To celebrate the life of Robert the Bruce, Dunfermline is hosting The Bruce Festival from Thursday to Saturday this week, followed byRobert The Bruce Live! One of the main attractions will be costumed characters and medieval battles laid on by the Clanranald Trust. Chief executive Charlie Allan told Ursula Pool about some of the activities on offer.
Dunfermline, ancient capital of Scotland and home of Scottish royalty from the 11th to the early 15th centuries, will be filled with lights, music, myth, legends and action as it hosts the Bruce Festival.
The event, organised by Dunfermline Delivers, celebrates the life of Robert the Bruce, who is buried in Dunfermline Abbey under the tower that bears his name. Visitors will learn about Dunfermline’s history from the characters who fought for Scottish independence as well as enjoying music and movie-style action designed to bring some of the history alive.
Dunfermline Abbey Nave will provide the setting for the ‘Robert the Bruce – Myths and Legends’ concerts on August 19-21, featuring Dougie MacLean, Karen Matheson and Dick Gaughan.
After the concerts, visitors will be able to take a sunset tour of the Abbey, involving a chronological journey featuring outdoor performance and story-telling.
At the Robert the Bruce – Live! event in Pittencrieff Park on August 28 and 29, Celtic rockers Soar Patrol will provide the soundtrack as the Clanranald Trust showcases medieval camp life with hand-to-hand fighting from movie stunt performers Combat International, fresh from the set of Ridley Scott’s latest Robin Hood film. There will also be battle re-enactments, Clydesdale horses, an international street market, children’s battles and the opportunity for visitors to try archery.
Charlie Allan, chief executive of Clanranald as well as director of Combat International, is passionate about bringing history alive for modern audiences, and says that Bruce Fest is an ideal opportunity to do so.
“It’s about giving people an insight into living history in and around the time of Robert the Bruce. We’re laying on archery; we’ll have a medieval hospital one of the things required during and after the battle of Bannockburn. Archery played a major part in the battle initially before they went in with their swords.”
Clanranald is not just another re-enactment organisation, Charlie explains.
“We’re giving people a more informative experience we’re not re-enactors, we don’t dress up at the weekend, it’s not a hobby for us, we take it very seriously, and it’s a full-time job for some of us. What we’ll be putting on is a display of combat rather than a bunch of guys smashing each other’s shields, which is sometimes what you get at re-enactments.
“We’ll be giving the audience a little bit of a breakdown and a brief on how we go about doing what we do for film and television, and how we have adapted to film and television to make it a bit more realistic which is why we keep being hired by film companies.”
The plan is to enable visitors to get some first-hand experience in addition to being spectators, says Charlie.
“We’re going to hold an archery contest not just a display and there may well be a prop from a movie available as a prize. We’ve got the guys from Nottingham coming up who are part of our group they were in Robin Hood and you’ll see them if you watch the movie.”
There will also be a children’s battle, based on the Battle of Bannockburn. Although there will be real weapons in use in some of the events, this particular skirmish won’t involve anything capable of inflicting serious injury.
“We give them little foam batons because anything else would hurt if they hit us with it it’s bad enough having 20 kids thrashing you with a piece of insulation!”
The interactive component goes a long way towards explaining why their events are so popular, Charlie reckons.
“We visit over a hundred schools a year and we’ve developed the more fun side to it with the kids’ battles. So we try and make it as much fun as possible. It makes it more of a relaxed atmosphere and I think people learn a little bit more that way it’s supposed to be a fun thing. We’re public-minded we try to draw the public into what we do.”
However, they do make sure that as well as all the fun, they are getting the important historical details correct.
“We’ve got plenty of historians in the group. One of our historians is now managing Bannockburn Visitor Centre; he started off life as a volunteer with us. Not only is he a historian, he specialises in Robert the Bruce, so he keeps us right. And we’ve got a couple of archaeologists who keep us on track as well.”
It always comes back to the importance of bringing history to life, he says and not just for children.
“That’s the bottom line. It’s about making it visual for people instead of them just having to use their imaginations. It’s aimed at all age groups. You’d be surprised how many 65-year-old men are standing there just dying to try on a medieval helmet! They try the helmet on and they feel the weight of the chain mail, and that’s their day made.
“They’ve probably never had that opportunity before, and they’re left standing there, beaming. It’ll be a very family-orientated show.”
As to why their events are so popular: “I think it’s because people are genuinely interested in their cultural heritage. For kids, when it’s there in front of them being demonstrated, that makes all the difference. When a kid gets to shoot a bow and arrow at a target, then that’s going to stay in his mind more than anything he reads in a book, as he’s had the feeling of having that bow or that sword in his hand. Hopefully then he might want to go away and learn a little bit more about it as a result.”
Clanranald’s work even goes beyond providing entertainment and education at events like Bruce Fest, Charlie explains.
“Everything we do is aimed towards our final goal, which is construction of a medieval fortified village up in the Carron Valley. That will be an educational facility, and it’s a massive construction that we’re building. There’ll be several long houses and round houses, a pottery kiln, and a medieval hospital. We’re probably the only group that has moved away from the ‘weekend warrior’ side of things and become full-time. The whole thing has just grown and grown.”
