Newsletter Number 70

October 2001

From The Sergeant Major

Dear All

  Welcome to the latest edition of Hopton's Newsletter.

  With the season now at an end, on behalf of all the officers I would like to say "Thank You" to everyone who supported the Regiment (and the Army) at the events in what has been a difficult season. Hopefully the twin wishes of "No More Nasty Countryside Problems" and "More Major Musters" will come to pass next year!

  Many thanks for all those "good wishes" that Cathy and I have had on ourengagement, although I must point out that I did not get engaged to Martin Potter's new wife Catherine, but a different Cathryn!

  On a more serious note, Cathy would also like to thank all those who sent their wishes following her accident at Corfe. The consequences of the fall were more serious than first though, resulting in over a fortnight's stay at Bournemouth Hospital. Thankfully she is progressing well, and should be home by the time you read this.

Two more of our members are also unfortunately ill at present, so I hope you will join with me in wishing a speedy recovery to Mike Sturdy and Graham (Bomber) Bush, who have both had stays in hospital.

  Looking forward, Whitehall is on the agenda for next January as usual, and if I don't see you before then Merry Christmas!

  Martin.

  Editorial

  By the time you come to read this the season would have been all but over and despite the gloom and doom merchants telling us that the season would be absolutely dire with hardly any events, it has turned out to be not as bad as forecast, thankfully. The one point of regret is the lack of major events that is needed as a much-needed source of income for the society as a whole, but that apart we have survived. Hopefully both Tilford and the Worcester event managed to be good enough to make you want to come back for another season of skirmishing, socialising and sinking numerous pints.

  And then of course Corfe Castle. Jesus! Do I love that place? Has the weather ever been bad? Has the beer ever run dry? Has the atmosphere ever been beaten? Our living history grows in confidence every time we go to Corfe and this year with the profit from the beer tent we actually bought the benches that were in use. Something which can be used at all living history in the future, and starting a trend that could make our living history self financing.

  I always look forward to Corfe more than anything, it just seems to have that certain Je ne sais pas that other events just don’t seem to have. Especially as we do it every year. So roll on next May and we can do it all again, and all things being equal it must be our turn to be close to the gate!!!!!!!!!!!

Although at the time of writing it hasn’t been ratified by George (so the next sentence could go completely out of the window), I intend to publish the newsletter six times a year but at slightly different times. This is not in any way a negation of my duties nor is it a cave in to the many members who have written to me begging for me to stop altogether, But a carefully constructed plan put together by Martin and myself. The new dates will be as follows: December (with K.A.orders for Whitehall), February (with orders for Cheriton), April (with K.A. orders for the first two musters), June (with K.A. orders for the second two musters), September (with K.A. end of term report and orders for Corfe) and finally in October. This hopefully should cut out the necessity for duplicating loads of paper work when more often than not K.A stuff turns up later than expected.

  P.S. Georgie says ok

  Ed

  A few dates for your diary

·        January 27^th/28^th 2001, Whitehall Parade, London (Major) unconfirmed

·        March 30^th/31^st 2001, Cheriton, Hampshire (Hopton's event) unconfirmed

·        May 5^th/6^th 2001, Corfe Castle (Hopton's event) unconfirmed

Letters and Articles

  The point of the pike

Unchallengeable was the fact that the pike was designed as weapon to inflict pain and to kill people. To kill people rather harshly in fact. Probably the best method would have been to thrust the weapon into the face of the opponent and gouge and dig for all your life, thereby killing one and distilling a sense of foreboding and terror into the surrounding troops that witnessed the horror of bits and pieces of face being strewn about. That was what the pike was good at, although it could have various other uses either as a toothpick or a pencil sharpener it was designed primarily for a pikeman (the operator) to exterminate people most emphatically.

  As a society I do not expect us to adopt this exact procedure of fighting, however over the years we have come up against the well worn out argument of how to fight and how to make it look interesting. I’ll lay my cards on the table straight away and say that I believe that point of pike should be the adopted method of the society for the future. The fundamental point of our society is to re-enact, but to push the pike would not be true to our heritage so why do we do it? Because we insist that we must have fun as well, is the easy answer and probably closest to the point, although one cannot, in my view, have fun ourselves (in the aggressive sense) as well as entertain the public to a high degree of authenticity.

  The push of the pike is as safe a method of aggressive fighting as you are going to get when two compacted bodies are on collision course with each other. Both sides are aware of the intent of the other and the society has long established rules on engagement, which will safe guard participants to some degree. It has been as safe as it is possible to be for many years, and enjoyed immensely by many thousands during that time. Although it must be stressed that we know English Heritage have little use for it and many of the public have not be deceived either.

