Holding the Rock for Scotland – Dumbarton Castle

At the weekend Historic Scotland held a re-enactment of the defence of Dumbarton Castle during the Scottish Civil War. It was a cold, wet and windy day, but it was still very entertaining and the Castle was very busy.

 

Dumbarton Castle is situated on an extinct volcano and there are 540 steps to climb to get to the top of it. We did it twice. It is not too difficult for a reasonably fit person.

 

Dumbarton Castle

 

On March 26th,1639 the Covenanters seized Dumbarton Castle. Dumbarton Castle was located on the River Clyde and controlling it would prevent unauthorised access to Glasgow and the West of Scotland.

 

Who Were ‘The Covenanters’?

 

These were the Scottish Presbyterians who in 1638 signed the “National Covenant” to uphold the Presbyterian religion and the “Solemn League and Covenant” of 1643, which was a treaty with the English Parliamentarians.

Covenanters flag

The Covenanters made a stand for political and religious liberty that led to almost a century of persecution and their widespread migration to Ulster and the American colonies.

 

Covenanters used the base of  muskets to attack the enemy

The Covenanters sought to have the church organised as written in the  Scriptures. There was only one Head of the Kirk – Jesus Christ  and they refused to accept the King in that role. Charles I was a Stuart King who believed in the divine right of kings.

Firing muskets

Close-up of an officer refilling his musket with gunpowder

The muskets were filled with gunpowder and lit by a rope soaked in saltpeter. If it was wet, the muskets often misfired. The gunpower was kept in small wooden containers worn on a belt across the body.

 

The Covenanters were not taught swordfighting

The Covenanters were issued with a short sword but were not taught to swordfight. Only gentlemen were taught this. They preferred to use the end of their muskets or a small dagger to attack the enemy.

The officer on the right in the above photograph is a man of substance as he can afford boots. Ordinary soldiers wore shoes instead.

 

Clothing of the Covenanters

The Covenanters wore clothing which they could get a hold of and did not have an official uniform. They mostly wore grey. The gentleman in red is a man of substance as he can afford better quality cloth.

 

A seargent

A seargent could be identified by the long wooded pole he held with a curved dagger at the top. 

 

Blowing the doors of the castle open

Using a charge to open the doors

To open the doors of the castle, a tripod was used to hold a charge which caused a small explosion.

 

Making the lead pellets for the muskets

The Covenanters had a few watchwords including ‘Jesus and no quarter’ and ‘God is with us’.  On entering the Castle we had to say these words.

 

It was a very interesting day and we learned a lot about this important period in Scottish history.

 

Further Information

Grid reference: NS 398 744.

Historic Scotland:

http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/index/places/propertyresults/propertyplan.htm?PropID=PL_100&PropName=Dumbarton%20Castle#contact

Covenanters:

http://www.covenanter.org.uk/WhoWere/

Buchanan Street, Glasgow

Glasgow is one of the top shopping centres in Europe and most of the up-market stores and brands are found in Buchanan Street. Brands such as Karen Millen, Apple, Omega, Rolex, Hermes, Prada, Gucci etc are sold in the shops in this famous street. 

It is the 6th most expensive street in the UK with regard to retail rents (the first five are in London).

Buchanan Street dates from the late 18th century and is named after Andrew Buchanan of Buchanan, Hastie, & Co who was a wealthy tobacco lord. He was the owner of the ground on which the current street is located.

In keeping with a city which became very wealthy through trading with the Americas and West Indies, many of the buildings are very ornate and beautiful both externally and internally.

While I was there recently I spent some time looking at the buildings as I walked from the top of the street, just outside Glasgow Concert Hall, to Argyle Street at the bottom.

 Concert Hall
It is not unusual to find an opera singer or band performing outside the Concert Hall and on the day I was there Canadian opera singer Kyla Lingley was singing some well-known operatic arias to raise money for breast cancer. Many of the other shoppers stopped to listen to a wonderful singing voice. 

Walking down the street, the beautiful carvings on many of the buildings are testament to the wealth of the City which was once known as the ‘Second City of the British Empire’ in the 19th and early 20th centuries. 

 Below shows some photographs of Buchanan Street.

Outside the North Face Shop

Outside the Royal Bank of Scotland

St George’s Tron Church

Urban Outfitters

Frasers Department Store

Nationwide Building Society

As the above photographs show, Buchanan Street has some of the most beautiful Victorian architecture in Glasgow

Summerlee Museum of Industrial Life, Coatbridge

                                          Map of Summerlee Museum in Coatbridge 

 Summerlee Museum

 

 

 

Summerlee in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire is a museum dedicated to industrial life and includes heavy engineering equipment, a reconstructed coal mine, a working tramcar, workers cottages equipped with items from various decades and an indoor museum.

 

It is run by North Lanarkshire Council and is a ‘VisitScotland’ ’4-star’ rated visitor attraction. In the last few years 10GBP million has been spent on its redevelopment.On the day of our visit it was a warm and sunny, which made it more enjoyable.

 

Summerlee Ironworks

 

The museum is built on the site of the old Summerlee Ironworks and includes the main workshop of the former Hydrocon Crane factory, which in now used a visitor centre.The museum shows Lanarkshire’s contribution to engineering with its many items of equipment.

 

As it was such a good day we spent most of the time looking at the external buildings and equipment rather than the indoor exhibits. The tram was operating throughout the day ferrying passengers to the mine. We walked the short distance to the mine and the miners cottages.

 

Tramcar

 

Tramcar

 

Miners Houses

 

Unfortunately the mine visits were fully booked so we spent some time in a small street which contained the houses of former miners which were in use when the mines were fully operational. The houses were furnished in the style of different periods from the 1840′s until the 1980′s.

 

Street with miners houses

1840′s living room

1880′s living room

1900′s living room

1940′s living room

1960′s living room

1980′s living room

 It was very interesting seeing how household fashions change over the decades.

 

Mining equipment

We were only able to see the external part of the mine but there was not much to see at ground level.

 

Locomotive No. 4112

 

There a large locomotive on display. This was a No. 4112 locomotive built by the North British locomotive Company in Springburn, Glasgow in 1956. During its working life it had been used in South Africa to transport to transport freight.

 

No. 4112 locomotive

Rail Steam Crane

 

Another large piece of engineering equipment was a rail steam crane
which was made in 1944 by Marshall Fleming for Colvilles Steelworks and
used at Clydebridge Steelworks in Rutherglen and the Dalzell Steelworks
in Motherwell from the 1950′s until 1986. It is the last steam crane
made in Scotland.

 

 

Rail steam crane

They were used as railway breakdown cranes and are often seen on heritage railways in the United Kingdom.

The above is a short description of the day. There were many items of equipment indoors and I will write about these in a later article as well as the visit to the mine. It is a great day out and well worth a visit.

 

Further Information

Address: 

Heritage WayCoatbridge

ML5 1QD

 

North Lanarkshire Council:

http://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=15877