Our History project has been coming along slowly but surely, with field trips stacking up ready for future weeks, but Kentwell was a field trip whose timing could not be changed, even though it meant a jump forward by 1500 years! Michaelmas is the only Tudor event which fits into the time L is with us, so Michaelmas was when we had to go.
Kfish has been a page at the last few summer events and thought that this might be a good option for L too, since he would be able to follow along with other pages and have a pattern to copy and a clear routine to follow. It also meant that being French would not be an issue, since he could be some hopeful scion visiting the family. The final deciding factor was that K’s old plain black doublet and hose fitted him well and would be suitable for a page in lieu of house livery.
There were three pages most days and four on at least one, so they were more a chapter than a book, but enough to have fun together and keep busy. They spent some time policing the maze, guiding groups round the house, running errands round the estate and accompanying gentlefolk on strolls. They also played chess (Tudor rules, obviously) and even went punting, and a bonus for L was that gentry food includes large quantities of meat 😉
Meanwhile Lfish was also in the house, mostly singing, dancing or playing the viol, all of which suited her very well.Bob and Jfish were with the alchemists, which J has decided might be something he would like to do for longer next time. Afish and I were down to be pedlars, but Afish defected to the cotte for the weekend and then came and peddled on Monday only.I think the cotte feels like a second home to her now, since she has spent two or three weeks there every summer of her life 🙂
We had to leave in a bit of a hurry on the Monday to get Lfish and Kfish to string orchestra and Jfish home in time for his English session, which meant an early and organised start to get the tents down and then a fairly agonising wait while the last school party took their time at the market, dallied by the front gate and finally left!
I’ve suggested that the children write up their three days of being Tudor and put it into their project folders, then we can see if we can fill the gap between Bronze Age and Tudor before L goes back to France. It may be a bit of a romp through the centuries, but it’s good to have a goal!
