The Medieval Free Company (by the Legendary Ten Seconds)

THE MEDIEVAL FREE COMPANY AT BUCKLAND ABBEY AUGUST 2015

On a Bank Holiday Monday, 31^st August 2015, I visited Buckland Abbey near Plymouth where a Wars of the Roses re-enactment group who call themselves The Medieval Free Company had set up their encampment. Buckland Abbey is a National Trust property which was founded by Cistercian monks in the 13^th century and was at one time the home of Sir Francis Drake. The former Abbey was the perfect setting for the medieval encampment with the tents of the Medieval Free Company set up next to a fabulous Great Barn.

The Medieval Free Company specialise in the recreation of a group of mercenaries during the Wars of the Roses and include a basket maker, scribe and cooks alongside archers and men at arms. They are led by a landless “hedge” knight. Members of the public are allowed to have free access to walk around the medieval camp site and ask questions. I chatted to the scribe who told me that one could correct an error whilst writing on a sheet of parchment by using a knife to scrape off the mistake.

I watched two fabulous displays of archery and we were informed that the archers were using longbows with a draw weight of about 40 lbs whereas the English longbow used in the 14^th and 15^th centuries would have had a much heavier draw weight. One could only imagine how strong the archers must have been to be able to use the longbows with a heavy draw weight. The archers were timed to see how many arrows they could fire in one minute and one of the archers managed fourteen. Just imagine how many sheaths of arrows would have been used in a medieval battle and the devastation that would have been caused by the medieval equivalent of a machine gun.

Towards the end of the afternoon the group of reenactors put on a medieval fashion show describing their clothes and the materials that had been used to make them. We were informed that the white undergarments could be cleaned by soaking them in urine and then rinsing in water.

Information about the Medieval Free Company can be found on their website:- http://www.medievalfreeco.org.uk/

THE MEDIEVAL FREE COMPANY

Intro

Dm, C, Dm

Dm, A

 

Verse

Dm, C, Dm

Dm, C, Am

Dm, C, Dm

Dm, C, Am, Dm

 

Chorus

Gm,        F,     C,           Dm

 

The medieval free company

 

C, Dm, C, Dm

Gm,        F,     C,           Dm

 

The medieval free company

C, Dm, A

 

Middle bit

Gm, C, Dm, Gm, Am, Dm, Gm, C, Dm, F, A, F, A

 

FOR HIRE WE ARE IN THIS LAND

AND OUR HEDGE KNIGHT HE DOES COMMAND

OF ARCHERY A FINE DISPLAY

YES WE WILL SHOW THROUGHOUT THE DAY

 

OUR CAMP SITE YOU MAY LOOK AROUND

SUCH WONDROUS ITEMS TO BE FOUND

HAND CRAFTED WITH ALL SKILL AND CARE

OUR MASTER SCRIBE WRITES OVER THERE

 

DIVERS ARCHERS, MEN AT ARMS

FOR ADVENTURE LEFT THEIR FARMS

SEE THAT LORD HE LOOKS SO HANDSOME

WILL HIS FAMILY PAY THE RANSOM

 

MERCENARIES ONE AND ALL

WARS OF THE ROSES WE RECALL

OUR LANDLESS KNIGHT HE LEADS US WELL

AS DAYLIGHT FADES WE BID FAREWELL