  The point of the pike is of course a lot more authentic; initially it looks terrifying and is highly exciting for the crowd, when at close quarters two sets of pike are lowered to charge whilst the bodies are advancing. It’s what happens after that incenses me. The thrust of my argument therefore, starts here.

  The pikes we use may not be sharp, mostly we all know that they are just shaped bits of wood, but at the charge and at close quarters and at eye level they are every bit as dangerous as the real thing, probably more so as they are not in the hands of highly trained troops. The last thing I want to hear when I have a couple of pike waving in front of my eyes are Officers* that are shouting ‘Show some aggression! Lean on! Thrust! etc’ and various other suggestive comments that are often used. All this time I am unable to see exactly where the sharpest bit of my pike is or what damage it is close to doing, and all to often I have my arm outstretched behind me in the charge position, being manoeuvred for me by some oaf who thinks he’s in a press and my arm is his leaning pad, along with many others behind him oblivious of what’s going on.

  We cannot allow pushes to evolve from carefully orchestrated point of pike attacks. If the pikes remain in the charge position, the opposition will have no idea of what we intend, and they haven’t any idea for the very simple reason that we often have very little knowledge of what to expect or what to do. When at close quarters pikes are at the charge and disappearing into a melee of faces, people are leaning on you, arms outstretched unnaturally, Officers screaming! It’s a recipe for disaster!

  We are either re-enactors and we train to fight point with the opposition to a high degree of mutual respect and understanding or we play push of pike, really enjoy ourselves, every one has a lot more fun than at present but we leave the society’s future uncertain. No doubt about that. But whatever the answer is, I do not believe that you can ever mix the two safely. We either play at being soldiers or we get our kicks out of playing aggressively with pikes just happening to be in our hand for effect. 

  Pete Angel summed it up at Battle when he said that we are trying to recreate a very difficult part of history. Every other re-enactment group prior to the Civil War have defensive shields of some sort that can be utilised to take an extremely realistic blow that will take the watching public’s breath away plus give satisfaction to the participants. Every re-enacting group after the Civil War have weapons that don’t allow you to get into much hand to hand combat. We are stuck in the middle.

  *No Officer is singled out in this excerpt. Though Pennyman’s Regiment called the last orders at Battle, we did this ourselves at Yeovil last year.

  Pip (anag)

  The Westerleigh Event - A Postcard To Hoptons

Regiments attending:

18 Rawdens

  7 Blackwells

  4 Norfolks

  4 Northern Trayned Bands

  3 Hoptons

  2 Fenwicks

  2 Brights

We arrived on the Friday evening to find a small corner of the village sports field for camping - flat with lovely short grass and toilets and showers for our use in the village hall.  At approx 8.00 pm we ventured to the Old Inn for a few beers and shared a table with five cider drinking postmen.  The postmen consumed five pints of cider each and then left for work with some cider carry outs to see them through the night.  Now we know why post goes missing or doesn't arrive!

  The evening carried on with the usual singing and riotousness until we were eventually thrown out at about 12.30 am.  We made our way back to the campsite for a small get together before retiring to bed.

  Next morning Hoptons were the first to the pub although we did make some preparations for the afternoon.  At 1.00 pm we assembled with the carnival procession, no majorettes due to bad weather the night before, so most of the men were unhappy about this.  After a very short parade onto the sports field to man the living history, a village football match took place before our drill display and yes, as I was sitting amongst the living history, the football was kicked over the goal and hit me on the head!

  Whilst still recovering from a spinning sensation I managed to drum the drill display people onto the field.  Now, with seven different regiments taking part from both KA and RA this was to be interesting! (no practice had taken place) and there were odd numbers. Bruce (Ken/Bruce) surpassed all expectations and managed the entire display without fault or putting anyone else off, even Mutley was shocked!

  In the evening we frequented the New Inn for free beer as we had used all our tokens for the Old Inn on the previous night.  Bruce nearly surpassed himself again by becoming friendly with a young attractive 16 year old blonde who kept following him around and without Ken for competition or hindrance almost scored.  Fluff discovered it is impossible to play pool in full musketeers kit and lost his game, Mutley at this point fell asleep whilst standing up.

