16 Knights to Remember
Knights to Remember
by Keith Kellett
March 1st is St. David’s Day. On that day, Welsh people wear leeks or daffodils in honour of their Patron Saint. Seventeen days later, it’s St. Patrick’s day, when the Irish wear shamrock, do some singing and dancing, and drink lots of Guinness.
England has a Patron Saint, too. But it’s hard to understand why St. George was chosen for the office, rather than a home-grown Saint like Aidan, Cuthbert or Hilda. If George existed at all, he was a Greek, who supposedly slew a dragon in Libya. This could be why not a great deal, apart from flying the flag from the church, usually happens on April 23rd, his day.
England doesn’t seem to be very keen on festivals of any kind, for which most people blame Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans of the 17th Century. They thought fun of any kind was sinful, and even tried to ban Christmas!
There have been attempts in some parts of the country to ‘get something going’ in honour of the Saint, but sadly, all too often, it becomes a tacky part of some middle-class bucolic fantasy, in which everyone’s the Squire, and nobody wants to be the serfs.
Salisbury celebrates St. George’s Day with a visit by the Dragon. Although he starts his tour, appropriately enough, in the Old George Mall, it does seem to me a little bit like celebrating Trafalgar Day by dressing up as Napoleon’s navy. I mean, the dragon’s supposed to be the representation of evil; he’s the Bad Guy, for goodness sake!
Up at Old Sarum, the castle outside the city, they sometimes have the Mediaeval Knights. They are genuine enough … or, at least, as authentic as painstaking research can make them.
Three mediaeval societies came the first year I visited. Conquest, The Troop and the Harlech Mediaeval Society (who, being from Wales, would presumably have rooted for the Dragon!) were all at pains to explain that 12th Century warfare wasn’t as Malory, Tennyson or Sam Goldwyn would have us believe. It wasn’t just about smiting a couple of churls with the broadsword then hey, nonny for a stoup of ale and then chase the wenches round the tavern.
It was serious stuff, in which participants were in grave danger of getting terminally dismembered, disembowelled, decapitated… or any combination of all three. Even a modern demonstration of the techniques isn’t without its dangers, hence the unobtrusive presence of the descendants of the Knights of another saint … the St. John Ambulance Brigade!
Chivalry? You’ve been reading too much of that Round Table stuff, Sir Knight! We don’t do that here!
Contrary to the Hollywood interpretation, anything went. Two on one, one against many, striking a man while he was down, attacking from behind and even running away were all acceptable!
What the knights … and their ladies… aimed to show us was the dress, armour and weaponry of the time when Sarum first became a Royal castle, during the Anarchy, a troubled 20-year period following the death of Henry I in 1135. This was the time when the throne was disputed between Henry’s daughter, Matilda and his nephew, Stephen of Blois, a time of skirmishes and minor battles, some of which may have taken place at Sarum.
Away from the knightly pageantry, a duo called Hautbois performed carefully researched music and songs of the period in a covered wagon … and here, surprisingly, is something the film-makers do sometimes get right!
It might not have had a lot to do with St. George, but it was good, instructive fun. In the true English tradition, the event didn’t take place on St. George’s Day itself, but on the previous week-end. And, in the true English tradition, it rained!
