Bannockburn, 31st August and 1st September 2002
Photographs by EJ Wilson, C Murphy, and P Murphy. Copyright
©2002, no commercial use without explicit permission from the photographers.
The first formal re-enactment of the Battle of Bannockburn
took place on the battle site, now a National Trust for Scotland property,
with about 200 people attending in all. The battle featured maybe 80 people
on the Scottish side, with the English outnumbered about 3:2 on each day.
Overall, I'd rate the event as a success. There were minor
issues with the site and the organisation of the event, and a more serious
issue with the authenticity of some of the kit on display. While I am
aware that the kit guidelines were dropped to ensure that a good number
of people turned out, and I appreciate the efforts made by those who attended,
I was personally disappointed that the more obvious cases had not made
more effort to disguise their kit, or to leave out the really obvious
items which were out of period.
Each of the photos below can be opened in a new window,
some of which have a commentary on the content of the photo, or on particular
aspects of the kit on display. The intention here is not to pick holes
in individuals, but rather to provide some idea of what kit you cannot
reasonably get away with for this event if it happens again. If this causes
offence, then I apologise in advance, for this is not my aim.
Paul Murphy
|