A LIVING HISTORY BLOG.

18TH CENTURY LIVING HISTORY IN AUSTRALIA.

Sunday 31 December 2017

Memory of Cornish coast dwellers kidnapped for slavery 'culturally erased'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/30/memory-cornish-coast-dwellers-kidnapped-slavery-culturally-erased/

Wilderness Camping & Safety. FIRE.



 Any fire small or large, day or night has the potential to attract unwanted guests, so an all night fire is going to at least double that risk. Raiders are opportunists & a fire glowing in the night or the smell of smoke will draw them like ants to honey. Because I am a living historian, my historical treks have to be as authentic as possible. Now even today there are risks in camping out, but back in the 18th century those risks were far greater, so I set myself scenarios. Some nights I have camped with no fire, this requires knowledge of how to stay alive in winter with little bedding, because bedding is bulky & adds weight to your pack. It also requires knowledge regarding what foods to carry, because with no fire, you can not cook food, so you need to carry some food that can be eaten without having to cook it.

Other nights I do light a small fire in a fire hole. This is a scrape in the ground to contain the fire surrounded by rocks back & sides. The heat reflects off the rocks back into my shelter, & they help hide the fire from prying eyes. But a small fire does not last long once I have fallen asleep, & at some time in the night the cold will wake me & I will stoke the fire from my supplies under cover behind my bed & from a supply of wood at the end of my shelter. Despite the fact that I am always mindful & therefore alert to sounds in the forest, this waking up from the cold is for me a security measure. It is an opportunity to look & listen to the sounds around me before I make up my mind as to whether or not I should re light or stoke the fire.

If I had placed a large log on the fire to keep it going all night I would probably sleep soundly, certainly I would not be waking frequently because of the chill seeping through my bedding. This would create a security risk, one because as I have already said, the fire would be noticeably visible from a distance at night, & secondly because I would not be so alert. Just something for you to think about next time you are camping out & practicing your skills.
Keith.


Friday 22 December 2017

Monday 18 December 2017

Xmas Wishes to All.

David Jacobson Selling Christmas Trees.

My wife & I do not celebrate Xmas, preferring to celebrate Winter Solstice. But I know many of you do celebrate Xmas especially when you have young children in the family. So from me to you, wherever you are, I wish you all the very best for this Xmas season & the coming new year.
Sincere regards, Keith.


I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my followers & visitors for sticking with me all these years. My thanks too for all the comments & the helpful information & corrections to my posts. Very much appreciated.
Keith.


Sunday 17 December 2017

17C American Women: 1629 The Countryside in New England

17C American Women: 1629 The Countryside in New England: A Short and True Description of New England by the Rev. Francis Higginson, written in 1629  Printed for Michael Sparke, London, 1630. ...

Friday 15 December 2017

17C American Women: 1629 Song birds & "strange fowls" in New England

17C American Women: 1629 Song birds & "strange fowls" in New England: A Short and True Description of New England by the Rev. Francis Higginson, 1629 Francis Higginson (1588-1630) was an early Puritan mini...

Australian Survival and Preppers..: How to join the fight to save your way of life

Australian Survival and Preppers..: How to join the fight to save your way of life: http://www.sportingshooter.com.au/gun-law/how-to-join-the-fight-to-save-your-way-of-life-the-loose-cannon?utm_medium=email&utm_campai...



This applies to muzzle-loader gun owners too. Muzzle-loading guns as far as the government is concerned are the same as breach-loading guns, all are bundled in together. You can own an antique flintlock but are not allowed to shoot it. The government does not class ALL flintlocks as being the same! You can not own a replica flintlock pistol unless you have an "H" class license, & even then the only place you can shoot it is on a club range with club membership.



Our law makers are totally ignorant when it comes to firearms. We need to ALL pull together & fight this injustice.

Keith.

