So what happens when Charlie Andrews of the Knights of Mayhem is at a renaissance faire, but is NOT competing in a tournament, NOR is he putting on an educational demonstration? It turns out that Charlie Andrews can be quite the clown. Perhaps he was inspired by the fact that John MacNeille, the Master of Ceremonies for the Four Winds Faire twice daily joust was dressed in a traditional jester's outfit.
Jester John MacNeille with some of the jousters at Four Winds Faire
Whatever the reason, Charlie decided that he would play Lady Isabella's (aka Bobbie Patterson's) squire during Saturday's jousting. He squeezed into one of her squire's tabards...
Squire Charlie Andrews with Lady Isabella (photo used with permission)
...and followed her around the field fanning her with a lady-like little folding fan.
Squire Charlie Andrews fans Lady Isabella
Squire Charlie's ministrations may have helped, Lady Isabella certainly did well tilting at rings.
Lady Isabella on Apollo spears the tilt ring
And although he spent most of the tournament playing the Fool, when ordered by his Lady to take his turn tilting at rings, Squire Charlie did not fool around.
Squire Charlie Andrews on Jaeger carries off the tilt ring
Charlie was such a dedicated squire that when it was his Lady's turn to tilt against the quintain, he cantered beside her the length of the lyst, continuously fanning her to keep her cool and comfortable.
Squire Charlie continues to fan Lady Isabella as she canters down the lyst field
Later, at his Lady's request, Squire Charlie struck the quintain a mighty blow.
Squire Charlie achieves 7 ½ rotations of the quintain
However, when it came time for the Cut and Thrust, Squire Charlie could no longer resist playing the jester in the joust. Instead of slicing the apple with his sword, he dismounted and fed it to his horse, Jaegermeister.
Charlie grabs the apple from the post...
...and feeds it to his horse, Jaegermeister
During the second joust of the day, Squire Charlie got so distracted watching Joseph McClain tilt at rings, that he forgot to use the pretty pink parasol to protect his Lady from the sun and instead used it to shade himself.
Squire Charlie gets distracted from his duties
Throughout the two days of the faire, Charlie's clowning around seemed to inspire others to similarly silly acts of mayhem. Lady Siobhan (aka Siobhan Welch) continuously stole the jester's hat. Lady Siobhan's husband "encouraged" the quintain to rotate a few extra times after she struck it. And the other participants came up with new and unusual ways to perform in the Mounted Skill at Arms games. Even the squires got in on the frivolity, carving scared faces on the fruit used in the Cut and Thrust.
This apple knows what's coming
Which may have led Lady Isabella to attempt the Cut and Thrust using the jester's stick.
Is the little jester head trying to Bite and Chew the fruit?
Off of the lyst field, Charlie was sometimes serious and sometimes silly. When “knighting” a young boy, he explained that being a knight was not all fun and games, that it came with the responsibility of upholding and demonstrating the virtues of chivalry even when they weren't much fun.
Charlie Andrews "knights" a young boy
However, when involved in a contest at the Sherwood Forest Archery booth to see who could shoot the apple off of the head of a dummy...
William Tell Junior
…he may have cheated just a little.
The old apple on the end of the arrow trick
All this clowning around was apparently exhausting.
Jaeger seems to make a comfortable recliner
Although there was a great deal of silliness during the jousting this past weekend, there was also a great deal of skill demonstrated on the lyst field. More information and pictures of other participants demonstrating their abilities will be forthcoming in a future article.
Jester John MacNeille with some of the jousters at Four Winds Faire
Whatever the reason, Charlie decided that he would play Lady Isabella's (aka Bobbie Patterson's) squire during Saturday's jousting. He squeezed into one of her squire's tabards...
Squire Charlie Andrews with Lady Isabella (photo used with permission)
...and followed her around the field fanning her with a lady-like little folding fan.
Squire Charlie Andrews fans Lady Isabella
Squire Charlie's ministrations may have helped, Lady Isabella certainly did well tilting at rings.
Lady Isabella on Apollo spears the tilt ring
And although he spent most of the tournament playing the Fool, when ordered by his Lady to take his turn tilting at rings, Squire Charlie did not fool around.
Squire Charlie Andrews on Jaeger carries off the tilt ring
Charlie was such a dedicated squire that when it was his Lady's turn to tilt against the quintain, he cantered beside her the length of the lyst, continuously fanning her to keep her cool and comfortable.
Squire Charlie continues to fan Lady Isabella as she canters down the lyst field
Later, at his Lady's request, Squire Charlie struck the quintain a mighty blow.
Squire Charlie achieves 7 ½ rotations of the quintain
However, when it came time for the Cut and Thrust, Squire Charlie could no longer resist playing the jester in the joust. Instead of slicing the apple with his sword, he dismounted and fed it to his horse, Jaegermeister.
Charlie grabs the apple from the post...
...and feeds it to his horse, Jaegermeister
During the second joust of the day, Squire Charlie got so distracted watching Joseph McClain tilt at rings, that he forgot to use the pretty pink parasol to protect his Lady from the sun and instead used it to shade himself.
Squire Charlie gets distracted from his duties
Throughout the two days of the faire, Charlie's clowning around seemed to inspire others to similarly silly acts of mayhem. Lady Siobhan (aka Siobhan Welch) continuously stole the jester's hat. Lady Siobhan's husband "encouraged" the quintain to rotate a few extra times after she struck it. And the other participants came up with new and unusual ways to perform in the Mounted Skill at Arms games. Even the squires got in on the frivolity, carving scared faces on the fruit used in the Cut and Thrust.
This apple knows what's coming
Which may have led Lady Isabella to attempt the Cut and Thrust using the jester's stick.
Is the little jester head trying to Bite and Chew the fruit?
Off of the lyst field, Charlie was sometimes serious and sometimes silly. When “knighting” a young boy, he explained that being a knight was not all fun and games, that it came with the responsibility of upholding and demonstrating the virtues of chivalry even when they weren't much fun.
Charlie Andrews "knights" a young boy
However, when involved in a contest at the Sherwood Forest Archery booth to see who could shoot the apple off of the head of a dummy...
William Tell Junior
…he may have cheated just a little.
The old apple on the end of the arrow trick
All this clowning around was apparently exhausting.
Jaeger seems to make a comfortable recliner
Although there was a great deal of silliness during the jousting this past weekend, there was also a great deal of skill demonstrated on the lyst field. More information and pictures of other participants demonstrating their abilities will be forthcoming in a future article.
Love the show still love too joust.
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