  After the pub I gave Fluff strict instructions to make sure Bruce returned to the campsite not wanting anything to go wrong, as all had been well up to this point.  Unfortunately this did not happen.  Fluff returned without Bruce, who had disappeared yet again!  In the morning we found out that Bruce had gone off with some villagers for a party and had become locked in a courtyard/garden with eight foot high walls and was unable to get out.

  After three hours he managed to climb into a tree and escape that way and return to the campsite at about 5.00 am when everyone else had gone to bed. Some things never change! The villagers were very friendly and many thanked us personally for supporting their Village Day and hoped to see us again in the future for a larger event.

  Thanks to Sue and Rawdens for a great little event and entertaining weekend.  If this event happens again, it's not one to be missed.

Best wishes

Angie, Fluff and Mutley.

Report on Tilford

I’d just like to say a very big thank you to all those who turned out for this event.

  The weather was not too bad except on Sunday morning, with just a little shower to keep the dust down, Ha Ha! I hope everyone enjoyed the food as much as I did, although I only managed to taste the pancakes and they were delicious, I’d like to thank the ladies and helpers who prepared all the food over the whole weekend and a special mention to all those involved in the Living History site. I had many reports from the public that it was very interesting and informative.

  The early morning drill was well received by the small crowd, it was very nice of those people who took part to come and do this extra display.  I hope they had as much fun as I did commentating on it all with my trusty assistant Bob!

  Now to the main display, I must say this was an outstanding display of sharp pike drill even from our smallest pike man, no names mentioned (but he sounds like a tree). The pikemen from the other regiments and the Ensign also did very well. The musket drill was superb and the volleys were all together. A very big thanks to our Captain for commanding the drill as we were very short of officers that weekend, I would like to thank Martin for the cannon display and the new recruit who came to watch and stayed, the cannon was brought on our new style trailer called Reliant.

  The help of the Powder Officer who not only set up the PA, but made repairs to the trailer and jump started vehicles as required was most appreciated, thanks to Chip for using his Land Rover for collecting the wood for both camp fires when needed, as I was some what incapacitated with my left hand in plaster (Oh do leave off. Ed.) I used runners to pass on messages for me thank everybody for their help.

  We have been asked to stage another event next year which I will pursue in due course. Once again my thanks to all who attended.

  P.S. We were out numbered by Talbot’s Company, it would be nice if we could have put a few more people on the field from the whole of our regiment.

  Yours in Loyalty

  Dodge

From our War Correspondent.

Upton-upon-Severn

27^th August 2001.

350 years ago today, a series of events at this town, culminated in the final defeat of the Royalist forces at Worcester, and the flight of Charles Stuart, son of the ill-fated martyr, Charles 1^st  A Scottish force in the Royalist cause, commanded by Sir Edward Massey, garrisoned the town to guard the bridge across the Severn which they had partly dismantled and replaced by planks. During the night, a small force of picked Parliamentary Dragoons evaded the poor watch on the bridge, crossed it and barricaded themselves in the church which stood nearby. In attempting to dislodge them, Massey's men set fire to the church, but were themselves attacked by further forces who had crossed a ford downstream. In spite of a valiant defence of the town and of a previously built earthwork, the Scots were forced to retire to Worcester, and the way was clear for the main Parliamentary Army to cross and defeat the Royalist Forces there.

  Following orders from the Lord General of the King's Army, The Regiments of Sir Thomas Lunsford, Lord Ralph Hopton and Sir William Pennyman, together with elements from Rawdon's Regiment, assembled here this weekend, under the direction of Sir William Pennyman's Regiment, to pay tribute to those events of long ago. The Oxford Company, as this fine assembly is known, was again commanded by Sir Edward Massey (alias Stephen Burden Esq.). From its select ‘plastic’ camp, complete with very welcoming proprietor(!), they created a ‘soldiers camp’ on the site of the original church and garrisoned the town for the weekend. Hearing news of Parliamentary Forces, (The Fairfax Battalia and Crawford's Brigade), already present at Worcester, the company also determined to remove them during the weekend.

  As a first step to ensuring the safety of the town, essential buildings (pubs!) were guarded by soldiers during Saturday, the company being divided into three watches for this purpose. The camp maintained a full garrison throughout the day, and a lively interest was shown by the many members of the public who visited, especially in the efforts of the valiant cooks, who provided very welcome and toothsome fare for the hard working soldiery. During the afternoon the guards were withdrawn, and the company marched as part of the town festival procession, before returning to give a brief display of Pike and Musket drill. When the camp closed at the end of the day, it was unfortunately necessary to dismantle it for the night, due to the activities of local youngsters who had not only destroyed the preparations on the Friday evening, but had even damaged some of the structures. Your reporter later learned, however, that one of the perpetrators left his coat (and name) behind, thus leading to the apprehension of the idiots, who promised to pay for the depredations. The evening was enlivened by a spectacular display of fireworks, and strange lights which we understand were called ‘lasers’. This was supposed to be part of the Upton festival, but was believed by some to be premature celebrations by the Rebel Forces anticipating victory in the coming battle!

