Saturday 9 June 2018

Dumbarton: Rock of Ages

Introduction

I don't normally post anything which isn't directly related to wargaming, but on a very few occasions I write other articles.  Today is such a day; my son and I spent the afternoon at Dumbarton Castle's annual "Rock of Ages" re-enactment event.

Now I've posted about Dumbarton Castle before (--> here <--), so I'm not going to describe the venue this time.  Suffice it to say that it's my local historical monument and we visit it on occasion.  Today was (very) hot and sunny and there was an event on...

Rock of Ages

"Rock of Ages" is an annual, 2-day event organised by Historic Scotland (the government agency that looks after ancient monuments).  Re-enactment groups with at least some connection to the west of Scotland in general and to Dumbarton Castle in particular gather to put on a show.

There are a multitude of camps set up where you can talk to the various groups, as well as a 10-20 minute slot in the main arena for each lot to show their stuff.


We arrived too late to see the Romans in the arena, but this is their camp.  A lot of the equipment and talk was about the Roman fleet and marines, who did after all penetrate further into/around Scotland than the legions.

The Romans were first into the arena at the end of the event, as might be expected.  Recorded history in Scotland pretty much starts with Romans, after all...

Vikings played a big part in the history of Dumbarton Castle (they besieged it and took away the survivors as slaves after the fortress fell).

As might be expected, the Viking reenactors were ... enthusiastic about their battle scenes; there was a considerable amount of rowdiness.  Note that the big guy on the right (with the long Dane axe) is apparently a Varangian; he has spent time in the middle east and has acquired some silks and other unusual elements to his costume.

I missed taking pictures of the medieval, renaissance and Napoleonic groups, though some of these can be seen in the arena shot at the end of this post.  Suffice it to say that we did have long and interesting talks with a medieval archer (about bows and arrows, duh!) & weapons maker (different types of swords, mostly), renaissance ladies (the intricacies of female costume & fashion), a WWI medic (battlefield medicine), a WWI officer from the eastern mediterranean (dysentery and camels) and a Viking housewife (food; they'd just finished lunch).

Here is a WWI British motorcycle "ambulance" taking a wounded German prisoner back to a dressing station.

This isn't a real tank, or even an attempt at a direct replica.  Rather, it's the sort of mock-up that toured Britain to show to the public in an attempt to get them to buy war bonds.  Apparently (a) it is the full size of the real thing and (b) it was built from plans in the Imperial War Museum - so it's authentic!


Late in the afternoon, there was a fly-past and some aerobatics from a replica SE5a.  Since my first great love was early aircraft, this was an amazing experience, though it is extraordinarily difficult to take decent photographs of aircraft in motion.  This is almost certainly the best of my attempts.

The final parade: these are some of the WWI soldiers and auxiliaries.  To the left of the background can be seen the host (in character as a Victorian policeman from Partick), Mary Queen of Scots and her ladies in waiting (in the blue dress, with hat) and just about visible are some of the medieval soldiers from William Wallace's army (near the saltire).

So, we came away hot and sunburnt, but it was a great way to spend the afternoon.  The re-enactors have my pity, though: they need to do the whole thing again tomorrow!

16 comments:

  1. That looks like a thoroughly great day out.

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    1. Technically it was only an afternoon, not a full day. We still enjoyed it thoroughly, though :-) .

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  2. Sounds like a cracking afternoon.
    I really like these multi era Living History events, and having one at such a great location is just a bonus :-)

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    1. It;s the first time I've been to anything like this. I'll think seriously about going again, though :-) .

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  3. That looks like a great day out and the re-enactors look excellent in their varied eras.

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    1. They certainly knew their stuff, though I felt there was a tendency to assume that the members of the public knew nothing at all. After all, I do know a little about some of these periods myself :-) ...

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  4. What a cool day out. we went to the local castles (Dudley) St Georges day event and it was really interesting to see all the arms and armour on display as well as archery and Ghost tours

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    1. Thanks, Simon - though it was anything but a cool day out (if you'll pardon the pun). Indeed, it was so hot that when the Viking commentator invited the public to visit their camp after their energetic showtime in the arena, she specifically suggested that we didn't try on any of the (hot, sweaty) helmets :-) .

      Sounds like your local castle had an interesting show too.

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  5. Looks like an excellent event with the bonus of fine weather.
    Also an inspiration for what-if gamers everywhere.

    See what happens when the Romans with their Ambulance-Motorcycle encounter time travelling Vikings with a wooden tank.

    Who wouldn't want to game that - the only problem is deciding which rules.

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    1. I forgot to mention that there were a couple of Suffragettes as well. At least there were no zombies or Nazis :-) ...

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    2. Suffragettes with SE5 air support, The mind boggles.

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  6. What a great event! Nice photos by the way.

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    1. Thanks. The photos are a bit haphazard, but they do give some impression of the afternoon's activities.

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  7. Looks like you had a great afternoon out. I remember going to such an event at Dumbarton over ten years ago. No Se5 unfortunately!

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    1. Yes, it was a good day. Were you just passing by, or did you live in the area?

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  8. Passing by, but we came for the event. We used to go to quite a few castles, both with and without re-enactments at them.

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