovies, a medium ham, a lemon, etc. Although we had wooden bowls for prep work, we ran out of places to put the chopped ingredients, so ended up using the NPS staff containers from the dish drainer. With a glass full of egg yolk, a bulk food container of egg white, a black plastic dish of ham and a plastic water cup of anchovies arranged on the crowded sink, we achieved a workable if slightly bizarre mise en place.

What’s astonishing is how much space all that food takes up. You think it’s not enough when it’s contained, but get it on a platter and wow! That’s a shockingly large amount of food. The captain and his wife will be enjoying that salmagundi all week, I fear.

The onion pie was pre-baked from the CW recipe as well. I favor Chesire Pie, and know it is a unit favorite (since four of us devoured one for breakfast at Monmouth…mmmm, pie….)

The pickles were amazing! Made from a 1747 Hannah Glasse recipe, pickled cucumber slices are pretty simple. You may, of course, wish to reduce the quantities:

“To pickle large cucumbers in ſlices. TAKE the large cucumbers before they are too ripe, ſlice them the thickneſs of crown pieces in a pewter-diſh ; to every dozen of cucumbers ſlice two large onions thin, and ſo on till you have filled your diſh, with a handful of ſalt between every row : then cover them with another pewter-diſh, and let them ſtand twenty-flour hours, then put them in a cullender, and let them drain very well ; put them in a jar, cover them over with white wine vinegar, and let them ſtand flour hours ; pour the vinegar from them into a copper ſauce-pan, and boil it with a little ſalt ; put to the cucumbers a little mace, a little whole pepper, a large race of ginger ſliced, and then pour the boiling vinegar on. Cover them cloſe, and when they are cold, tie them down. They will be fit to eat in two or three days.”

Read more at Celtnet: http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/glasse-of-pickling-14.php
Copyright © celtnet

Ratafia cakes are funny little things. I only had one, when they came back from the table (I did mention Daisy, right?) but I might try them. They are not ideal for camp eating–in fact, they would be downright inappropriate–mostly because they are rather fragile and travel poorly.

The rest of us–the privates and sergeant and the Young Mr, who was playing Washington’s aide de camp as a young scamp–ate bread and cheese and fruit in the shade of a tree. It was too hot to eat much.