The camp was re-erected on the Sunday morning, but since the safety of the town had been assured on the previous day, the guards were not re-allocated. Instead, the company gave two displays of drill to the enthralled crowds. The musket display was enlivened by the presence in its ranks of the Lord General himself, wearing the ‘Blue’. Rumour was rife that his presence there was due to the fact that a price had been placed upon his head by the rebel forces, but no confirmation of this was forthcoming. A usually reliable source suggested that this was actually a rehearsal for a proposed programme in the BBC series ‘Back to the Floor’, and that better conditions in the musket block would soon follow! Your correspondent will not divulge the performance of the great man at drill, but a new scouring stick was quickly found! During the afternoon the Company, under the command of (Sir) Andrew (de) Newton, was brought to Worcester in a strange coach type conveyance. (thanks Fairfax!), which was supposed to be hauled by many horses, although none were in evidence. The rest during the journey was most necessary since it was followed by a march to the Company's defence works at Fort Royal, which seemed to be straight up the side of a mountain! There the company was met by the Honourable Artillery, complete with a strange piece to try out, (Fibreglass with a metal sleeve, we understand!), loaned by the Conimandery Museum. This was duly pressed into service, thus underlining their complete zeal in the King's cause. Warned by the pickets of the Essex Brigade (Loudons), who valiantly attempted to hold the Rebel advance, frontal attacks by the Rebel Forces were initially driven off. Regrettably however, the Company eventually succumbed to overwhelming odds, and was wiped out to a man! The conveyance thus returned to Upton full of ghostly apparitions, (in very good voice!), who were to be used to create a 'virtual reality' Company for the following day. One apparition, closely resembling the L.G. himself, was heard to remark that "That is the last time I play a musketeer! You may offer violence if it is suggested again!" Poor BBC! During the soldiers' absence, the valiant Ladies of the Company continued to man the 'Soldiers Camp' for the public, as did the children, whose efforts did much to relieve the workload, and were much appreciated. The camp was permanently dismantled that same evening, which thereafter was spent in much revelry and good cheer!

  On the morrow, (Monday), the Regiment assembled in full strength, and marched proudly to the site of the final stand of the original garrison, (now known as the Redoubt), where they were met and joined by an Honour Guard from the Rebel Army, in the form of a file of musketeers. The whole company then formed up and, following an address by the County Archaeologist for Worcs., a wreath was laid in honour of those brave men of long ago, and a volley was fired in tribute. After this moving ceremony, the company marched back to camp. During the afternoon, the Company returned to Worcester in the coach to attempt once more to oust the Rebels, the L.G. having resumed his red coat for the occasion. It was noticed, (and appreciated), that a more circuitous and far less mountainous route was used to approach the defences, where the Artillery Company had regained the use of two of their own Drake Minions. Once more the valiant pickets gave warning, and initial attempts by Crawford's Brigade were repulsed, their Ensigne of the Colour falling to a brave defending musketeer, soon to fall himself. It is however with a sad heart that your correspondent must again report the annihilation of the brave defenders, who nevertheless sold their lives dearly in the face of overwhelming odds! It is devoutly hoped that the company will be able to resurrect itself for the future.

  Mention must here be made of the efforts of the Corps of Drums, who ably assisted all the company's efforts during the weekend. Their valiant ability to drum whilst marching up the side of the Fort Royal ‘mountain’ inspired great admiration, not least by your exhausted correspondent! They deserve our thanks! The weekend enjoyed very hot and sunny weather, and the reputation of the ECWS as ‘rainmakers’ was in serious doubt. However this reputation was restored on the Saturday, when rain fell heavily before and after the events on the ‘hill’. All in all, a very interesting and satisfying weekend was had by all, and I am sure that the company would express its thanks to all those who worked so hard to provide it.

Bob (I believe, as it wasn’t signed!)

