When the Vikings supported Cromwell
The programme for the Manx Millennium celebrations starts with an enigmatic entry -
"19th JUNE - CASTLETOWN
The place - Market Square, Castle Rushen, the year 1651. Lady Charlotte Stanley with her Royalist troops is once again defending Castle Rushen from the might Parliamentarian forces, cannons roar, drums roll above the onslaught of men and steel"
But who provided this "mighty" force, and who defended the castle. Well, none other than the Vikings who were there for the whole week, and who enlisted a small amount of help and borrowed a few pieces of kit to make the event literally go with a bang.
One of those who made a significant contribution to the week was Phil the Owl, who notes in a letter to the Archives:
"I was in the advance party as I had to organise a castle and a Celtic village. Most of the poster pictures show Gerry (East) and John Wolfenden, who always played the king opposite Gerry. You will notice a few C17th photos from our re-enactment of the siege of the Castle at Castletown (Castle Rushen). All the 'authentic' (?) muskets/pistols etc were outside. The small number of defenders had to run around the battlements to give the impression of a lot of people and used shotguns to return fire.
Several lads kitted out in what they were told was armour with lobster pot helmets decided to form a line and crawl down the pavement - "doing an impression of lobsters" was the excuse they gave.
The French messenger galloped into the square, reared the horse up onto its hind legs, and forgot his speech and in the lull of noise just yelled 'I'm French! Open the ******* gates!'. Now that was a faux pas par excellence."
Somehow the society had also persuaded the owner of several cannon to travel to the island, and Ken Fisher (of the Sealed Knot) is credited in the programme as the gun provider. It is likely that Ken was also the source of much of the other period equipment which made its way into the event.
The local press coverage includes the photo here of the gun crew in action, with several participants visible behind. The most notable of these is Gerry East, standing behind the gun on the right hand edge of the frame, but also visible is a very young Bob Clegg, sitting in the middle of the frame watching from a safe distance due to an injury suffered earlier in the week.
Despite the behind-the-scenes details suggesting that the event was run on a wing and a prayer, the press coverage was very positive and it seems to have been seen as a great success locally.
The programme for the week also mentions Chariot racing and horseback stunts presented by Les Chevaliers Diabolo - they're still in existence - now known as the Devil's Horsemen ( https://thedevilshorsemen.com/about-us/ ), they were established by Gerard Naprous in the 1970s - the very same French messenger who had made such an impression on the defenders of the castle!