In its ambitious project, the trust is building a full-scale replica of an early Medieval Motte and Bailey Fort, typical of Scottish Clan Chiefs’ residences through the early part of the last millennium.
The emphasis is on authenticity, but the educational aspect is central, with the trust aiming to involve as many sections of the community as possible in the project, including education authorities and community and theatre groups.
“We’re working with long-term unemployed and people who have mental health problems. We’re working with the justice reform system as well.”
Although the project is not yet complete, the trust is already seeing the positive results of getting the local community involved, says Charlie, and that provides the motivation to continue so far they have spent £300,000 of their own money, raised from film and television work, on the DunCarron project.
“I’ve got great pride in my culture and it’s such an enjoyable thing to do the feedback you get, all the success stories. People producing community involvement off their own backs, basically just based on having contact with guys like myself and the rest of the group. That alone gives you the motivation to get up in the morning and carry on. But at the same time it runs away with us and we’ve just got to keep going and that’s what we want, that’s what we do.”
Charlie set up the trust in 1995, after selling the sandblasting company he had run since leaving the merchant navy.
“I went into this because it’s what I wanted to do. I thought I was just going to get into film and television work, but the film and television work turned into a group, and the group ended up developing into education. From a little idea sitting in the pub with a few mates, we’ve found a niche and we’ve filled that niche and it’s just grown arms and legs all over the place. It’s great!”
EventScotland has recognised the importance of the festival and this year has supplied a grant towards the concerts and spectacular Son et Lumiere. This year is also Celebrating Fife 2010 a year-long festival highlighting the kingdom’s cultural identity and lifestyle activities.Tickets for Bruce Festival events are on sale at www.visitdunfermline.com/brucefestival. Robert the Bruce Live! in Pittencrieff Park runs from noon until 4pm on both August 28 and 29, and entry is free.”That’s the bottom line. It’s about making it visual for people instead of them just having to use their imaginations. It’s aimed at all age groups. You’d be surprised how many 65-year-old men are standing there just dying to try on a medieval helmet! They try the helmet on and they feel the weight of the chain mail, and that’s their day made.
“They’ve probably never had that opportunity before, and they’re left standing there, beaming. It’ll be a very family-orientated show.”
As to why their events are so popular: “I think it’s because people are genuinely interested in their cultural heritage. For kids, when it’s there in front of them being demonstrated, that makes all the difference. When a kid gets to shoot a bow and arrow at a target, then that’s going to stay in his mind more than anything he reads in a book, as he’s had the feeling of having that bow or that sword in his hand. Hopefully then he might want to go away and learn a little bit more about it as a result.”
Clanranald’s work even goes beyond providing entertainment and education at events like Bruce Fest, Charlie explains.
“Everything we do is aimed towards our final goal, which is construction of a medieval fortified village up in the Carron Valley. That will be an educational facility, and it’s a massive construction that we’re building. There’ll be several long houses and round houses, a pottery kiln, and a medieval hospital. We’re probably the only group that has moved away from the ‘weekend warrior’ side of things and become full-time. The whole thing has just grown and grown.”
In its ambitious project, the trust is building a full-scale replica of an early Medieval Motte and Bailey Fort, typical of Scottish Clan Chiefs’ residences through the early part of the last millennium.
The emphasis is on authenticity, but the educational aspect is central, with the trust aiming to involve as many sections of the community as possible in the project, including education authorities and community and theatre groups.
“We’re working with long-term unemployed and people who have mental health problems. We’re working with the justice reform system as well.”
Although the project is not yet complete, the trust is already seeing the positive results of getting the local community involved, says Charlie, and that provides the motivation to continue so far they have spent £300,000 of their own money, raised from film and television work, on the DunCarron project.
“I’ve got great pride in my culture and it’s such an enjoyable thing to do the feedback you get, all the success stories. People producing community involvement off their own backs, basically just based on having contact with guys like myself and the rest of the group. That alone gives you the motivation to get up in the morning and carry on. But at the same time it runs away with us and we’ve just got to keep going and that’s what we want, that’s what we do.”
Charlie set up the trust in 1995, after selling the sandblasting company he had run since leaving the merchant navy.
“I went into this because it’s what I wanted to do. I thought I was just going to get into film and television work, but the film and television work turned into a group, and the group ended up developing into education. From a little idea sitting in the pub with a few mates, we’ve found a niche and we’ve filled that niche and it’s just grown arms and legs all over the place. It’s great!”
EventScotland has recognised the importance of the festival and this year has supplied a grant towards the concerts and spectacular Son et Lumiere. This year is also Celebrating Fife 2010 a year-long festival highlighting the kingdom’s cultural identity and lifestyle activities.Tickets for Bruce Festival events are on sale at www.visitdunfermline.com/brucefestival. Robert the Bruce Live! in Pittencrieff Park runs from noon until 4pm on both August 28 and 29, and entry is free.