HEALTH and safety rules had not been invented when mountain man Jim Bowie, of Bowie knife fame, was fighting for his life at the Battle of the Alamo 180 years ago.

But these days John Bowie, who shares an ancestor with Jim, has to go through a risk assessment every time he dresses up as the legendary American folk hero for living history events.

The Swindon man’s costume, hat, boots and knife are all genuine, along with the name, because he and Jim share an ancestor.

John, 39, from Penhill, always believed he was related to the fighter, who was killed along with fellow frontiersman Davy Crockett when Mexican forces overran the fort during the Texas Revolution.

But he only confirmed it after he saw the details in a Bowie family scroll he found on a shop while he was on holiday in Wales.

His father, Colin, had researched the family tree, but his work was mislaid after he died following a heart attack two years ago.

John said: “It is something that I’ve known about but never really understood until recently - until I got the coat of arms and went on the internet.”

He worked back through his own family ancestors until he found the details of his namesake, John Bowie, who emigrated to America from Scotland in the early 1700s and was the great, great grandfather of Jim.

He was pleased as punch when he finally confirmed what his dad had told him all along.

Now, when he dons his mountain man gear for living history re-enactments, he feels a family connection with one of America’s most famous figures.

Both his dad and his mum, Jennie, were keen re-enactors and his wife Helen often joins him at events, dressed up as Annie Rogers - the girlfriend of Kid Curry who was one of Butch Cassidy’s outlaw gang, the Wild Bunch.

“It’s something I’ve always been interested in,” he said.

“I wanted to know more about my family history and decided the best way to learn it was to actually live it.”

It is also a tribute to his father.

“Dad didn’t get everything he wanted and it took me a long time to get all the mountain man gear,” he said.

But there is one vast difference between John and renowned knife-fighter Jim. Because of his Bowie knife John always has to remember health and safety rules when he appears as part of the Boots and Saddles troupe.

“If I want to walk about I have to stay with the Native Americans," he said. "All the people with blades have to stick together.”