Fort Henry Days at Oglebay Park (Wheeling, WV)

Labor Day Weekend brought another weekend of music and history when Wayward Companions and I traveled to Fort Henry Days in Wheeling, WV for a gig. I left ahead of everyone on late Friday afternoon and met up with my camping friends. For some 18th century style camping, of course.

Not too far away from us was the Gallowglass tent. Their music could be heard across the park as they were jamming into the night. I went over to say hello and before long, there was a nice group of us drinking Irish malt and Scottish whiskey while singing a bunch of traditional tunes and talking into the night (it was a gorgeous night too!).

I believe it was 2am before the last couple of us finally retreated to our tents!

Despite the very late night, I was actually able to get up early and jog as I love to do at these things. The scenery is always beautiful.

It is also nice to look around at the campsite first thing in the morning. :)

At the Claus and Truax Jackware tent!

So Saturday was a very busy day for me, between getting footage and photos for the blog and social media, interviews for the podcast and then performing the first set of the weekend with Wayward Companions. I barely had time to sit down!

One of the first events of the morning was the dancing, with music provided by the Irish folk band, Gallowglass.

Gallowglass providing music for the dancing. Which I ended up getting pulled into. It's all good, though. I'm not shy and I'm a trained dancer. :D

After that, I had my first interview of the weekend. I was introduced by Diane Coughlan of Gallowglass to historian Joe Roxby and after his lecture, he ended up being interviewed on Inside the Labyrinth, discussing a lot of the early history of the Wheeling, WV area.

Joe Roxby gives his lecture on the early American frontier

After Joe Roxby, Mike Petersen - dulcimer and concertina player of Gallowglass - was my next victim in being interviewed for the podcast (interview links will be posted at the end). We had a very fun and fascinating discussion about the history behind a lot of the traditional music typically performed by Celtic and Irish music groups. Gallowglass also performed musical demonstrations throughout the day.

Random selfie of me with my parasol that I bought from The Mountain Forge at the French Creek Heritage Festival in Cochranton, PA.

After that, I did two more interviews. One with Medicine Woman and Herbalist, Tre Megown, followed by Elizabeth Huxford on Native American customs, particularly the Shawnee tribe and their particular customs (because we really need to dispel the myth that all Native American tribes were the same and held all the same beliefs...they were not and did not).

thank you Diane Coughlan for capturing these photos of me interviewing the lovely and fascinating Tre Megown

After the last two interviews, I had about an hour to kill before the first Wayward Companion set and my bandmates were arriving (they were roughing it up in hotel accommodations). Then we performed our first set under the pavilion.

thank you again to Diane for capturing these photos of the performance!

the crowd in the pavillion

After our performance and the reenactment, it was dinner time. I went to the dining hall with my camping friends. Fort Henry Days provides a great dinner, and it is especially nice when you sit outside with the fort and reenactment scene as a backdrop.

who wouldn't want to eat with this as a view?? :)

After dinner, it was time for me to get ready for the second Wayward Companion performance for the weekend, which was their evening tavern.

I was the first one in the tavern

setting up!

a very dark picture after the tavern got going

There was also a brief thunderstorm during the tavern and it was a really cool experience being inside the tavern, playing period music by candlelight while that was happening!

The following morning, I was so tired that I could not bring myself to get up and jog, or even go for a walk. So instead I just slept for as long as possible before I had to get up and get ready for the last day of Fort Henry Days and the final performance of Wayward Companions!

We played for a very nice and attentive audience, and then Kara Gordan was on, giving an interesting and informative talk on 18th century men and women's clothing. There wasn't enough time to have an on camera talk with her, but I would love to have her back on here as she is definitely someone I and many others would consider an expert on historical clothing. Plus she reiterates something I've been saying since I've started this whole living history and reenacting thing:

Stays (some might group them in with corsets) are NOT THAT BAD. In fact, I sing, dance, and do all kinds of activities in mine in all sorts of weather conditions. And I still have yet to even remotely need the mythical fainting couch.

Kara giving her lecture on clothing

After that it was on to the Ladies Tea, which is always very enjoyable.

With the hot weather, though, I wasn't much in the mood for a hot beverage, so I mostly sipped on a chilled Ginger Switchel which was the bomb. I am seeking out the recipe as I type this so I can make it.
One interesting fact about the ginger switchel, is that it is the 18th century's answer to Gatorade. If you were feeling faint and needed electrolytes, this was your beverage of choice.

18th century Gatorade

chilled lemon balm tea, which was also quite good

other video footage I got of Fort Henry Days weekend, which includes my friends at the Mountain Forge!

One of my last stops was saying hi to the very beautiful ladies of Applegate's School of Needlework. The photos alone should imply why I loved stopping by their tent! I'm all about the sewing and the spinning. :)

Applegate's School of Needlework is part f the Beaver County Historical Research & Landmarks Foundation. And upon visiting their website, I definitely plan to visit (all links will be at the end of this post)!

Me at the end when I was very spent and no longer looking or feeling very fresh

a few books on display by author Alan Fitzpatrick

But of course I couldn't leave without a purchase from one of my favorite sutlers, The Mountain Forge. :)

I ended up adding to my hand fan collection and also buying a hussef/sewing kit. I typically sew up my own hussefs, but this was too adorable to pass up. :)

After the last reenactment, it was time to start heading out. So I changed into 21st century clothes, helped take down the tents, and then Paul, Sarah and I went to this really great BBQ place within the Oglebay ski lodge.

Fort Henry Days 2018 was a great event. It was my second year there and I look forward to next year. :)

And check out the following links:

Gallowglass

http://facebook.com/gallowglassband

Elizabeth Huxford

https://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.huxford

Beaver Country Historical Research & Landmarks Foundation

http://bchrlf.org/

The Mountain Forge (they are in the process of making adjustments on their website):

https://www.facebook.com/KMMountainForge/

And finally, links to the interviews (Elizabeth Huxford will be up on September 25):

Joe Roxby