A Rare Old Skirmish

Eddie, second from the right,and Beryl taking up a pike stance

Last weekend I was very fortunate to meet up with an old mate from years back who had returned to returned to Barum after having spent many years exiled in Gloucestershire.
Eddie Fisher and his wife Beryl had come down from Stroud for the weekend in order to take part in the Sealed Knot re-enactment of Barum's final surrender to the Parliamentary forces of General Fairfax in 1646. At the close of the English Civil War the illustrious Parliamentarian commander and his men had swooped into the town from their redoubt up at Five Barrows above the Poltimore Arms As every Barnstaple schoolchild knows the town had declared for Parliamet at the start of the war but may of the local gentry weren't having it and subsequently took over the town to impose Royalist rule. However, as soon as their backs were turned and they'd gone off to fight bigger battles up country the townsfolk, refusing to subjugated under the King's rump went and declared for Parliament again before once more being forced out after another internecine ding dong. This happened three times when all's said and done and the scars of these skirmishes can still be seen today in the musket ball holes in the door of the Penrose Almshouses in Litchdon Street. Of course, like us all,  Eddy had grown up with these stories from an early age and had in due course developed a keen interest in all things Civil War and I do remember at school in history class he always came top when this was the topic. As I recall he was also pretty good on the Wars of the Roses and the who's who of the Hundred Years War. He could tell his Black Prince from his Princes in the Tower something which I have never been quite able to fathom. Over the years, unlike many of us whose interest in the subject was only passing, Eddy, as he delved further and further into this period of British History, began to internalise all this information. So much so that when he was in his late teens he developed an alter-ego and began rather oddly to look at the world from the point of view of a seventeenth century Roundhead seargent pikeman called Zachary Dimmock. In any conversation on the topic of the day whether it be Ted Heath joining the European Union,  Lesley Judd, Prince Charles' girlfriends or power cuts and the three day week we'd always have to hear what Zachary's opinion on the matter would have been. Fortunately, Eddy's sanity was saved or rather became less questionable by a modish cultural development of the 1970's that was linked with a contemporary rustic ruralist revival which created an environment where many people, specially in this part of the world, didn't give a second look to blokes dressed up in historic garb festooned in belts and buckles with dodgy headgear wielding big sticks. For some it was morris men or mummer performers for others it was historical re-enactment. Eddy, inspite of it's Royalist connotations became a leading light in the local Sealed Knot, membership of which had flourished during this time. However, old Eddy had to take it all just that one step further. I recall him dressing up in full pike man garb and standing outside a gentleman's boutique in Holland Walk called The Baron berating the owner who liked to dress rather flouncilly with cuffs and frills, bright waistcoat and velvet breeches topped off rather unfortunately in this instance with a goatee beard and a lustrous mane of long curly dark hair about his commercial pact with Satan and his lascivious relationship with the' "Jezabels" down at the Mayfair Uni-sex hair salon. This however wasn't the course of action which would seal his legendary status in the wider re-enactment fraternity especially amoung those of the Roundhead persuasion. Nope, this came with his more audatious escapade in 1976 when as a Roundhead Captain, turns out Zachary had been promoted, he would lead a march up from his muster station at Torrington Station now the Puffing Billy, to take on the Torrington Cavaliers during their nationally celebrated bonfire re-enactment of the burning of Torrington church. He marched up to Torrington Common and on through the crowd at the head of his band and brandishing his pike he threw down the gauntlet to all around, offering to take em all on in the name of God and Parliament. Of course this was viewed by the massed spectators as all part of the entertainments and when no one seemed that keen to take him up on his request and with the flames of the bonfire singeing his tabard he had to beat a hasty retreat to the car park. The following year he attempted the same thing however there must have been a spy in his camp as the Torrington Cavaliers got wind of his plans and were laying in wait and as Eddy sallied forth into enemy territory the Royalst forces at Torrington ambushed him, disarmed him, debagged him and then by sheer force of numbers carried him aloft into Torrington Square where they read out a decree banishing him from the town for life. They then led him through the crowds down to Taddiport where they threw him in the river. Of course this was all done with typical cavalieresque theatrics, just a bit of fun and they did have someone at the ready in a boat beneath the bridge to fish him out, but Eddy was not amused and even an interview on Westward TV, that I recall was done with a young Judy Spiers, failed to placate his anger over the Torrington mob's rewriting of history. Unbowed, he wrote and printed his own pamphlet outlining his grievances over what he called a "perversion of historical fact" which he would try and hand out to people outside the Barnstaple Guildhall of a Saturday afternoon in an attempt to recruit the townsfolk to his cause and hoping to assemble a sizable force to take Torrington once and for all on the occassion of the next Royalist commemoration. However, as he was stood right outside The Tuns many people gave him a wide berth as they mostly thought he was a deranged. Infact, Eddie was moving further to the fringes of dissent and had become a Ranter. This only led to more upset and in the end he forced himself into self imposed exile and moved to his mother in law's place up in Bradford upon Avon and latterly Stroud at the very heart of re-enactment community. Here he thought his endeavours to establish historical accuracy would be more appreciated. As he pointed out to me a few years later if you fancy turning your hand to the Monmouth Rebellion just turn left and you can be at Sedgemoor in a matter of minutes, take a right turn and sticking with the Civil War, a few miles up the road you've got Tewkesbury and Worcester only a few miles on after that.

