Back in October last year I posted a picture of this Irish Galloglass up on facebook asking if anyone knew who made it and if it was a one off or part of a set? The same day an old friend, Jim Lloyd, identified it as being from the Oojah-Cum-Pivvy range issued by Shamus O D Wade between 1982 and 1984, not only that but he told me he had the Kern from the same series and sent it to me as a gift!
The figure is marked under the base O.3 and is listed as Irish Galloglass 1522, he has the distinctive look of a Tudor period Galloglass, in my opinion the sculpting and factory paint job are not of the highest standard but you have to admit it's a fairly unique subject in the world of toy soldiers.
After the success of his Nostalgia range of modern "old toy soldier style" figures, which featured obscure units from the British Commonwealth and Empire 1850-1910, Shamus launched the Oojah-Cum-Pivvy range to produce subjects which just happened to take his fancy.
Rather more colourful is the figure that Jim Lloyd kindly sent me, it is marked O.2 under the base and is listed as Irish Kern circa 1545. I understand that the O stands for Oojah-Cum-Pivvy (Shamus marked his Nostalgia range figures with a stylised n) and the number relates to the sequential order in which they were issued.
In the Collectors Guide to New Toy Soldiers, Stuart Asquith tells us that the Oojah-Cum-Pivvy range ran to 36 different white metal figures and had a limited edition of just 100 castings for each. They were sculpted by Graham Morris and produced by Peter Cowan.
I only recall seeing 54mm figures of Tudor period Kerns and Galloglass once before, made in a rubber material by a chap in Russia, so they are now beyond our reach.
This is a more recent acquisition, marked O.9 and listed as Patzinak Mercenary 11th Century (Byzantine), he is a horse archer of the semi nomadic Turkic Pechenegs from Central Asia who allied with the Byzantines to control the Southeast European steppe and Crimean peninsula. Another very unusual subject, there were three other Byzantine figures in the range.
I don't think this is the start of a new collection for me, because of the 36 figures in the Oojah-Cum-Pivvy range at least half depict 20th century subjects (primarily from the Indian Armed Forces) which don't really appeal to me. There are some interesting and unusual subjects among the Ancient and Medieval figures so I will be tempted to pick up more if I come across them.
Given that Shamus O D Wade was of Irish heritage (like me, he was born and raised in England to Irish parents and lived near us in West London) I had hoped that he might have included more Irish subjects in the Oojah-Cum-Pivvy range but sadly not. I knew Shamus through the British Model Soldier Society and subscribed to his sales lists in the 1970s/80s, but at that time I was only interested in buying hollowcast figures from minor UK makers so took little interest in his Nostalgia and Oojah-Cum-Pivvy ranges of modern white metal figures.
Although he had no real interest in plastic toy soldiers Shamus was always supportive of Plastic Warrior from the earliest days, he was one of the few dealers to take a stand at the very first Plastic Warrior Show and it was entirely down to his continuous urging that we started to lodge copies of the magazine with the British Library so that the information they contain would be preserved for posterity.
