A slight
update for the project here – unfortunately over the last few weeks I’ve
been quite busy with uni interviews etc. And haven’t found too much
time to paint. However I have managed to paint up a model to represent
Matthew Gough, one of the other English (well.. Welsh) commanders at
Formigny.
By 1450
Gough was a weathered veteran of the French wars, having taken part in
the battles of Cravant and Verneuil and having been commander of various
castles and towns that were captured in the English expansion. He was
taken prisoner in 1432 at St. Denis leading to a massive outcry from the
bards of Wales, for whom he was a much celebrated figure in their
songs, the well known bard Guto'r Glyn writing:
‘Bu ar glêr bryder a braw/ Ban ddaliwyd, beunydd wylaw’
'anxious and alarmed, the bards wept daily when he was captured'
Luckily for
them, and him, funds were raised soon after and he was ransomed. At
Formigny Gough led a small force from Bayeux which reinforced Kyriell’s
army and, after the defeat, he succeeded in fleeing back to the city.
However soon after that Gough returned to England and was killed during
Jack Cade’s rebellion where he fell defending London Bridge against the
advancing rebels.
I used
another one of the metal command figures to represent him. I found a
fair few interpretations of his heraldry, so I just went with the one I
liked the look of the most – I’m fairly pleased with how his surcoat
came out. I will try and get onto his retinue next – sadly one of them
has met an ignominious end already, having been munched by our 5 month
old golden retriever puppy, who somehow got hold of him – so I will have
to seek a replacement. What’s left of him may make a nice casualty
model though..
I’ve also done a bit of painting on some other character models from the Lancastrian set, which you can see below.
I’ve given
up on getting accurate livery colours for retainers, so instead I’m
going to take an educated guess – I don’t think anyone will be able to
prove me wrong as it seems the evidence has simply not survived the
passage of time!
