Last year, I was asked by Brecon Beacons National Park if I would like to contribute some of my drawings of the battle to their Agincourt 600 initiative at Brecon Cathedral celebrating that city's connection with the battle. I was delighted to agree.
As well as contributing a number of images from my existing work in this area, I was also commissioned to produce a drawing of thte local Welsh hero, Dafydd (or Davy) Gam.
From my existing illustrations, the National Park chose four images: Longbowman shooting at the volley; Longbowman shooting at point blank; Longbowmen fighting off a French flank attack; and Henry kneeling before the battle. Three of these images already feature in my range of greetings cards of the battle.
The image of Dafydd Gam was more challenging. We know he fought at the battle and we also know he died there. Some historians say he was knighted at the battle whereas others say this did not happen. However, following discussions, we decided to show Dafydd being knighted as it makes for a compelling narrative, not least since the Gam family tomb is in Brecon cathedral.
Dafydd Gam is also known to fans of Shakespeare's Henry V as Davy Gam. Curiously, however, the character of Fluellen is thought also to be based on the real life Gam. We do know that Henry was particularly fond of Gam's military methodology and his intense loyalty and certainly, elements of this come across in Fluellen's obsession with things military!
The photographs in this piece show the finished articles, which I must say look fantastic - the design team at Brecon have done a magnificent job. The illustrations appear on a stand-up "tent" brochure for display around the cathedral; others are used to decorate information "paddles" which visitors can use as they walk around looking at different parts of the cathedral itself.
if you are in the area, please do drop in and take a look at the Cathedral and what is on display there - I understand that there are a number of Agincourt links (for example, the area contributed a regiment of archers to the army of Henry V).
If you wish to purchase greetings cards featuring some of these images, you can purchase direct from my site
.