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Houses of Interest: Strathclyde

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The second of the ECWtravelogue posts from its grand summer Scottish road trip. Ayr Citadel was started in 1652 during the Interregnum, and possibly never finished. The site of the fort  is outlined by Montgomorie Terrace, Arran Terrace, Ailsa Place and Bruce Crescent. What had been built was demolished upon the Restoration. The Battle of Kilsyth took place on the 15th August 1645. Having won victories at Tippermuir, Aberdeen, Fyvie, Inverlochy, Auldearn and Alford, Montrose attempted to break into the Lowlands. From Alford, Montrose headed south along the east coast making for Glasgow. Two Covenanter forces, under Argyll and Baillie, following in pursuit. By nightfall on the 14th August, Montrose was camped in the area around Colzium Castle, his forces consisted of about 3000 foot, with up to 600 cavalry and dragoons.   The Covenanters numbered between 3500 and 7000. The two sides met in the area that is now covered by Banton Loch. The traditional deployment h...

BCW Project & Wiki mkII

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  Latest behind the scenes update - August '25 After all the tales of woe and gnashing of teeth (see here ), I'm very pleased to report that: the BCW Project & Regimental Wiki is back! Slightly different domain though: BCW-Project.org.uk  (TL;DR a long story mostly centred around corporate greed). The Project side of things: the Project is 'as it was' when it disappeared from the internet nearly 2 years ago. The Wiki link on the front page, is the only real change, as it has been set to direct to the new regimental wiki address. Over the next few months, it will see some changes, mostly updating the formatting of pages, copyright, updating privacy policies etc. You may find some links broken (this goes for the Wiki too), these are being fixed but may take some time. You will also note that the 'contribute' feature has been disabled. There's quite a few things that need sorting out. The Project side of the site is very out of date software wise, and isn...

Houses of Interest: Fife

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The first of rather a lot of Scottish entries to the now rather inappropriately named, ECW travelogue.  Apologies to Scottish readers who steadfastly, and proudly hang on to traditional Scottish shire boundaries, for ease of writing I have gone with the nine Scottish regions established by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. (Yes I know those areas are now defunct, but it made sense at the time when I was planning the entries.) A brief entry, in comparison to those Scottish regions to come, but important nonetheless. The West Port of St Andrews was built in 1587 as a monumental entrance to the city’s South Street. It was less a defensive structure than it was a symbol of civic pride. Charles II visited St Andrews in 1650 and was presented with silver keys before the West port by the provost of St Andrews. A plaque marks the event, located inside one of the gateway's arches. Battle of Inverkeithing ,  20th July 1651,   saw an outnumbered New Model Army decimate a Sc...

So You Want to Know About Royalist Armies?

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Finally! I hear some of you say. A Royalist Army reading list. Well, there's a problem. The Royalist Armies are nowhere near as well documented as the various Parliamentarian Armies.  Why is this the case? There are, potentially, several reasons. Parliament, at every level, consisted of committees who needed minutes, account books and audit trails. Parliament 'won' the Wars, so these records were transferred to what would eventually become The National Archives as State Papers. The records of the various Royalist Armies don't generally exist in The National Archives. Records tend to exist in the archives of the families of Royalist supporters, and are usually specific to the units that the family raised and equipped.  There may well be 'unknown' military records waiting to be discovered, but these records are not centrally held, and in many cases access is difficult or completely off limits.  Any researcher wanting to collate an "Old Robin's Foot" ...

So You Want To Know About Scots Armies?

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As the Scots fought on both sides, and regularly changed allegiance it makes sense to just write one Scottish reading list. Regular readers (hello all 12 of you) may have noticed a bit of a shift to matters north of the wall. You'd be correct, and can expect quite a bit of Scottish content over the next few months. The 'regularly changed allegiance' bit of that sentence seems rather flippant, but in reality the Scots were looking after number 1. They wanted to protect the rights of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland and would support whomsoever they thought would guarantee those rights. We mustn't overlook those Scottish lords who appear to have harnessed the chaos of the wars to settle old scores, consolidate and extend their lands, and generally feather their own nests. Our starting point has to be Professor Furgol's "A Regimental History of the Covenanting Armies 1639-1651" (John Donald Publishers) .  Long out of print, copies do surface from time to t...

The Scots Army and its Flags at Preston and Dunbar

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Today's post takes a look at a very exciting release from Partizan, that focuses on the flags of the Scottish Covenanters.  Regular readers may well spot a plethora of Scottish related posts over the rest of 2025 - guess where the ECWtravelogue is going on holiday this year... For transparency please note, whilst I do occasionally get sent books to review, I bought this volume with my own money. Nor do I get any commission for recommending any reading materials... which is a real shame... First some background... The Covenanting Armies continually changed its allegiances during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms to support whichever 'side' they thought would further their cause. This book focuses upon the period 1648-1650, where they threw their support behind Charles I, as Engagers, then behind Charles II after the Treaty of Breda. The Engagers had negotiated with the imprisoned Charles I who promised the Covenanters his support of the Presbyterian cause; this effectively star...

Houses of Interest: Staffordshire

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The  ECW Travelogue turns its attention on Staffordshire. For some reason, rather than starting the entry at the bit of Staffs that is 'next door' to  Château KeepYourPowderDry I started with the corner of Staffs that was furthest away. The first entries look at the escape of Charles II after the Battle of Worcester. Of course any post about Staffordshire requires, by law, pictures of Staffordshire slipware - this one by Thomas Toft; Potteries Museum, Hanley First up is Moseley Old Hall  on the outskirts of Wolverhampton, and is cared for by the National Trust. Moseley bills itself as "the home that saved a king" - considering the number of close calls that Charles had during his escape, this isn't really the unique selling point that you might expect it to be. I do wonder how many other houses, along the Monarch's Way could also make that claim? Built about 1600, the National Trust have recreated a seventeenth century garden on the estate. A rather s...