War of 1812 Discovery Series (#6 - Continued)

by Judi McWilliams

Over the past few years the Festival Nomad and I have had wonderful experiences visiting War of 1812 Re-enactments around Ontario. We find these re-enactments amazing and extremely interesting! In this NEW War of 1812 Discovery Series, I want to share with you some of our experiences, while attempting to shed some light into the actual historic.

Beating of the War (Part Three)...
The terminology used in Drumming is complex. There are many stages in just preparing for drumming, each time you venture out. You need to “strap up your drum”. That is place the rim around your hip almost on your left side. You need to build up your muscles in your shoulders and back to be able to survive the day at a re-enactment (not to mention your sore feet)! You will need to learn how to hold the sticks correctly, learn how to let the sticks naturally rebound without being so stiff yourself. There are many terms used for drumming the sticks (as my sister said), such as double stroke roll, ruffs, flams, sextuplets, paradiddles. My sister, Carol, tells me that there is always the danger of your drum strap breaking and to quote her … “you end up hop, fling, drumming along. Loose a stick and get blisters double beating (hopefully you don’t get court marshalled when the flying stick hits the officer)”. There are specific names for the drills of sets of drumming such as Breakfast call, Reveille, Assembly, Drummer’s Call, Retreat and so many more. And don’t forget your “good posture”, a must for proper Military Etiquette. On a windy day, your posture might go right out to pasture! As my sister says … “just be sure you don't slip on the cow patty or horse poop”!