Thursday 14 December 2017

Survival Prepper Forum



I am constantly looking for a decent Australian survival forum, so far no luck. The Australian survival forums I have found so far are no better than the American ones. America is different from Australia in many ways, so the discussions on those forums are not of much use if you live in Australia or the UK. Australian forums have other problems, the forum managers & moderators are slack & do not control the forum members when they get out of line. The other factor with Australian forums is that they often look at someone's post, but do not comment. It does not take much to comment, preferably a nice comment. Fair enough if you think the post is totally pointless, just say nothing or politely point out where you think they are wrong. But to say nothing when in fact it was a good post is not very encouraging for the person who made the post.

Anyway, not commenting can be a problem on all forums, but some forums are better than others. I decided to register on two forums, one is an American forum on which I am a moderator, & the other is a UK forum on which I am a forum manager https://www.preppersforum.uk/  I find that on this UK forum we have more in common than any American one. For the most part members are friendly & the managers & moderators do a good job of keeping spammers out & controlling disagreeable people.

Anyway, if you are in Australia or America or the UK & are looking for a decent survival prepper forum, come & check this one out. Frankly I could do with a few more Aussies on this forum!

Regards, Keith. 

Wednesday 13 December 2017

17C American Women: 1629 Native Americans in early New England

17C American Women: 1629 Native Americans in early New England: A Short and True Description of New England by the Rev. Francis Higginson, written in 1629  Printed for Michael Sparke, London, 1630. F...

Thursday 23 November 2017

New 18th Century Living History Forum. NECLHG Group Forum. Australia.

Well this new forum seems to be a goer, we have transferred a lot of the information/posts from the old forum & we already have new members. There are several moderators on this forum to make sure you have a pleasant time learning & sharing. Although the group is based in New England NSW Australia, this forum is open to members worldwide.

You will find this forum here: http://neclhg.freeforums.net/

History in my Wardrobe: Balmoral Bonnet

History in my Wardrobe: Balmoral Bonnet: Balmoral Bonnet in the Charles Wade Collection at Berrington Hall, UK. National Trust SNO 1228 Two-colour diced band in process ...

Monday 20 November 2017

Group Forum Moving to a New Site. Please sign up for membership.

As many of you may have realised by now our group forum was taken over by Tapatalk, since then I have had a lot of problems, & the HELP at tapatalk is non existent. SO, I checked with other members on this forum & we decided to move to another site.

There are years of information on this present site which we don't want to lose if we can help it, a lot of work has gone into this site by a lot of present members. If you are still interested in this group/forum, then please go to our new forum & sign up for membership http://neclhg.freeforums.net/ . Some of you have been made Moderators on this present forum, obviously you do not have to accept & if this is the case please let me know. I will need help transferring all the posts from this forum to the new forum, but I know this will not happen overnight, & some of you may simply not have the time to spare to help.

If individuals could copy & paste their own posts to the new forum, this would be very much appreciated. If you are unable to help. then the Moderators & myself will do the best we can. Please check out the new forum, it does not look the same as this one, but I hope that we will have less problems with it.
Regards, Keith.

Thursday 16 November 2017

History in my Wardrobe: Australian Cabbage Tree Hat

History in my Wardrobe: Australian Cabbage Tree Hat: Last weekend the Earthly Delights Historic Dance Academy in Canberra hosted a Cabbage Tree Hat workshop with Sue and Don Brian. Sue and Don...

Saturday 11 November 2017

The Modern Reenactor: If you would not be forgotten...

The Modern Reenactor: If you would not be forgotten...: Following Benjamin Franklin's advice, I thought I'd write something that might be worth the reading. In his Poor Richard's Alman...

Wednesday 1 November 2017

17C American Women: New England's 1656 Witch Trial

17C American Women: New England's 1656 Witch Trial: History of Witches and Wizards, 1720 Trials for witchcraft in New England did not begin in 1692.  In The Salem Witch Trials: a Reference...

Monday 30 October 2017

The Whetting Stone.



18th century whetstones Nottingham University Museum Photo Robin Aldworth.

The Whetting Stone.
Whet means sharp, so by definition if a blade has been sharpened, it has been whetted. If you are sharpening a blade, then you are whetting that blade.
Keith.

