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Thank You!

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Well flabber my ghast. I really am shocked. Shocked I tell you. I started KeepYourPowderDry just under 7 3/4 years ago as a repository for all the scraps of paper that I was amassing researching my English Civil War project. I never really expected anyone to actually read it. But read it you do. Numbers slowly started appearing, a hundred one month, two hundred the next. A thousand views in a month. Wow. (Not that numbers are actually that important: although my inner secret show off does get a bit excited when a big milestone approaches.) Slowly it ticked along and numbers slowly started creeping upwards. COVID happened, the blog kept me sane as I started researching and debunking Wargamer Facts™. From the increasing correspondence I was receiving, my rambling was helping others with the slower pace of life imposed upon all of us by worldwide lockdown. The blog was developing a life and momentum of its own. Fast forward to today's page view ticking over to the ridiculous idea of n...
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Houses of Interest: Borders

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  The latest instalment of the ECWtravelogue summer road trip. This time attention turns to the Borders. The Battle of Philiphaugh was fought on 13th September 1645, to the south west of Selkirk. After Montrose's victory at Kilsyth in August 1645, he made a critical error: rather than pressing on and consolidating his gains, he allowed his army to disperse, giving his enemies a chance to regroup.  the battlefield from the walkway Montrose appeared to be unaware that Leslie had marched north from England with a substantial Covenanter army. On the 11th, Leslie had joined forces with the Lothian troops at Gladsmuir and then proceeded south. On night of the12th, unbeknownst to Montrose, the Covenanter army advanced toward Selkirk, disrupting the quarters of Montrose's rear guard. His seriously outnumbered army was taken by surprise by the advancing Covenanter forces, who routed Montrose's army from the field. The defeat marked the end of Montrose’s effective campaign in Scot...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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" ...
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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...
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