Covenanter musketeer

Watercolour on bristol board

Last weekend I headed along to Dumbarton Castle where Historic Scotland was 'Holding the Rock for Scotland' - reliving the history of the 1640s when the Covenanters besieged and took the Royalist held castle before later switching sides and allying themselves with Charles I and defending it against Cromwell's redcoats. Despite the wet and windy weather, a small group of re-enactors put on a great show of musketry and swordfighting, and it was interesting to learn about the weapons and equipment of a Covenanter soldier from this period.

Most of the musketeers in both armies would have been equipped with matchlock muskets, although some had flintlocks which were gradually replacing the older technology. The matchlocks took time to reload and weren't very accurate, so regiments would fire in massed ranks and at relatively close range to cause any damage. And whilst some Covenanters did have swords, most were not trained in how to use them, so they preferred to use the heavy stock of their musket as a club once they set about their foe!