Warwolf, for the ignorant, is probably the largest trebuchet ever. Since it was used by King Edward "Longshanks" against the Scottish in the siege of Stirling Castle (which, yes, we have visited), we're justifying this as part of our Scottish history unit.
Maeve and I assembled it together. Now, this kit was a LOT nicer than most American do-it-yourself kits. (That is, apart from the innate superiority in that it was a SIEGE ENGINE.) It came with a set of plans on which to lay out the pieces to achieve proper angles, and the directions were very clear and explicit. The only annoying thing was that it included about a dozen dowels, all identical except for a few millimeters' difference in length, and I kept getting them mixed up. Which of course entailed prying them out, trying to dissolve the glue, removing washers from them, and then starting over.
The final result was, indeed, a very convincing trebuchet, and after some trial and error, Maeve has been able to get it to fire for several yards. (The engine itself is less than a foot long.)
And now, of course, Guess Who is disassembling it. (Hint: It's not Maeve.)
--Sophia
I'll bet it's Brigid! What fun. You are bringing it back with you, aren't you? Tell your mom that's a "hands on" lesson so you guys are keeping up with your studies.
ReplyDeleteWe think about you and talk about you daily. We're happy for your good time in Scotland, but we miss you and will be glad to see you.
Love to all,
Gramma
Sophia, I enjoyed hearing about your assembly of the siege engine. Maeve, do you recall we still have a large naval warship model to assemble here? Have you been out of Scotland yet - like south to Cambridge or London? The bookstores in Cambridge used to be nice and the "round church", which is an old stone church, was built around 1130. You can feel the ghosts of the old monks walking in it.
ReplyDeleteKeep posting the news. Love, Grandmommy