Quote Originally Posted by Sir William View Post
All too true. Most of the recreated 1745 Jacobites that I've seen, both here in the US and in Scotland as well, would pass for the lairds and his close kin - not the average crofter. Plenty of swords, targes, firelocks, and all that - but then that "look" is also what catches the interest of the average spectator/visitor, which is what we're there to do.
And that's the $64,000 question when it comes to reenacting -- do we give the the spectator what they expect to see, or do we give them "just the facts", to paraphrase Jack Webb.

This is exactly why I always preferred living history events, where the public could interact with us via interpretive programs and learn with the "myth" was shattered, so to speak.

I remember doing an event years ago where a reenactor Union artillery crew came to a NPS living history event at a Civil War era sites. The crew in question had more red braid and brass on jackets, trousers and hats, while the crew from our battlefield were dressed in plain sack coats and unadorned forage caps and slouch hats. A visitor's son asked his dad, "Why do all of those guys on the left have so much red on?" The reply: "They haven't learned it's a target."

T.