Today, we got to the Faire early enough to catch the Royal Arrival. Yay! It was really very cool to see King Henry VIII arrive on horseback. lostsatyr even got some pictures; I'll have to post them when we get them downloaded off the digital camera.

We started off by taking in the Punch and Judy show - people performing instead of puppets. Most entertaining. :)

Today, we followed the Royals around. I got to see Henry meeting Anne of Cleves. Knowing the history, I knew what was going to happen, but it was still interesting to see how it played out. Poor Anne of Cleves - one faux pas after another. Not recognizing His Majesty when he arrived in disguise, expecting Mary Tudor to be a little girl when Henry introduced "[his] daughter," and beating Henry in the chess match.

Speaking of the Chess Match, they had live combat as the "pieces" literally fought for their "spaces." Very neat, even if I had trouble hearing over the crowd at the tavern (lostsatyr and I had to sit in the "cheap seats" on the tavern steps for the chess match).

We also got to see Hey Nunny Nunny; they were very funny. (Look, I'm a poet! =) I'll have to make sure to catch them again tomorrow if I get the chance.

Near the end of the faire, the Royal appearances wrapped up with "Cromwell's Disgrace." I hope the actor playing Thomas Cromwell stays on playing another part; he's really very good.

I picked up a very pretty butterfly suncatcher for my mother, as well as a novel about Lady Jane Grey for me. Hmm, another addition to the library on Tudor and Elizabethan history - maybe I should try writing a NaNoWriMo story set in Tudor times.

I should note that mention was made during "Cromwell's Disgrace" about Henry visiting Katherine Howard. As I told lostsatyr, they're running out of wives...I wonder what they're going to do after they get to Wife Number Six?