My fellow mannequins in the Hall have been listening in to the school visitors

M-Foxie hadn't expected to be involved at all. He'd been called ashore as a gunner from the British navy's 26 gun frigate HMS Fox that had been patrolling the Forth during my campaign south from Eriskay. The six cannons at Prestonpans and the mortars had come from the Edinburgh Castle but without any support. One cannon had been used to dislodge the Camerons from Tranent churchyard in the afternoon of September 20th and a second was fired at dawn on the 21st to alert the redcoats to the unexpected emergence of the Jacobites east of the Waggonway. Efforts to disturb the Jacobites at Birsley Brae and in Tranent on the 20th had failed since the mortar shells used were defective.

As soon as battle was joined at dawn with the fearsome Highlanders' Charge, Foxie and his fellow sailors fled leaving the officers alone to fire a single volley before they were overwhelmed. Foxie returned to HMS Fox which, commanded by Captain Beamish, continued to patrol the Forth until it sank in a fierce storm off Dunbar on November 14th less than two months later. Nine out of a crew and Jacobite prisoners of some 200++ were rumoured to have survived - Foxie claims he was one of them!

M-Alex is the son of the Minister of Prestongrange Church who awoke at home just as the battle was concluded. He'd spent the previous weeks working with the former Lord Provost of Edinburgh George Drummond as a scout and reportedly climbed the church tower to get a better view of the aftermath of the battle. Alex found much fame in later life and recounted his experiences at the battle in Prestonpans in his autobiography.

Both these fellows have been listening to the 150+ school children who visited last week and to their teachers' comments. They weren't typical of the cohorts expected from the schools planning to come in the autumn. But there was an important point sometimes overlooked that was strongly reinforced: preparation is all! The two large groups had both already studied the Jacobites at school so when they visited the battlefield or went first to the museum they already had more than a few references to look for ... like where was the thorntree where Colonel Gardiner was wounded or the 1722 waggonway. Their preparation had typically involved looking at the animated tapestry that was made for the Trust by a team in Bayeux. It's phased in three short parts and the animations make a great difference. Unsurprisingly it's in French and English ..but we need a Gaelic version too asap.

The follow through ambition from the Trust is to encourage the school visitors to bring their parents and family members along later and act as their 'guides' with the opportunity to earn the badged title Junior Guide. And of course if all goes well with a school there's every expectation that they'll share favourable stories to fellow teachers and themselves bring the next year's students along.