Drill Sergeants in Dresses

This week is the 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Stoney Creek! Like, to the day!

To catch you up: 200 years ago, there was a war going on between the British and Americans, known as the War of 1812. There were several reasons why it started. Most notably, the British navy was still bossing around the American navy, even after the US gained their independence in the Revolutionary War; and the Americans wanted to control all of North America (incl. Canada), and the British didn't like that idea. The Native Americans, who were allied to the British through trade, DEFINITELY didn't like that idea.

The battles largely took place on Canadian soil, and one of the crucial ones, the Battle of Stoney Creek, took place where I live and work. In 1813, the American army were camped at the Gage farm in Stoney Creek, Ontario, waiting for a chance to invade further into Canada. The British army, camped at what is now Dundurn Castle, initiated a sneak attack on the Americans in the early hours of June 6. They were badly outnumbered, but the shock of surprise and the illusion of a larger British force thanks to smart leadership by John Harvey led to a British win.

Battlefield House museum sits on the site of the Battle of Stoney Creek, in the Gage house where the Americans were camped. This weekend, they have a huge re-enactment, with merchants, children's activities, fireworks, cannons, old-timey food, British, Native, and American encampments, etc. etc. Fun stuff.

Yesterday was the day for school groups to come and see the transformed park. As employees at other civic museums in Hamilton, staff from Dundurn and the Military Museum led a mock-battle activity for the 2000-odd visiting students. This involved a cannon demonstration (with real gunpowder, but without a cannonball), and large-scale broom drill battles.

To fit in with the reenactors, we came dressed in historic costume, of course - so the majority of our commanding officers were dressed like proper new world Edwardian ladies (we had a few gentlemen as well). And our job was to scream (in good fun) at children about how to form lines, fire and load their muskets (brooms) in an orderly fashion.

It was a brutally hot day, but I think generally everyone had fun. For me, this was the first time I got to wear my 1812 costume (a dark red, empire-waist dress), so I was pretty excited to run around in my skirts being all hard-boiled drill sergeant-y.

Don't be deceived by the dress; I'll make you do push ups

Shortbread by the Slab

When visitors go on a tour of Dundurn Castle, they'll usually be treated with cookies, fruits and veggies from the castle garden, pickles, jams, breads, etc. etc. All sorts of yummy things made from traditional recipes in our historic kitchen.

One of the many perks of actually working on site is that sometimes, the crazy old stove doesn't behave, and lightly scorches a big batch of shortbread - this means that instead of being served to the public, it is plopped on a plate in the staff room.

Imagine a thick, golden, crumbly slab of shortbread, the size of a large baking pan. Drool. Seriously, even slightly burnt, Dundurn shortbread is the best I've ever tasted. Scarfed it before I could take pictures, sorry.

Butts on the Ground!

Today at the Military Museum, we had a school program with students in Grades 1, 2, and 3 - and because the weather is now sunny and warm, we were finally able to run an outdoor activity as part of our programming: Practising 1812 military drills, using a kid-size corn broom in place of a musket! (We call them 'Broom Drills')

This is actually something that was done in Canadian schools in the 1800's - should the military require your help in an emergency, all students would practice the basic procedures for loading and firing a musket, using brooms as stand-ins for real guns.

This was my first time running Broom Drills, and I was pretty excited. For the most part, my group was very good at listening and responding to my commands of "SHOULDER - ARMS!" "MAKE - READY!" and "COMPANY - FIRE!," amongst other orders. 

But the highlight was definitely the phrase I used to describe the proper resting position, to the command "ORDER - ARMS!" This command asks soldiers to place their muskets vertically, with the base resting on the ground beside their right foot. At first, 'ORDER - ARMS' was a little too confusing for these young kids. Now, the real name the base of the musket is called the 'butt' (one of several cheekily-named musket parts - we've already discussed the "Cocking mechanism"), so I started following up the ORDER ARMS command with "Butts on the ground! Butts on the ground!"  

This became the catch-phrase of the day. Even when we were done the Broom Drills, the kids kept repeating "Butts on the Ground!" to their friends. My apologies to their teachers who may be hearing this phrase the entire bus ride back to school.   

