Comitatus at Wallington

[John Conyard]

For me the best bit about events is the evening campfire listening to stories. But occasionally some martial feat, generally a lucky hit, makes me smile and I remember the moment for some time. There were two spine tingling moments at Wallington.

My Deurne helmet reduces visibility and hearing. When it goes on I sort of “lock down” for the next 40 minutes and I live in a world of my own. When doing horse archery at the show my horse was generally a pleasure, so I was acting up for the crowd. The arena was laid out so you presented to one side, but in reality people were crammed in around three sides of it, even trying to watch the show through the tented encampment. After taking a shot I rode close to the ropes behind our tents and to the watching public I appeared out of nowhere riding at speed, with no reins, waving a bow around at them. They made a collective sound somewhere between a cheer and a gasp which I could clearly hear even inside my helmet. A magic spontaneous moment.

The second moment was when tacking up the hoses on the last day. Our paddock was a few hundred meters away, with lots of trees and buildings between us and the arena. Yet you could clearly hear the crowd noise and their applause while the arena was prepared for the last cavalry show. The sound came and went in waves, heightening our sense of excitement, and the horses picked it up as well. Great stuff.

Jurjen, what sort of crowd numbers do you get for your European festivals? In the UK each group generally does its own events but there are now lots of multi-period events. In general a small event in the UK would get a few hundred visitors. A top Roman event would get over 1,000 visitors. A Roman event on a bank holiday at a big venue such as a castle or country house could get over 4,000. Put that venue near the coast on a sunny weekend and we have performed to over 6,000. In the UK have a long history of weekend re-enactment, and we are beginning to get the hang of short 30 minute educational exciting professional displays to entertain maximum numbers in a very controlled way. The American National Park Service documents on interpretation are well worth a read, and their American Civil War events leave me amazed, for all sorts of reasons. Can you give us a european overview, and when shall we bring our horses over

Another shot of Byron!