Holyrood archeaology day

[JohnC]

Met Mary (Toddy) at the Archaeology Day at Holyrood Park on Sunday, Joe and I had a great time demonstrating flint and steel/bow drill firelighting, chatting with the druid and the park rangers...



Mary lit this piece of fungus in the morning, about 11:00?, by 1600 in the afternoon it was still smouldering away, able to be blown into a hot ember. This pic was after a couple of hours, easily carried in the hand...





A great day.. In the evening we went to see Mr Mears at the Kings theatre.

 

[Toddy]

Cracking photo there I am red in the face blowing for all I'm worth trying to get the red bowl of fire to glow for the photo...we really did have a handful of fire there

It was a very good day, very windy, very sunny, and the company was excellent Druids, Romans, Celtic Warriors, Bushcrafters, and making fire all day long .....what more can you want ?

I've showered twice and I can still smell smoke

Thanks John, you're excellent to work with, and Joe is a credit to you both and himself t

To my certain knowledge John made fire by friction well over a dozen times yesterday He uses a bow made from a strake from a whisky barrel.

atb,
M

 

[THOaken]

Well, I am thoroughly jealous. I did not know that there was such an event taking place... How did I not hear about this? Heh. Oh well.

John, I believe I saw you at the King's Theatre. Great show.

Edit: Or is that Joe I saw, the young man with the ginger hair?

 

[JohnC]

Hello, yes it would have been Joe, I'm a bit greyer and older! Ray was kind enough to sign Joe's knife sheath that he uses and chatted with him.

The bow drill was great fun, but by the afternoon it was tiring! You could really see how the fungus trick for carrying an ember would have been popular..

 

[THOaken]

Hello, yes it would have been Joe, I'm a bit greyer and older! Ray was kind enough to sign Joe's knife sheath that he uses and chatted with him.

The bow drill was great fun, but by the afternoon it was tiring! You could really see how the fungus trick for carrying an ember would have been popular..

Oh, that's a great idea. I realised when I entered the theatre I didn't have anything to sign. I wasn't actually going to buy Mears' book, not because I wasn't going to read it, but because I was going to order it later online. In the end I bought it so Ray could sign it.

Sounds like a great time. I really need to keep an eye on these things...

 

[Man of Tanith]

What fungus was it Toddy was using?
Carrying fire is definitely a great idea and less calorie demanding than bow drill

 

[Toddy]

Put it into your diary for next year. September is Scottish Archaeology Month, and while we don't know if that event will happen again, there will be others all over the country
Worth while building up a list of links to check for similar things though.
Like Historic Scotland (website for their Ranger Service organised events is dire ) look through Events.
The Scottish Crannog Centre.
The National Trust for Scotland.
Edinburgh City Council.
just for a start

cheers,
Toddy

 

[JohnC]

What fungus was it Toddy was using?
Carrying fire is definitely a great idea and less calorie demanding than bow drill

If I remember rightly it is horseshoe fungus, dried out...

 

[Toddy]

That's it Fomes fomentarius. The De'il's hoofnail.

I think it's clearer in the shot of John holding it where it's burnt out to the crispy hard shell at the outside edge.
We reckoned it burned/glowed for about four/five hours, and even at the end we could still blow it up into flame when packed with dried mugwort, grass and oakum.

The chaga is brilliant, but it burns hot and fast. The fomes glows contentedly and slowly, slowly roasts away; it just kind of sits there, patiently waiting and keeping fire alive

The piptoporus betulina is good for that too though, but it needs more attention than the fomes.

cheers,
Mary