Cluaran Heritage Project
Simon plans to take Cluaran on the water on the evening of Thursday the 5th. Gather at the WSC workshop at 18.00 and we will check the weather. Perhaps we will make to to the pub afterwards this time!
We will be introducing people to Viking era rowing at Carmunnock Gala (firmly on dry land) on Saturday the 14th, and the local primary school the day before.
Well, more like Viking discussion starters!
What it is like to be visited by someone from the Viking era? Cathbad has recorded some answers to the sort of Questions he gets asked by School children.
These might be handy if you live too far away from our base in Dumfries to arrange a visit in person.
These videos are free to view, and largely unedited to give a flavour of what a visit is like. If they are helpful you can buy the artist a coffee here
The Floating Monastery YouTube Channel has full stories on it too!
Not a WSC event, but part of the cloud of community activities supported through the CIC. We moved Cluaran to a new trailer and raced the outgoing tide. More to follow!
If you would like to be added to a WhatsApp group to get more instant info, please get in touch.
Stories have been plucked from the wind and passed down to us from ancient days, with the aid of goose feathers. The quills of scribes fluttered over a thousand years ago to record tales that were much older.
Come and experience storyteller Simon Lidwell bringing a selection of these to life. The tales will be chosen to imagine how the place we know as Dumfries has formed.
What stories would early Iron age folk tell when they forded the river? Why did Devorgilla build a bridge to get people to Whithorn? After each story there will be the opportunity to reflect and chat.
There will also be the opportunity to find out more about writing using a “good goose quill pen” and making medieval ink – and perhaps you might like to have a go!
Access to the church hall can be had via the Brooms Road entrance.
The event will be free to access, but donations gratefully received.
This event is being held in conjunction with Wordsmith Crafts and St Michaels church for the 2025 Spring Wild Goose Festival.
Pen And Think
Date: 14 apr • 10:30
Location: 87 Saint Michael Street, Dumfries, DG1 2LA
Share and enjoy these version of the poster!
It’s been a while since we have been blacksmithing at Taliesin. It is a wonderful place, and an amazing idea becoming real though.
(Some info about the historical Taliesin and the old north here)
They have some events coming up this Easter. We are involved in Quartz things that particular weekend but here is the info to share and look at.
Two successful school visits
After the school visiting there is the unpacking, sorting, checking and repairs! It was great to be asked back to two schools from last year though.
Both teachers and pupils have been very complimentary about one of the activities we offer. In the “Settler to Sea King” game the pupils form groups on an island. They gradually explore the area and find resources to build their settlement. As they build the settlement they gain different ships, and eventually one island will be the first to aquire a dragonship and call themselves Jarls.
The game is based on archaological studies of the Nordrøy/Shetland/Orkney and has a trading game which links to it.
Looking for Vikings to visit your educational establishment? If you have the silver we will travel!
As Cluaran we spend a lot of time in the Viking era. When people think about this time they usually also think about Futhark runes. Some go on to discover the variations in types of Futhark. There are elder runes, younger runes, Futhark and Futhork, poems … Still fewer people explore Ogham.
Like Futharks there is evidence for Ogham runes being used while Rome was the dominant culture. The runes are associated with Ireland, but further research will quickly reveal evidence of their use throughout the British Isles at various times. They are found carved in stone, and also later on in manuscripts.
The quote on the image which introduces this post refers to their use in cryptology. A secret way of writing (the quote is referred to in this article which describes an Irish scholar perhaps imitating an ealier Latin scholar). Most of the Ogham inscription found carved in stone though are interpreted as mentions of people. Public announcements rather than secret lore! Does this mean that have lost a library of lore held in twigs, or twig like runes on manuscripts?
What seems clear from the manuscripts which have survived is that if you are interested in exploring runes, and searching mysteries, then this is something you share with our ancestors. During the Viking era, in the disruption and turmoil, people were being taught their letters and runes. Books were copied and distributed.
This post was inspired by news of a free to access online session which will be held in Glasgow
Find out how digital technologies can transform understanding of ogham writing with Professor Katherine Forsyth and Dr Megan Kasten, OG(H)AM Project, University of Glasgow, at this University of Glasgow Archaeology Research Seminar.
But if those times don’t suit you, here are some links. Perhaps they are ‘keys’ to help you unlock lore that has been stored and treasured. Hidden, wrapped like a present.
Compiled in C13th from earlier sources, the book of Ballymote
A page with clues about where to find Ogham on stones
Wordsmith Crafts CIC (WSC) has been established as a Community Interest Company for three years now. We combined the professional activities of Simon Lidwell, artist, with the mostly voluntary community development activities of Cluaran and Quartz. This was as a response to the COVID years and BREXIT challenges which were a massive disruption.
A CIC is a community interest company. These are taxed like other companies and earn income, pay employees etc. but instead of existing with the purpose of generating profit for their owners and shareholders they exist to serve a community interest.
Each year we have written a report to describe what has been carried out through the existence of WSC. This demonstrates how we have served the community. At an immediate level this community is the members and local people who interact with WSC through its projects. Like those who have rowed Cluaran, or made things at craft workshops. On a wider level it is people who follow our social media, read things online, drop into events or who are pupils in the schools we visit.
I just wanted to drop you a quick email to say thank you so much for this morning. The children thoroughly enjoyed it and have talked about you all day!
Primary School Teacher
In 2025 we are reviewing the last three years of activity and checking that what we are achieving is worth more than the effort put in to make it happen! With a business this is simply a case of looking at the profit margin and returns for investors. For a CIC we need to check that the community interest is being met in a way which is affordable.
Keep your eyes open for the 2024 report coming soon!
It’s that time of year when we get requests to visit Schools again!
We offer tailor made visits to each school. we usually visit for a full day and use a combination of clothing, crafts, games, and objects to hold to involve the pupils in a story. They get to spend a day with one of the people who has contributed to the Scotland we live in today.
For large schools we bring a team, but our visitors are used to working with small schools where there is sometimes only one class in the whole school. Our activities are flexible and can be accessed at various levels by the pupils and teachers.
As a community interest company we use any surplus from visiting large schools to subsidise visiting smaller and remote schools. We also try to pay our visitors a real living wage! Contributions from volunteer visitors allow us to enhance the experience for pupils.
Someone of the status of Cathbad (in these pictures) would usually have servants to do the heavy lifting and ensure his comfort while travelling. However turbulent times sometimes call for unusual journeys to seek refuge carrying the things you think important!