There is much to like about Outlaw/King, Netflix’s telling of the rebellion of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots. In a very real sense, this tale is a prequel to North American frontier history, for the contested Scots/English borderlands bred the people who, 400 years on, would form the cutting edge of the 18th Century frontier. As HP over at … [Read more...]
Who Do You Think You Are? — Identity Crisis In the Cultural Borderlands
It’s an interesting time to pursue an obsession with indigenous identity. One of my primary interests in Frontier Partisan studies these days is the “Men of the Middle Ground” — those whose racial and cultural identity was mixed in the great kettle of the borderlands. The North American Fur Trade created thousands of racially mixed … [Read more...]
Forth To The Wilderness!
Want to get an overview of the epic story of the trans-Appalachian frontier in the form of a thundering good read — and on the cheap? Dale Van Every’s four-volume history of the early frontier is available on Kindle for next to nothing. Forth to the Wilderness (1754-1774); A Company of Heroes (1775-1783); The Ark of Empire (1784-1803); and The … [Read more...]
Working The Trapline — November 2018 — Part II
A significant development in Frontier Partisans cinema has been announced since the traps were last checked… HBO Films’ long-in-the-works Deadwood movie has begun production 12 years after the end of the premium network’s Emmy-winning Western series from David Milch. Most of that original cast is returning for the film, which takes place 10 years … [Read more...]
November 11, 1918-November 11, 2018
Washington, Monday, Nov. 11, 2:48 A.M.--The armistice between Germany, on the one hand, and the allied Governments and the United States, on the other, has been signed. The State Department announced at 2:45 o'clock this morning that Germany had signed. The department's announcement simply said: "The armistice has been … [Read more...]
The Mad Hatter Of Hollywood
I am privileged to live in the same town as one of the nation’s few traditional custom hat makers, Mr. Gene Baldwin. Craig Rullman, Lynn Woodward and I all proudly wear Baldwin Hats. You should, too. I have no intention of getting a hat anywhere else — but I do want to tip my Baldwin Hat to another craftsman, whose work I admire from … [Read more...]
High On The Hog
Synchronicity is fascinating. I was casting about for an engaging, immersive — and most importantly fun — read for a business trip this week. The past 2-1/2 months or so have been pretty intense, with a move, a gratifying-but-demanding ramp up of activity at the newspaper, a demanding gig schedule and trips across the Misty Mountains tall to get … [Read more...]
Some Come Here To Fiddle And Dance
These days, I’m reluctant to plug in in the morning. Watching the Republic fray and flounder from the inside ain’t exactly edifying, y’know? The “news” is lame and depressing enough — checking the Facebook feed can, in my friend Craig Rullman’s parlance, make you want to shave off your eyebrows. Except... Every once in a while Hillary Klug … [Read more...]
Working The Trapline — November 2018
The trapline is set in the cold waters of a Scottish burn this month. The Outlander Season 4 premier is on November 4, and the trailers continue to indicate a fine rendering of the North Carolina frontier, where our intrepid Highlander couple lands after many a perilous … [Read more...]
The Guardhouse Of The Bloodiest Valley In Britain
By all accounts, the semi-ruined Hermitage Castle in Liddesdale, Scotland, is a grim, gloomy and forbidding place. Sinister, even. Well it ought to be, for the history of the keep and the land about is soaked in blood. Not for nothing was the Hermitage called “the guardhouse of the bloodiest valley in Britain.” The fortress was a key … [Read more...]