“The language surrounding so called oilstones is very misleading. First off, there’s no such thing as an “oilstone.” Long ago, these abrasive stones were simply called whetstones. “Whetting” was the period word for “sharpening” and it had nothing to do with applying liquid to a rock”. https://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/what-is-an-oilstone-2


whet
 (redirected from whetting)
Also found in: ThesaurusIdioms.
whet
  (wÄ•t, hwÄ•t)
tr.v. whet·ted, whet·ting, whets
1. To sharpen (a knife, for example); hone.
2. To make more keen; stimulate: The frying bacon whetted my appetite.
n.
Something that whets the appetite or desire.


[Middle English whetten, from Old English hwettan.]

18th century whetting and polishing machine.

Re-enactment group brings 18th century Scottish highlands to Colchester County


Anyone interested in learning more about Gallus Gael can contact James Finnie at jacobitejames@hotmail.com

Tuesday 24 October 2017

Sunday 1 October 2017

British Museum Shot Pouch. Undated!


 Museum number
Am1991,09.4
Full: Front
Rectangular flat pouch or bag, with strap, fingerwoven of wool. The flat bag is constructed from one or two pieces of red wool plaited cloth, with a central resist [undyed] paler horizontal stripe across the front. The vertical edges include black wool.


Rectangular flat pouch or bag, with strap, fingerwoven of wool. The flat bag is constructed from one or two pieces of red wool plaited cloth, with a central resist [undyed] paler horizontal stripe across the front. The vertical edges include black wool, with a line of opaque white beads and stitching in a brown vegetal thread. The bottom seam also includes stitching in a brown vegetal thread, with a line of quill wrapped wool fringing, each ending in a red hair filled metal comb, the colour of the quills being alternating black and white bands. The front of the bag is further decorated, just above the resist dyed strip, with a further fringe similar to that at the bottom. Woven into the front of the bag is a geometric design in irregular opaque white beads: two vertical lines of chevrons, with a double zig zag line up the centre and single zig-zag lines up both vertical edges. The points of the chevrons face downwards. The back and less faded side of the bag is decorated with a double row, vertical, each of butterfly-like geometric designs, each row being 3 high; the vertical seams each have rows of five small diamonds. All the patterns are in the same opaque white glass beads. The top of the bag is edged with green tape, enclosed in lines of white beads, back and front. The bag is lined with a coarse reddish manufactured cloth. // The strap is also plaited, in two greenish colours, that at the edge being slightly yellower than the reddish green colour of the body of the strap. The strap is attached by sewing with the brown vegetable thread at the two top corners of the pouch opening. The strap finishes on both sides with a plaited wool fringe, on the left [from the front] with six plaits, and on the right with five plaits. Woven into these plaits or braids are white beads, incorporating slightly darker green wool. The main body of the strap incorporates in the weaving a diamond pattern of white beads, with along the slightly contrasting colour edges, rows of white beads, at the absolute edge and at the boundary between the two colours. Repairs to the beadwork seem to have been carried out with this darker green wool.


Wednesday 20 September 2017

The Flintlock Fusil.

Help Dave get his guns back


David Dunstan is a farmer from the NSW town of Bungowannah. 

At 3:30am on Thursday 14th September, a man armed with a knife and piece of wood knocked on his back door.

David grabbed his unloaded 22 rifle to confront him - aware that the man had earlier confronted one if his neighbours who scared him off with a hockey stick. Dave managed to convince the man to sit in his car and drive him to the police station, while his wife called the police.

The police met David halfway down his driveway and placed his unwelcome guest under arrest.

The problem is, the police paid David another visit later in the morning to take his guns off him!

We've been working with David to try and see what can be done.  So we're starting this campaign to help him hire a lawyer who specialises in NSW firearms legislation to get his guns back.

We'd like to go further - we reckon he should be compensated for the loss of his firearms, not for his benefit, but to make a stand against this type of treatment by NSW Police.

So please help our campaign to help David get the legal representation he needs - and score a win on behalf of all shooters.
Help spread the word!

Saturday 16 September 2017