Upper Canada Village

As newly minted Canadian Citizens, we get a Canadian cultural pass. This allows free access to a whole host of attractions and parks across the country, as a way of helping new Canadians to see and access the country. One of the places we can get into for free is the Upper Canada Village. This is only about an hour and a half from Montreal.

I can remember going to somethign similar as a kid, with the Canadian branch of the family on one of our many visits to Toronto as a young 'un (I think it may have been this one), but I can't remember a thing about it, other than some pigs, people in costume, and it being really muddy. Fortunately, that was not the experience we had today (the blistering sun for one kept the mud at bay). Furthermore, there were two added bonuses to the visit. First off, they were holding a Medieval Festival today, replete with vikings and jousting (not at the same time) amongst a host of other events. This we knew of before going, and was one of the reasons we went today. The second bonus was that the village is sited right beside Crysler Farm, that of 1813 fame.

Firrstly, some pics from the Medieval part of the day.

...and got to try out some others

We got to see all these warmachines in action...

Big'un gets to go for a ride on the knight's horse.

Full contact jousting.

A dragon and minstrel show.

Vikings marching to battle. I was surprised how easily the lil'un followed the chevaliers!

I was sorely tempted by the one with the wings!

Then it was back to the 1860's era village. A great mix of buildings with many roles within the village. Unlike a lot of this type of place, where you just look in and see old stuff, each one of the buildings had a volunteer playing the role of the owner of the building, and each one had very interesting stuff to pass on, as well as was able to answer any questions we had. The last little surprise, was, when looking at the map of the village, I noted one of the homes was named the Robertson House. Made me feel right at home! If you're in the area, I cannot recommend this place more highly.

In the end, the three things in one place was too much for one visit, and we didn't make it round the farm memorial site, so no pics of that. That plus the gorgeous weather all day left those of us with a soft northern complexion in need of retiring back to the air conditioned car before sun-stroke set in. The good news is that there was enough of the village still to see (and a train we didn't manage to go on), that we plan to come back another time (as it's still free for us for the rest of the year), at which point I intend to get a look at the site.

Jacobite June

There seems to be a wealth of articles on Jacobites this month. The main source is this month's Wargames Illustrated, which is featuring articles on the '45. I have yet to get my hands on a copy, but you can find a review on Big Lee's blog here.You can find a listing of the articles that appear in this month's editon here. There are also a few articles in their web only content.

Furthermore I also came across the Miniature Wargames July 2011 edition, which is available online here as a free trial. This has articles on the 1715 Battle of Sheriffmuir. There may not be many editions of the magazine available for free, but those that are are still a valuable resource. Maybe even even enough for me to track down this mag, though finding it here in North America may not be so easy.

Going back to WI, there are, as usual, some web articles available for free. These are mostly articles on the same subject from previous editions. A great resource for sure. In chronological order, the articles are:

Killiekrankie 1689. An old article from Wargames World 3 (from back in the 80's) talking of Bonnie Dundee's Rebellion. More of a Scottish civil war than a Jacobite uprising against a British Sovereign, but the same sides were involved as in the later rebellions.

The Battle of Glen Shiel, 10 June 1719. An article from WI262. Interesting to note the inclusion of Spanish troops in the Jacobite force. There was much talk of alliances with the French and other catholic powers in the Jacobite wars, but for many reasons, the support rarely manifested itself as troops on the field. The Government side in this battle also included Dutch allies. A rather international affair. Miniatures for the article supplied by Reiver Castings. Also interesting to note that The only Robertson mentioned in this article is a commander of the two regiments of Hanoverian dragoons. Usually the Robertsons you hear of were Jacobites. Further investigations required there.

Three Battles of the '45 Rebellion. A link to an article from. the three battles are: Prestonpans, 2I Sept 1745; Falkirk, 17 Jan 1746; and of course Culloden, 16 Apr 1746.

Painting Stuart Tartan. I have seen a few tutorials on painting tartan, this seems. Painting the jacket seems to give a larger surface than the usual kilt, so may be worth a shot when I do mine. Interesting to notice the black isn't black, but 50:50 with the deep red base-coat.

I may have to make use of Warlord Games Diamond Jubilee special to get me some miniatures for these engagements, or at least a rulebook for Last Arguement of Kings.

Whilst I'm linking to free online magazines, there's also Portal 22 available online. Not the same historical subject matter, but a fun read none-the-less, with some nice painting tutorials.