Some snapshots from us using the Wordsmith Crafts CIC studio to develop skills.
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Research and development
Author: Cathbad
Two days of the land of legends in Barrhill woods.
We have created a storytelling area, a craft workshop, and a challenge of games.
This weekend we have mostly been working with children. Brought by their those who look after them, they have been introduced to ways of being human which inform the legends of heroes.
Their wits are challenged with the games and their patience and ability to learn tested. They can learn dexterity and team work using traditional skills to make friendship bracelets. In the storytelling tent they can use their imaginations to enter worlds where we learn to live.
Most of all, they have had fun.
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Scottish Archaeology Fair 2022
Well we made it! Despite a torrential downpour during set up the team managed to pitch the Iron Age camp.
During the day the public encountered an inquisitive Roman. He was very curious about the state of the roads. He had travelled far with his marching kit, but what would the locals think of him? (And his gifts)
One of the Novantae was making armour, who knows? Perhaps the wire rings he was linking together will survive a thousand years in Carlingwark loch. Hopefully the memories of making that the public gained will last a lifetime too.
From further west, a Selgovae crafter helped bend wire to another use. She crafted copper alloy rings with people. She also told tales from the Iron Age to entertain and expand the minds of all those with ears for listening.
Next weekend we will be in Barhill woodland for the final outdoor event of the season.
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Catken
One of our community engagement tools is a large skin boat.
It was made one summer on the banks of loch ken as a community art installation. People dropped in (walking, driving, and boating) to take part in early medieval crafts and to help build the boat.
This was funded by Catstrand, and the loch was loch Ken, so the finished boat is called Catken.
She is in the workshop just now for some much needed repairs. Hopefully we will have her on the water again before the end of the summer! Before that she will help interpret the Archaeology of Carlingwark Loch this weekend in Castle Douglas as part of a land based display though.
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A Viking Holiday
Cluaran has argued that the sea is a means to travel rather than a boundary. So, when not visiting Scottish Schools to introduce Scots to the Norwegian heritage of Scotland, our members sometimes go to Norway.
This year was a special year, as the west coast of Norway was celebrating the “Rikssamlingen” or “Forging of the Nation” by Harald Fairhair.
It is said that some of those who were not over keen on this left in their longships to find new places to settle, like Scotland, Iceland and anywhere else the sea reaches.
You can read more here in an article we were kindly sent by a Norwegian friend:
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Whithorn !
As part of the year of Scotland’s stories celebrations, Kråkå and Cathbad ‘moved in’ to the roundhouse at Whithorn. During the day they worked at textile and metal working tasks, as well as the ongoing necessities of simply living
Then in the afternoon and evening they told stories…
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Characters on Nithbank
If you come down to Deer park in Dumfries today you are in for a special treat. Along with the Cluaran boat we have characters fished out from the Nith as it flows through time (and the imagination!) This is part of the Nithraid organised by the Stove Network
As well as talking to them you can also imagine a character for yourself – and use it to tell a story.
Here are some questions to think about:
Just in case the google form isn’t working, you can find it by following this link
If you can’t be by the river Nith in person, you can still join in. Use the idea of the river to travel through time. What stories would you tell if you were standing there? What stories would you want to listen to, or do you want people to research. What would help turn the places you live in into a home, rather than somwhere you are passing through?
Here are some signposts to places and groups who might be able to help you turn these ideas into research and reality!
https://en-gb.facebook.com/GallowayLongfhada/
https://www.vikingsonline.org.uk/
https://www.thegallovidianway.com/
https://sites.google.com/view/williamsymington/home/dalswinton-steamboat-1788
https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/lincluden-collegiate-church/
https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/caerlaverock-castle/
https://www.visitscotland.com/info/see-do/dumfries-museum-and-camera-obscura-p251151
And of course, Wordsmith Crafts CIC, especially through the Cluaran Project
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Nithraid 2022
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Locko Park
This will deserve a more comprehensive post.
Everyone is in the middle of event planning though. So until we get time to publish the skippers log, have a look at this schools experience of cluaran as part of the Galloway Longfhada display
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Summer 2022
There have been a lot of changes taking place behind the scenes to get ready for the summer of 2022!
The website has been overhauled to prepare it for the way forward. Also, in order to “stay on course”, Cluaran has changed tack. Cluaran has become part of a community interest company called “Wordsmith Crafts C.I.C.”. It will continue to be recognisable as a project, and one day might set sail again as it’s own entity. For now though it is the living, breathing, hands on heritage part of Wordsmith Crafts.
During lockdown we started to do a lot more online storytelling. This has led to several “in person” bookings. We hope to develop this over the next few months. We will also be sending expeditions around the UK to learn new skills – and might even make it overseas as well!
Please explore the site to read about what we hope to do. Get in touch if you have a suggestion or would like to get involved.