Because we’d come home, I was really excited to go down to our re-enactment at NTS Preston Mill. Our re-enactment group were really excited to lend a hand on the mainland to stage photoshoots, with our young reenactor who portrays the Prince happy to dress as Betty Burke to stage photoshoots, with other reenactors happyContinue reading “Over the Sea to Skye – Part 3”
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Over the sea to Skye – Part 2
Back to Bonnie Prince escaping capture as Irish spinning maid, Betty Burke. When the establishment discovered that Bonnie Prince Charlie had dressed as a woman to evade capture and escape, the Government propaganda of the time seized on the imagery of the Prince in women’s clothing to portray Bonnie Prince Charlie in drag as feminineContinue reading “Over the sea to Skye – Part 2”
Over the sea to Skye – Part 1
This blog goes back to 2023. With the baby less than a year old, we had to make a difficult family decision about me going back to work. It had never occurred to me that I wouldn’t go back to my job – I desperately missed my colleagues, the work, and the families – butContinue reading “Over the sea to Skye – Part 1”
Coming out the other side
Lock down restrictions came and went, and came and went. Testing and the hope of vaccination bringing the hope of ‘normality’ ever closer. I finally bit the metaphorical sewing bullet and started to make the boyfriend kit. First a linen shirt. Then my very first soldier’s uniform, for an officer of the 47th. It wasContinue reading “Coming out the other side”
How to survive a modern plague as an 18thC reenactor – looking back on lockdown
This is a blog post on how we got through 2020 and the covid-19 pandemic, and the 18thC re-enactment projects in which we took part.
No Man’s Land Multi-Period – Bodrhyddan Hall (12th-13th April 2024)
First multiperiod event and first trip to Wales! As the daughter of a Jones, I have to bow my head in shame that I’ve reached the age of 21 (for many years now) without ever visiting Wales. My horse’s dad was North Wales dressage champion in his time too, so it seemed like too goodContinue reading “No Man’s Land Multi-Period – Bodrhyddan Hall (12th-13th April 2024)”
Experiments in oak gall ink
I sit starting this blog, between proverbs of portent. I’m not quite sure where to start. ‘The pen is mightier than the sword’ and ‘mighty oaks from acorns grow’, but this is a story of the oak gall. From the diminutive oak gall wasp, with some subtle chemistry as enigmatic as alchemy, we can drawContinue reading “Experiments in oak gall ink”
Leith Hall
A tale of two re-enactments September 2023 and July 2024 Part 1 I can only just begin to articulate how excited I was to hear that we were going to be setting up a full living history camp at the National Trust for Scotland’s beautiful Leith Hall in Aberdeenshire where we could commemorate the anniversaryContinue reading “Leith Hall”
Scots: Cut us, and we bleed Burns
I think Burns Night is one of my very favourite Scottish celebrations. Hogmanay is a blast, but I partied like it was 1999 IN 1999. I’ve done the Edinburgh street party for the bells, Stonehaven fireballs, some epic student house parties that saw in the sunrise on the darkest days, Highland ceilidhs and bonfires, secludedContinue reading “Scots: Cut us, and we bleed Burns”
Reproduction of a Highland Independent Company Short Coat c.1745
Research by Dave Smith and Lesley Smith Seamstress Lesley Smith We were commissioned by the West Highland Museum to make a Highland Independent Company short coat as a part of an ensemble worn by costumed interpreters bringing history to life for visitors. A short distance from the historic ruined remains for Fort William, the siteContinue reading “Reproduction of a Highland Independent Company Short Coat c.1745”
Time Traveller's Guide to Re-enactment 