The firing of a fusillade at the statue of the Stuart Queen Anne

I am glad to say that these days Eddy's zeal has somewhat diminished although he still takes an active part in proceedings  he has dropped the more puritan aspects of his lifestyle and only has recourse to adopt the persona of Zachary Dimmock when they go into schools and give talks to the kids. However he has felt partially vindicated over the last few years with Barum's recent commemorations of the towns surrender and also one the re-enactment they do out at Arlington Court where the people of Barum seized the Royalist armoury that was stashed there.  These days and with a lot of water under the bridge and bygones being bygones he's happy to show his face in the town albeit half covered in a hefty looking Roundhead helmet. Last weekend in recognition of his contribution to the cause it was touching to witness his greeting with a triumphant drum roll beat out by his  fellow re-eneactors as he took up his signature pike stance on the steps of Queen Anne's Chambers. A volley of shots was then fired at the statue of the former Stuart Queen and Granddaughter of the unfortunate Charles I. This was not the first time the statue had received Eddies attentions as I do recall coming out of Chequers one evening back in the day and witnessing him being bundled into the back of a black maria after he'd clambered up their with an axe and had attempted to decapitate it.
It was nice to see Beverly, Eddie's wife,  who was there dressed in full Puritan garb and had set up a little exhibition detailing the role of women as part of the camp train during the Civil War. She seemed particularly up on Sixteenth Century surgical techniques which, from what I can gather, involved a lot of prayer and a big saw. I reckon the Royalist camp train would have been a lot more interesting, plenty of jolly roister doistering, huzzahing and the like.
I explained this to Eddy, as we sat outside the Old Bus Staion over a pint after the smoke had cleared but with the acrid tang of cordite still hanging in the air, how I would have undoubtedly been some sort of republican on a political level but theologically I didn't quite see meself fitting in with the Roundheads being as I am of the old religion. Eddie pointed out excitedly that he had infact always seen me as belonging more to the non-conformist, libertarian wing, the freeborn men who wanted a more equitable society and took to occupying land like the Diggers and the Levelers.Very interesting.
Later on after several pints in the Rolle Quay, a curry and chips from the Indian takeaway in Pilton washed down with a couple of pints of Barum in the Reform and with Eddie and his band still in full costume we all trooped to the Corner House, where I have eventually been re-admitted after me expulsion five years ago due to an exchange of a few ill considered words which served to reignite an old family feud, and I must say we had a cracking evening in there, I've really missed the place.  There were loads of old faces, real Town people, Eddie was surrounded by folk he hadn't seen in years. One of his ex-sister in laws turned up on a hen night and she had a sign round her neck saying "granny of the bride," We were all introduced to his great niece and neice. Of course we all knew Ada! My abiding memory of the evening is Ada dressed up as sixty year old sexy secretaty and Eddy in his full get up dancing on the seats singing along to 'Wonderwall" at the top of their voices. Happy days.