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British actor Damian Lewis is a Freeman. Being a “Freeman” in London specifically pertains to a medieval title granted to tradesmen (and women!) who wanted to do business in the town Square Mile. Honest, hard-working craftsmen (and women!) who sought life, liberty, and the pursuit of taking their sheep into town without paying a toll. And so Damian did last Sunday, as a Freeman of the City of London tapped by the 12th century-era Worshipful Company of Woolmen guild to lead their annual Sheep Drive. Smartly clad in his grandfather’s 100-year-old wool coat, Damian had a smashing good time with his flock of ovine friends as they crossed Southwark Bridge on their way to a Livery Fair showcasing local wool wares:
Actor Damian Lewis drove a flock of sheep across the River Thames on Sunday in homage to a centuries-old tradition.
Lewis is among thousands of people granted the honorary title of Freeman of the City of London, which in medieval times came with the right to bring livestock across the river to market without paying tolls.
More than 1,000 freemen exercised that right on Sunday in the annual London Sheep Drive, many wearing black hats and red cloaks. Lewis wore his grandfather’s wool coat and carried a crook as he led the throng herding the animal over Southwark Bridge.
“It was fabulous,” said Lewis, star of “Band of Brothers,” “Homeland” and “Wolf Hall.”
Lewis was asked to represent the Worshipful Company of Woolmen, a trade guild dating to the 12th century. He said he was pleased to be part of “this eccentric, very British day, honoring an old tradition.”
Manny Cohen, Master Woolman at the Worshipful Company of Woolmen, said the ancient sheep-driving tradition was revived about 15 years ago and has become a major charity fundraising event.
There are no plans to bring back other ancient freemen’s privileges such as the right to carry an unsheathed sword in public and to be escorted home if found drunk.
“There are no plans to bring back other ancient freemen’s privileges such as the right to carry an unsheathed sword in public and to be escorted home if found drunk,” is arguably one of the greatest sentences strung together since Shakespeare. But based on the wording, does this mean that it’s ok for people (free or otherwise) to carry sheathed swords in public? Were there sheathed swords used to shear the sheep on Sunday?! Anyway, I agree with Damian that yes, this whole thing is very eccentric and very quintessentially British (assuming tea was consumed along the way). They actually shut down the Southwark Bridge to make way for sheeplings, and there were men in town-crier-looking costumes and a few ladies dressed as Bo Peep. It was all fun to watch, once I was able to get past Damian’s alarming mustache (why, Damian? WHY?). I just hope the sheep had a good time! If not a baaaaaah-rel of laughs!
Photos credit: Getty and Matthew Chattle/Cover Images