  

Children's Water Festival

The Children's Water Festival happens once a year down at Pier 4 Park in Hamilton, and us staff from the Steam & Technology Museum participated this year by offering free educational water-themed activities for hundreds of kids. Possibly thousands. It was crazy, non-stop action. Crazy. Non-stop. Action. But fun. 

I had no idea how huge this event was until I actually got to go participate this past Thursday - there were dozens of other organizations - rowing clubs, Royal Botanical Gardens, Hamilton Water/Waste Water division team, EcoHouse, etc. etc. who came out to provide activity stations for the busloads of Grade 4's visiting throughout the week.  

The Steam Museum activity was two-fold: learning about the history of the Hamilton Waterworks and the importance of testing and filtering our drinking water; and then participating in a relay race called "The Trip of the Drip:" kids pretend they are a drop of water starting in Lake Ontario, and by crawling through pipes, pumping water, and jumping off the 'reservoir,' the drops eventually get to your facilities at home. Kids celebrate their successful water system travels by popping up through an oversized toilet and yelling "FLUSH!!" at the top of their lungs. Good, silly fun.  

I think our station probably was the loudest, with so many kids yelling and giggling as their friends rush through the relay. All of the groups of kids, their teachers and helpers, were happy and excited to learn and try new things at this event. I had three wonderful volunteer helpers on Thursday, and honestly running our activities wouldn't have been possible without them. 

By the end of the day, I'm pretty sure everyone on site had lost their voices - myself included. But it was worth it for a fun, beautiful, educational day learning about the importance of water! Added bonus: everyone now has a snazzy new t-shirt and reusable water bottle! 

Swag

Rock and Roll Zombie

Yesterday at the Military Museum, we had a Rock and Roll Zombie come through our doors. I regret that I didn’t get his autograph…

(It was ‘dress-up-as-a-character day’ at one little boy’s school, and he wanted to be the Rock and Roll Zombie from his favourite show, Scooby Doo.)

During their visit, he and his family also tried on our military uniforms - it may be the first time in history that anyone has ever dressed up as a rock and roll zombie British soldier from 1812.   

*Update* The same week, we also had a young Princess visit us at the Military Museum and Dundurn Castle. She came in full Princess regalia; she was going to a castle after all. I think she and her Mom enjoyed becoming warrior Princesses when trying on our shakos.  

These Things Happen

Stuff happens sometimes at a museum. Stuff like being infiltrated by birds crashing through windows.  This morning at the Steam Museum, we made the unfortunate discovery that some kind of bird of prey – a hawk or falcon – had crashed through a window pane in the Pumphouse. The bird unfortunately did not survive, however, staff were very quick to address the problem and new glass has already been ordered.

But that’s not the weirdest part. In the morning, it was the hawk. In the afternoon just before closing, it was a blackbird. That’s right – we had not one, but TWO bird-related issues this day. As we closed up the Woodshed for the evening, I found that a blackbird had somehow flew inside the building.

Could this beautiful weather be making our birds act a little crazy?  

Staff Field Trip

Every few months, we have a staff meeting at the Museum of Steam and Technology. I realize this sounds boring - but our staff meetings are actually just big potlucks, where we happen to discuss museum business.

Not an exaggeration

But in April, we upped the fun factor of our staff meeting, and went on a field trip. First stop was to Taylor's Tea Room in Dundas, where we had some lovely tea and scones and discussed museum things. Second stop was to visit the old Gartshore Foundry on Hatt Street.

The 1859 walking-beam steam engines at the Museum of Steam and Technology were built in this building in Dundas, which originally housed the iron and brass foundry of one John Gartshore. The building changed hands many times since, and currently has a few new offices for rent inside; but the original workshop area is vacant.

Through her other job with the local theatre, one of our historical interpreters made the connection with the current owners, who graciously took us on a tour of the buildings where our beloved engines were born. 

Usually we receive groups for field trips; this time, it was really fun (and educational!) to be the ones actually going on the field trip!

I definitely did not make Joe and Nancy pretend to be reading something really interesting for this picture.