Groomporter's Page

A work in progress. It will be a three-track Cribbage board with color-coded bands spiraling in to help identify each player's track of holes so they don't get lost in the art.

I just uploaded the April edition of the Celtic History Newsletter that I write each month. It can be read here:
http://lists.topica.com/lists/celtic_history/read/message.html?mid=1721875683&sort=d&start=30

At a reenactors' trade fair this weekend I bought an empty, hand made, wooden, coffin-shaped, banjo case. It was fairly cheap and fairly well made, so I grabbed it in the hope that my teardrop-shaped backpacker guitar (which only came with a fabric case) would fit in it. It was also big enough that I thought I would modify the inside so it could also carry my flute and whistles. Unfortunately, when I got home I discovered that it is about an inch too narrow at the "foot" of the "coffin" so the t… Continue

Anyone who has worn a kilt for a while probably knows the standard replies to the question of what is worn underneath (A few standard comebacks http://tinyurl.com/dm3f6n ). Obviously such naughty speculation is nothing new. So I thought I would share some of the early satires on kilts and kilt wearing I have found. Several of them are from the French who seemed to develop a fascination with kilted soldiers in France following the defeat of Napoleon. A few… Continue

Some miscellaneous notes and stories mainly about board and table games played in Scotland.

In the 15th century the 2nd Lord of Glamis (known as Earl Beardie) was an avid card player. Earl Beardie and the Earl of Crawford were playing cards late on a Saturday night. According to legend, a servant came to remind Earl Beardie that it was nearing midnight. The servant urged them to stop playing saying it was sacrilege to play cards on the Sabbath. Lord Glamis shouted that they would play until Doo… Continue