Goodbye Dad

It's been a rough summer. In mid June I received the phone call that I had always dreaded. My dad had been feeling poorly for a few weeks and, after being admitted to hospital in Aberdeen, was diagnosed with a very rare and terminal illness. The doctors gave him 2 weeks, and Dad passed away on July 5th with his family by his side. He was 73 years old and had only retired from work 6 weeks before he was diagnosed.

My dad and my son on Castle Hill at Auldearn, July 2008

While growing up in the Northeast of Scotland my dad had encouraged my interest in Scottish history and regularly took me and my sister to local castles, battlefields and stone circles and taught us the history of these places. These childhood outings inspired a life long love of history and throughout my adult life my, despite living overseas, every time I was back in Scotland my dad and I continued to visit these places together.

My dad and my sister at Alford Battlefield, April 2013

The last thing I did with my dad before he took ill was a walk along the River Don at Alford Battlefield in late April. In the days following the funeral I walked several of the places we would visit together including Fyvie Castle and battlefield, the Braes of Gicht and the Hill of Dunnideer in the shadow of Bennachie. Goodbye Dad, you will be missed.

Walter Morrison, 1940-2013

Auldearn - the Musical!

Following on from the last post on religious intolerance - now some misogyny too.

The last witch to be killed in Scotland was Isobel Goudie, in 1662.

She lived in Auldearn, daughter of a solicitor. As a girl she witnessed the battle, perhaps the horrors she saw on that day affected her. There's lots of stuff out on the net if anyone is interested in reading further.

Makes me think we will need to have her on the board with some of the local worthies - maybe with a cat...

Meanwhile, here's the much lamented Alex Harvey with a wee tune.

Covenanter Command - For Kirk & Kingdom

Scotland is one of the best examples of how organized religion really f@#k's you up.  If I had a pound for every person who's been screwed over by the kirk or chapel in Scotland, I'd be a rich man.  John Knox unleashed the genie the century before, and the Civil War in Scotland was more about the "Good Book" (and misinterpretation thereof) than about anything else.

The covenanter's and their relationship to both King, the Church of Scotland and the Scottish Parliament is a long and complex story.  However, the Kirk's religious commissars have a large part in the blame of the deterioration of the Scottish Army's performance through the Civil Wars.  Kilsyth, Dunbar etc., all came crashing down mainly due to these guys holding the upper hand at key moments.

So to that end one of these small minded, religious zealots had to make an appearance in the force.  What better place than on a command base, hectoring the troops.  Here, the Paster Jack Glass, from Dalmarnock, shouting "The Beast is coming! Down with the Pope in Rome" and other less savoury epithets.

Command Base

Still trying to get the focal length down on the new camera, so some issues here.  

Really enjoy putting together these vignettes, can get a narrative going with only a wee bit of thought.

Lighting not to good indoors but hot as hell and rainey here in H-town at the moment! 

Earl of Seaforth's Regiment

One of the biggest of the northern clans, George Mackenzies power extended from the Moray Firth to the island of Lewis.  He played both sides during the war, raising and disbanding his men reflecting the fluctuations of local success or presence of large armies.  After Inverlochy, Mackenzie was captured by Montrose and signed the Kilcumin Bond, promising to raise his troops for the king and capture Inverness.  However, with Hurry active around the town, the Mackenzies, Maclennan’s and Macauley’s of Lewis took the field on the government side.

 

At Auldearn the regiment suffered heavily.  Clan MacLennan (and MacRea's and Matheson's),  the "Banner men of Kintail", who acted as the standard party of the regiment suffered heavily.  The Clan stood its ground, fighting around the Clan standard of the Mackenzies, the "Caber Feidh", until the fell with their chieftain Ruairidh Mac Gille Fhinnein. However, even with so much slaughter, Mackenzie scrambled to reach an accommodation with Montrose, and settled the remains of his regiment on the lands of his erstwhile ally, Lord Lovat’s Frasers.

 

Again, Mackenzie prevaricated, and held back from accompanying Montrose south. However, after Philliphaugh when Montrose returned north he renewed the Kilcumin Bond (for which he was excommunicated from the Kirk).  Eventually, as Middleton brought the covenanter army into the north, he eventually surrendered and travelled to Edinburgh where he repented at St Giles.  By late 1646, Mackenzie and his Lairds had received full pardons.

 These troops where Clan MacLennan (and MacRea's and Matheson's),  the "Banner men of Kintail", who acted as the standard party of the regiment.  The Clan stood its ground, fighting around the Clan standard of the Mackenzies, the "Caber Feidh", until the fell with their chieftain Ruairidh Mac Gille Fhinnein.

Not a lot of evidence to go on with regards colour scheme and certainly no romanticised tartan set to unite the regiment. However, the Caber Feidh or Stag Horn standard gave me the opportunity to paint the Mackenzie clan crest.  The yellow/gold on black colour scheme made the choice of a contrasting black on yellow saltire, but again with no historical credance.

The tartans were, in the local parlance, "murder" to paint, resulting in this regiment seemingly taking forever.  Mixing up the colour schemes certainly had a lot to do with it, as did the change in patterns.

The figures are all Eureka, with the command coming from modified MacColla & Montrose figures.  Targe's were added from Old Glory, for some close in work and to add a little more variety.  Some of the troops are bow armed which was recorded as being used in the battle - so they presumably shoot over the heads of Lawer's and the Lord Chanceller's who were in the thick of it at the front.

I'm pretty happy with how they turned out but glad that I'm not doing it again!

Project Auldearn is now almost at an end for me with regards painting.  Buchannan's regiment should be out soon, with some command bases for good measure.  Will also likely do Lothian's regulars to help Walter shift his side of the mountain.

The end is in sight!!!

Work in Progress: Seaforth's - Now with wings

Finished the shotte - so just the bases to do now.

Not very good photos but will rectify that once the unit is done.

Work in Progress: Seaforth's Regiment

Pretty close to finishing this regiment.  The shot sleeves need some work but the pike block is finished.

Been a struggle to get this done - tartans were a lot of work, especially getting enough variety in a 48 man unit - and the psychological thought of what lay ahead made the task drag out longer than it needed.

Still, good to get them out so more updates on the blog soon :-)