Indoor Entertainments for Gentlemen

Another day, another Christmas event at a local NTS property...

Today we paid a visit to Christmas Through the Ages at nearby Castle Fraser.

Here we see a demonstration of stick fighting, one of several forms of indoor combat for gentlemen recreated today by members of the local reenactment group Medieval Realm, who were covering a number of historical periods here today. These same three gentlemen had been in this same room an hour or so earlier in the guise of 15th-16th century swordsmen. Now they were showing us how Victorian gentlemen entertained themselves by fighting not only with canes (as here), but also with sword sticks, pocket watches (in a manner somewhat similar to the game of 'conkers') - and even with pocket handkerchiefs (weighted with coins and tied in a knot at one end)!