The Sealed Knot in Mayfair 1970

Here from the October 1970 issue of Mayfair magazine is an article on the, then, relatively new English Civil War re-enactment society The Sealed Knot.  I have reproduced it in full and if you click on the images they should be readable!

The pictures in this article were taken by American photographer Philip O Stearns who was a Sealed Knot member himself.  He also took the pictures for my favourite wargaming book The War Game, which dates from the same year.  

Philip Olcott Stearns was born in Detroit in February 1917. The rather patrician Stearns attended the private Brooks School, in North Andover Massachusets, and then Princeton, where he was a successful rower. It was during his time at Princeton that he developed an interest in sculpting. He graduated with a degree in art and archaeology. During World War 2 he was based in the UK as a Captain in in the OSS (Office of Strategic Services; the precursor of the CIA) working with the French Resistance for which he was awarded the Croix de Guerre. He was a great collector of model soldiers and was also very involved in the early days of The Sealed Knot; the English Civil War re-enactment organisation. He took the photographs for many books on model soldiers and even wrote his own: How to Make Model Soldiers (1974). He was a successful photographer; taking a cover picture for Sports Illustrated in the 1950s, for example. Another of his books Six Nymphets (1966), is more appropriate to the work he did in the mid sixties and early seventies as Director of Photography for Bob Guccione's Penthouse and, indeed, many other mens' magazines in London, where he lived in a lavish flat in Mayfair. After he left Penthouse he went on to be editor of military history magazine Campaign. He died in February 2000, two days past his 83rd birthday, in Vermont. Interestingly, his death notice (paid for by his family) mentioned his interest in military miniatures and historical societies but didn't mention his photography at all!

Angela nearly reveals her demi-culverins

After Penthouse he moved on to work for Mayfair and took the cover photograph and centrefold pictorial for the very same issue in which the article on the Sealed Knot appears.

Amber Dean Smith wenches it up

He even managed to combine his two interests when he photographed the first ever Penthouse Pet of the Year, Amber Dean Smith (who appeared  as Warren Mitchell's girlfriend in Hammer's curious SF western Moon Zero Two (1969)) in a seventeenth century setting and period clothes for Mayfair in 1969.

The Battle of Farnham Castle

Parliament marches onto the field

Although I have been to one or two small (like an episode of Sharpe) Napolenic re-enactments at the local Painshill Park I haven't been to a big one so when I saw a note about The Sealed Knot being at Loseley Park this weekend (on The Wars of Louis Quatorze site-see link on the right) I decided to take my little boy Guy along.

Drummerettes!

In the morning there was a skirmish between a small Royalist and Parliamentarian force. They used the oportunity to demonstrate (rather well I thought) the roles of the different troops and weapons. One of the things that struck me straight away was how many women were in the different units. Not just wandering around in the background in 17th century frocks (although there were plenty of those) but with muskets and even pikes.

I was delighted to see that one of the units there represented The Tower Hamlets trained band with their distinctive colour bearing their motto 'Jehova Providebit' (God Will Provide). This is one of the two units of Civil War infantry I have painted so far and although they only saw action at Cropredy Bridge they can be used to represent any of the London trained bands, such as the three regiments which were present with Sir William Waller's force at Farnham Castle.

A royalist force representing Lord Hopton's army then marched down the hill (the field used for the re-enactment was a very good choice, giving good visibility).

n American reader commented on the Louis XIV site that some American Civil War re-enactors had been banned from using gunpowder as it scared the "gentle-folk", or some such politically correct nonsense. No shortage of gunpowder today, however, and Guy's grandmother didn't seem at all phased ("I lived through the Blitz this is just fireworks!").

In the afternoon, after a drill demonstation by The First Foot Guards from the Monmouth rebellion period and an enjoyable large skirmish from the Medieval Seige Society (more of which tomorrow) we had the "big battle".

By this time we were enjoying our hottest day of the year and it reached 25 degrees, meaning a lot of hard work for those members of the forces that had to supply on-field water. It started with a Royalist force marching down the hill to approach what were supposed to be the walls of Farnham Castle, Wallers HQ in 1643.

Waller's forces march out of the castle to meet the Royalists

The view from "Farnham Castle" up the hill where the Royalist army assembles

It wasn't long before there were hundreds of re-enactors on the field. Well over a thousand, I believe. Battle commenced and went on for over an hour.

A good push of pike

The man with the tabard with a cross on is one of The Sealed Knot's trained medics.

There were over a dozen artillery pieces in action

All in all a very enjoyable day although I feel a bit over-cooked tonight and feel I might need some cool Chardonnay! Guy loved it and I had to forcibly restrain him from joining the Blew Regiment of Foot there and then.