Fort Ticonderoga Presents Lively Scots Day Event June 15
Fort Ticonderoga invites you to explore Scottish history during our Twelfth Annual Scots Day Celebration on Saturday, June 15. Guests can personally tour the Scottish Clan tents to discover and explore centuries of stories based on Scottish soldiers in the British Army through a military timeline.
The Celebration of Scottish History, Heritage and Culture runs from 9:30am to 5pm.
Other activities will include Border Collie demonstrations, special tours, Carillon boat cruises, pipe band performances, and a remembrance service on the Carillon Battlefield.
“The 42nd Highland Regiment, also known as the Black Watch, played a crucial role at Ticonderoga during the Battle of Carillon on July 8, 1758,” said Beth Hill, Fort Ticonderoga’s president and CEO. “The regiment suffered more than 50% casualties during the failed British assault on the French lines at Ticonderoga during the French and Indian War. Ticonderoga continued to be an important part of the regiment’s history. During its involvement in the Iraq War, the Black Watch Regiment’s base near Basra was called ‘Ticonderoga.’”
Further event descriptions are below. To learn more about the event, full schedule and participating vendors and clans, visit www.fortticonderoga.org or call (518) 585-2821.
Special Memorial Ceremony
A special memorial ceremony honoring the 42nd Highland Regiment, also known as the Black Watch, will take place at the Scottish Cairn on the Carillon Battlefield located at Fort Ticonderoga. The procession to the Cairn will begin at 11:20am The Memorial Ceremony will take place at 11:30am and will remember the incredible bravery and discipline of the Black Watch against insurmountable odds at the 1758 Battle of Carillon.
Small Wonder: The Royal Highland Emigrant Camp Color and the Scottish
Military Diaspora
Join Fort Ticonderoga’s Curator Matthew Keagle at 1:00 p.m. for a special opportunity to view one of the rarest revolutionary artifacts in North America, the camp color of the Royal Highland Emigrants. Learn how this simple object provides connections to the international military experience of Scots in the 18th century. This program and the flag conservation were made possible through generous support from the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership.
Bagpipe Performances
Hear the sounds of Scottish bagpipe music throughout the day as the Leatherstocking District Pipe Band performing lively concerts on the fort’s historic Parade Ground.
Border Collie Demonstrations
Join Stephen Wetmore of Spring Valley Farm and his Border Collies at 12:00pm and 1:45pm as they demonstrate sheepherding. See these real working dogs show their skills to move herds of sheep from pasture to pasture.
Black Watch Military Living History Programs!
Discover the history of the Black Watch Regiment through living history programs presented throughout the day. Highlighted programs include a living history timeline of the Regiment. The re-enacting group depicts its history from the 18th century through the early 21st century, with various members representing different significant points in the unit’s history.
About Fort Ticonderoga
Welcoming visitors since 1909, Fort Ticonderoga preserves North America’s largest 18th-century artillery collection, 2,000 acres of historic landscape on Lake Champlain, and Carillon Battlefield, and the largest series of untouched Revolutionary War era earthworks surviving in America. As a multi-day destination and the premier place to learn more about our nation’s earliest years and America’s military heritage, Fort Ticonderoga engages more than 75,000 visitors each year with an economic impact of more than $12 million annually and offers programs, historic interpretation, boat cruises, tours, demonstrations, and exhibits throughout the year, and is open for daily visitation May through October. Fort Ticonderoga is supported in part through generous donations and with some general operating support made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.