archery

[Kineas]

I really look forward to your posts, John. That was excellent.

I echo that everyone should try it...

[nikolaos]

Great shot, and a beautiful horse John. But why are your eyes closed?

Have fun!
Cole

[John Conyard]

I'm enjoying a zen-like moment Or just looking down while nocking an arrow on the string.

The location is Sewerby Hall on the East coast. A great spot, with an arena full of trees. Each rider plans their own route to the target, trying to avoid anything green and static. The horse was going through a stage of gorging himself on grass, so was fenced off most of the time to stop him over eating. He was feeling hungry because every time I dropped the reins he took the opportunity to stop and eat. Not very heroic, but very real.

[nikolaos]

Very nice again!

Have fun!
Cole

[Kineas]

right, that's it. I'm moving to the North of England.

[nikolaos]

Or at least visiting soon

Cole

[John Conyard]

Gentlemen, you would be more than welcome. Indeed we hope to start a Comitatus "cell" in the USA, and this weekend we have some American colleagues coming to stay for a few days.

Archery should be an important part of any late Roman display. It think I'm being scrupulously fair when I say Comitatus puts on the most entertaining and educational late Roman shows by a country mile. A coherent ethos underpins the display. There are no pretend fights and nobody falls over dead. But we do put on various professional 30 minute displays that are entertaining, funny, educational and exciting. That's an easy package to sell to clients.

Reading your posts you both evince much of the same ethos and a huge amount of enthusiasm which I find refreshing and inspiring. If you don't move to Yorkshire I'm emigrating to Canada. I suspect you are providing the enthusiasm to boost my own Greek research.

Just to make sure we are "on topic", Cole, you've got me reading Arabic sources on horse archery. Why have I never studied this before? Five arrows delivered in two and a half seconds is a common quote. I'd be lucky to do two arrows in ten seconds from a war bow on a horse, and I would drop the third on the floor. I think we need to practice more.

[nikolaos]

John,

Thanks so much for your kind words!

Sadly my work trip to the UK is off due to the financial climate, and personal travel is taking us to Finland this year. But I suspect we'll be back before long. The Landmark Trust catalog is a frequent bedside reader at home, and I'll make sure to look at locations in the North more carefully

And should you ever find yourself in Toronto we'd be more than happy to make you feel welcome!

On archery (to stay on topic , there are indeed a number of great sources out there from the middle ages. The topic does also mind me to start shooting again. Its been a long time...

Have fun!
Cole