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!