The Kronan

Most of you will know of the Mary Rose and many will have heard of the Vasa, both C16 or C17 wrecks which have produced a huge number of well preserved artefacts of interest to re-enactors. However, few people in the UK have heard of another such wreck - that of the Kronan (or "Royal Crown"). Certainly I hadn't until I recently took advantage of a cheap day trip to Brussels on the Eurostar. While checking out the website of the Belgian Royal Army Museum, I discovered that a special exhibition on the Kronan was showing at the museum. Having seen the items shown on the website this had to be a must-see.

  The Kronan was one of the largest ships in the world when she was launched in 1668. Built by and English shipwright imported to help Sweden build a navy to seize control of the Baltic, she had 126 guns and a crew of 800. She was the flagship of the Swedish Admiral, so she served as a floating palace as well as a warship, with a small orchestra on board to entertain her officers and visiting VIPs. The ship was covered in extensive baroque carving in a style very similar to Charles I's Sovereign of the Seas.  She was loaded with plate and gold coinage.

Sweden hoped to turn the Baltic and its shipping lanes into her own private sea. Unsurprisingly these ambitions were opposed by the neighbouring Kingdom of Denmark and the Dutch, who relied heavily on trade with the Baltic countries. On 1^st June 1676 the Swedes set out to fight the combined Danish and Dutch fleets at Oland. In a sequence of events remarkably similar to the loss of the Mary Rose, the Kronan was about to engage the enemy when she tried to "come about" with too much sail, she was caught be the wind and began to capsize. As she listed over a lantern or candle must have been knocked over in the powder magazine, as seconds later the side of the ship was blown out by a massive explosion. This catastrophe is portrayed in contemporary paintings and tapestries. The ship rapidly sank and only 50 of her crew survived. It was the worst naval disaster in Swedish history.

The guns on the ship were very valuable and a couple of years after the battle nearly half of them were salvaged from a depth of 26m by a diving bell - quite remarkable given the limited technology of the time. After that the site was forgotten and in the C20 the site was damaged by trawling and minesweeping. However the vessel was on a list of missing ships drawn up by Anders Franzen, the archaeologist who found the Vasa, and his team set about searching for the wreck. They found the site in 1980 and since then thousands of items have been brought to the surface. The waters of the Baltic are cold and not very salty, so wooden, cloth and leather items are very well preserved, although many iron items have simply vanished.

  The finds have been placed in a special museum and there are plans to raise the surviving 2/3rds of the port side of the ship, preserve them and display the reconstructed interior of the ship along the lines of the Vasa or Mary Rose. It seems incredible that this wreck and the museum are largely unknown in the UK since the special traveling exhibition has been shown in the USA on 4 occasions in the 1990s and the accompanying film is in English with an English narrator!

  The finds on display in Brussels are only a fraction of the total. These include perfectly preserved musket and pistol stocks (the locks and barrels have dissolved), wooden canister shot for the cannon and crates of oriental spices. Much of the ornate carving on the port side has survived by being pressed into the mud of the seabed, while the favourable conditions have preserved violins and trumpets. More gruesomely large amounts of skeletal material have survived that is now undergoing analysis. As a closed cross-section of C17 sailors and soldiers, Swedish scientists hope that they will be able to reconstruct the diet and health of the military population of the time.

  The ship sank some thirty years after "our" period but it still has produced a lot of relevant material. Apart from being as much an English ship as a Swedish one in many ways, the surviving artillery (dating from between 1516(!) and 1668) includes a large number of guns from the 1630s and 40s captured on the battlefields of the 30 Years War. Some of the pieces may actually have been reused from the Vasa! Vast numbers of clay pipes were recovered, mostly imported from England. Bellarmines and other jugs were found that are little different from those 30 years earlier, while the wooden plates used by the crew are almost identical to those found on the Mary Rose.

Most interesting of all are the clothes that have survived (these were not on display in Brussels but there are colour photos on the Kalmar County Museum website (http://www.kalmarlansmuseum.se/kronan/english/finds/jacket.html).

There are several pairs of shoes and cobbler's repair kits, but amazingly a nearly complete coat was found (still worn by its owner). It dates from a slightly later period than the ECW, but is in very much the same style as Hopton's coats, although fashion had moved on and it was without a collar. It was made from red wool and appears to have been unlined. Some of the coats from around the same date found in Scottish bogs were also unlined, but in those cases it is very likely that linen linings originally existed which did not survive. However the Kronan coat still has all its white linen (?) buttonhole stitching. A grey felt hat survives (minus its crown) which is very similar the fashions of the 1640s (perhaps more those of 1600). These finds are valuable as they seem to come from the ordinary sailors and marines rather than the aristocratic officers.

