Friday 13 July 2012

English Civil War flags - Royalist Infantry 1

I've done a fair number of WSS flags for commissions recently, which takes us back to the very early 18th century, and as I've a large collection of unpainted 15mm English Civil War figures I've decided to head even further back into the mid-17th century and make some ECW flags in the hope I might one day get round to painting my ECW armies. (As I've had the figures over 27 years that is probably, to use a 17th century phrase, a forlorn hope - but you never know...)

These are two infantry colours carried by the small Royalist infantry regiment of Colonel Francis Cooke. The unit was probably raised in 1643 in the south-west and it fought at Cheriton, Cropredy Bridge, Lostwithiel and 2nd Newbury. Three colours for the unit were recorded by Symonds at the Aldbourne Chase muster in April 1644, suggesting the unit counted 3 companies (at one flag per company), and these flags represent two of those. Cooke was captured in Salisbury in December 1644. He also raised a small cavalry unit. (Most information from Stuart Reid's invaluable series of booklets "Officers and Regiments of the Royalist Army", Partisan Press. On infantry colours of the ECW, "E.C.W. Flags and Colours: 1: English Foot" by Stuart Peachey and Les Prince, also Partisan Press, is an excellent summary and assessment of all the reliable sources of material.)

The material of these often short-lived infantry flags of the ECW was usually taffeta or sarcenet, a soft silk cloth, probably of lighter bulk than 18th century flags and less durable. I've experimented a good deal with trying to make the flags seem more "see through" than 18th century flags but am still not entirely happy with the results. Anyway, this is where I've arrived with them at the moment and at the price people can't really complain. :-)

12 comments:

  1. David,

    The ECW continues to intrigue me (although I do NOT have any figures) . . . so please continue posting flags as it may encourage me to commit to the period.


    -- Jeff

    PS, I wish that you didn't have the "verification" set on . . . those things are very annoying (and often unreadable).

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  2. Hi Jeff,

    Thanks for the comment; hope you are feeling much better now and that improvement continues. Yes, I'll continue to post ECW flags as they're actually (potentially) of use to me too. :-) Hope they help you decide whether or not to take the plunge on the ECW. I still think it's a fascinating period with interesting characters - and I can find the battlefields and otehr places where it happened on my doorstep too, which really helps. :-)

    I've changed the verification to off now - hadn't realised it was set. I suspect Google keep changing things behind my back - certainly the settings menus always seem different every time I look!

    Cheers,

    David.

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  3. Gladto see your still kicking...

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  4. Hi Bill,

    Thanks; yes, just about. Hope all's well with you.

    All the best,

    David.

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  5. Fantastic Flags! I love your sight, uniform work, and "newly" crowned kingdoms.
    As a maker of wooden soldiers, 7yw is something I am taking a keen look into.
    Cheers, thanks for the inspiration.

    Thoms Foss
    www.skullandcrown.blogspot.com

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  6. Thanks, Ray. I'm stil working on alternative ways of depcting ECW flags - not entirely happy with this version but...

    Cheers,

    David.

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  8. Hi Thomas,

    Thank you. I'm glad my blog interests and inspires you. I love your blog with your tremendous wooden figures - very much like those splendid 19th century paper figures from Strasbourg but much more durable! Very creative. It's a lot more exciting than just painting someone else's figures. :-)

    I hope you do branch out into SYW figures - although the Napoleonic ones do take some beating as they're so aesthetically pleasing. If I can help with e.g. information on the SYW, do let me know.

    Cheers,

    David.

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  9. Ahoy David- I appreciate your comments about my Wooden Wars, and will gladly take you up on that offer of information. &yrs wars has the added aesthetic of (as you have pointed out in your blog) a vast multitude of colors and uniforms under one pattern.

    I'm currently working on flags for my soldiers and would love to pick your brain, or just plain commission you.

    Please to ping me off blog At
    foss1066@yahoo.com

    Cheers, and regards,
    Thomas

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  11. Now I've switched verification off I'm getting lots of spam so I'm afraid it will have to go back on again.

    Cheers,

    David.

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Saturday 6th June 2020 I've decided to allow comments from Anonymous Users but I'll still be moderating posts, as I'm sure the spam will probably flood in now! We'll see...