Musketeer Kel keeps his match burning during an event at Peterborough Cathedral by gently blowing on

Musketeer Kel keeps his match burning during an event at Peterborough Cathedral by gently blowing on it. ‘Slow match’ was thin hemp or flax cord that had been soaked in a solution containing saltpetre – otherwise known as potassium nitrate and commonly extracted from urine – which would burn slowly and steadily. It was estimated at the time that a single soldier on guard duty would burn through a mile of match in a year. As well as being almost useless when it was raining, musketeers who were careless about their match and gunpowder could easily find themselves scattered over a wide area. The rise of the flintlock, which ignited its gunpowder with a piece of flint scraped along a metal plate, gradually saw the matchlock replaced though it persisted well into the 1700s. During the English Civil War, flintlocks were mostly used for guard duty and for soldiers guarding powder stores where burning match might cause a problem..#musket #musketeers #match #slowburn #photoreenactment #reenactment #reenactors #reenacting #reenactorstyle #reenactorslife #reenactorsofinstagram #reenactmentphotography #livinghistory #history #photohistory #historicalreenactment #17thcentury #sealedknot #dailyphoto #photoaday #photooftheday #photoadaychallenge #englishcivilwar #instadailyhttps://www.instagram.com/p/B_W9u_2n8I7/?igshid=ej7knu9o4pc0 -- source link

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