The Kronan exhibition continues in Brussels until 14^th October and unfortunately I know of no plans to bring it to the UK. It only takes up two smallish rooms but it is very well presented. The Royal Army Museum is a short Metro ride out from the city centre. It combines the roles of the UK's National Army Museum, RAF Museum, Bovington Tank Museum and the Royal Armouries. It contains some of the best arms and armour in Europe, as well as galleries covering the Napoleonic period through to the present (it is the finest World War One collection anywhere). Entrance is free and the museum café is actually a pretty good pub!

  Peter Coppack

  From the Colonel 2021

A titillating year and one which shall go into the annuls of re-enactment history if not for what went on the field, but what has been achieved off of it. The University of Re-enactment was opened amid media furore in the beautiful city of Goole in June and is already fully operational but unfortunately oversubscribed to the extent that two more universities are in the pipeline for the next few years. A grand colourful statue of our first Lord General stands in the spacious gardens complete with red and gold cape and silly Napoleonic hat. An equerry from his Lordship made an enquiry as to what the large bulge was in his breeches. His Lordship was apparently satisfied with the reply that it was only the two-way radio that was in common use amongst re-enactors of the 90s before being replaced by telepathic communications.

  Ageing aristocat Steven Burden was rumoured the other day to be reforming a group of vigilant style malignants to continue the desperate battle to save his now derelict hunting lodge from continued and unprovoked attack from the Sealed Knot. (Well there was a bit of provoking, however we can’t go into it for reasons of Sub-judaicy.(sp!)) However Steve Burden (146) was rumoured to have muttered that no matter what they threw at him, they couldn’t take away his dignity his land, his freedom or his rather fashionable new electronic Zimmer frame, which he manfully manages to rally his troops with.

  Wesley

Knowing your Officers

The Sergeant Major - Martin Phillips

'Uncle Albert' Phillips used to row all around the world foregoing the female species  in order to tempt new recruits to England to join in the newly fashionable world of re-enacting, before settling down to a ‘peaceful’ existence himself in the county of Dorset.

  Like our esteemed Colonel, Martin started re-enacting shortly after the actual wars ceased, this is the alleged reason for his unique data base of Civil War knowledge and in particular of the Governor himself, Ralph. As with all our officers Martin would have started life as one of the gentlemen of the society – a pikeman, but legend has it that too many hospitals were campaigning against his taking part due to the numerous injuries the mighty man used to receive. Therefore he was soon presented with the opportunity to work his way through the Officer ranks and keep out of troubles way. Unfortunately his earlier image was indented on the minds of various Roundhead regiments and he still came in for the normal amount of stick no matter what rank he presented the opposition with.

Being the legend he is, Martin is currently serving on the council-of-war and has been for the past four years, this of course is the way we get all our insider knowledge. He is also a Muster* Organiser of the finest quality and has given much satisfaction to the society by putting on at least 10 major events and God knows how many RIE’s. Has recently decided to take on another wife as from May next year.

·        Muster (mus’tęr) n.– A fancy word for a lot of people dressing up in silly old-fashioned clothes and pretending to be soldiers and civilians of that particular period. Out of fashion now but it was an integral part of British summer life in the 1970’s and 80’s. A bit like Punk Rock and Liverpool F.C.

Martin Phillips - Fact file

It's a Dogs Life

After Battle in Sussex, Capitan Mutley thinks that it's time there should be a duly elected canine's representative for all the dog soldiers in The Hopton's Regiment of "Hounds". The Captain also thinks there should be a new rule added into the ECWS rulebook on campsites facilities. That all campsites should provide adequate large tree's / lampposts with lot's of lovely smelly mud ponds to wash in.

  There should be provision for regimental dog walking drills with treats to be handed out at regular five minutes intervals.

  There also should be introduced in the mess tent a special canine's food menu with water bowls free of charge every morning.

The Captain also thinks that Officers should refrain from using the mess tent for their silly meetings during doggies play time, and it would also be appreciated that if all Muskets and Cannons were fitted with silencers during the afternoon as it disturbs the doggie's afternoon nap time.

  Finally Mutley say's it has not gone unnoticed by his fellow mates that Hopton's Hounds are being left out, because they have not been issued membership cards and there are no uniforms provided to be used as regimental kit.

Yours Barkingly

Mutley, Molly, Boo Boo (The four legged one), Jessie, Kevin, Beckey, Bob, Milly & Speckle.

P.S. The Captain warns that if his demands are not met in full, he will continue to, at random attack any poor defenceless shoe laces with out mercy...

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