Thoughts about Black Watch

Hey all:



Chirp....Chirp.....that's the birds who have all the time in the world to sing their songs because, well, no one has really posted yet on BlackWatch. Not sure why but we are getting to the time in the semester where everyone (including me) are overworked, overtired, and just want a break.

Push through it.


We are almost to the halfway point of the semester and we all just have to keep pushing forward to get to the end. You can do it! I have been impressed by your comments in class and your thoughts on your blogs. Don't fall behind! You can do it! {Did I mention that you can do it?}


Another reason why you may not be writing that much about BlackWatch is because you are finding the language very difficult. Me too. I find myself reading and rereading lines outloud over and over again just to attempt to get at what a word means--and many times I still am not sure. (Um, anyone know what "yinced" means?). But what I do is try to get the gist of the word and the feel behind it. Plays are, after all, meant to be preformed and during a play you miss words sometimes but you can still get the meaning. In class, we will go over some sections and maybe together we can decipher some of the words (oh and get ready to act out some scenes again--you all did such a good job in THE MERCY SEAT). But I am certainly looking forward for us to see the play because I think it will help me get this material so much better.......


Anyway, for tonight's class, I would like to do two things. First, I want us to get into a good discussion about this play. And second, I want us to spend at least an hour going over some ideas for the Midterm that we will have in two weeks.



Let's talk a little history about Black Watch .

In 1725, The Highland Guard was formed from independent tribes or companies to "police" and "watch" the Highlands of Scotland (and thus their name, Black Watch). Who were they policing? The Scots themselves , many of whom were still loyal to the exiled Stuarts, and who were not friendly with the English King. The Commander-in-Chief at the time was General George Wade who decided to arm six Highland clans who were most loyal to the King (interestingly enough, the clans were Campbell, Grant, Fraser and Munroe) and they were their to keep order and peace.



They became known as "Am Freiceadan Dubh" or "The Black Watch" because of the dark tartan they wore. This was different from the "regular" army who wore bright red uniforms of the English. Their main job was to spy on other Highlanders (these clans were the only ones allowed to carry weapons and so they could arrest anyone they found with one).



In 1736 the French and Indian War broke out in North American and the Regiment was shipped to New York, where, because of their kilts, many of the Natives thought that they were distantly related to the men of the BlackWatch.



They were later sent to New York to drive Washington from Brooklyn and attacking troops in White Plains, N.Y--although they did not take any battle honors because they thought that they should not have been fighting against their "kith and kin." "Campaigns in Flanders and the Napoleonic Wars followed in the Regiment's history, and it was during this period that The Black Watch won the right to wear "The Red Hackle," a red vulture feather, in its bonnets, a right safeguarded by an Army Order which described the Hackle as "to be used exclusively by the 42nd Regiment" (the number of the regiment).


There was another episode of the sinking of the Birkenhead. The 42nd was in South Africa and their ship was struck and sinking. When told that their only hope of survival was to jump overboard and swim for the lifeboats they refused because this endanger the women and children already in the boats. The men stood firm in their ranks while the ship sank and 357 of them were drowned. The Black Watch then became fully entrenched in Britain's Wars fighting against Napoleon; fighting in the Peninsular War and at Waterloo; fighting in the Crimea where they took part in the Battles of The Alma, Balaclava and Sebastopol; fighting in the Indian Mutiny and in South Africa; fighting in the First World War, when a total of five Battalions were raised and in which 60 Battle Honours were gained (interesting sidenote: The fearsome reputation of these kilted soldiers led to their acquiring the nickname "Die Damen aus der Hölle" or "the Ladies from Hell" from the German troops that faced them in the trenches) ; fighting in the Second World War when the Regiment was represented in every major theater of war except Norway and Malaysa; and fighting in Korea, in 1952 along side their American and Canadian allies.

You get a feel for all of this history in the play on pages 30-33 under the title "FASHION."

But the play that you read is, of course, about the deployment of troops in Iraq. When doing some research on the subject, it was interesting to find how Gregory Burke (the writer) weaved in the current history into the play. In 2003, the Black Watch fought in the initial attack on Basara and suffered one single fatality in the whole fight. The following year, the Black Watch was again deployed to Iraq. AS discussed in the play, On August 12th a soldier was killed as a result of an IED. When the U.S. requested that the British forces take over positions that they originally had, it started a fierce battle in Parliament. Eventually The Black Watch did take over these positions. The soldiers were based in Camp Dogwood, located between Fallujah and Karbala, in an area later dubbed the "Triangle of Death." They were attacked often and were under repeated mortar and rocket attacks (compare this to JARHEAD). On November 4th three soldiers and an interpreter were killed by a car bomb--this is the story that is discussed in detail in the play.

About a month later, it was announced that the Black Watch would join five other Scottish regiments to form the ROYAL REGIMENT OF SCOTLAND and the measure was implemented on March 28, 2006. While the Black Watch will still keep its name, the move was a reflection of the problem of recruiting soldiers.

Here's a promotional video for the Black Watch.

Pipes and Drums Music.

Here is a video of the museum for the Blackwatch.

Black Watch youtube video of playing the drums.

The Black Watch marching into town.

Looking at this play, I want to go through each section so we can figure out the main point of each one.
Here we go:

1) Tattoo

What's the point of having this intro? How would you say the soldier's reaction to the audience is? Why is it called a tattoo?

2)Pub I
Why are the soldier's in the pub? What is their feeling toward the writer? What do they think that the soldier is going do to them (and for them)? What is the point to have the extract from the Today program brought into the soldier's discussion? What role does politics play in the day to day life of the men in the 42nd regiment?

3)Camp Incoming
What is the soldier's job? What are their reactions to the bombs? Can you relate some of these reactions to Swofford's reaction in Jarhead?

4)Officer E-mail 1 11)oFFICER eMAIL 2 13)Officer E-mail 3
What's the point of having this e-mail? How is the language and the tone different? Is this a letter of hope or one of discouragement? What is being expressed here that is not being expressed, say, in the pub scenes?

5)New Boys
This is a fairly long piece and there is a lot to be discussed. Is the paper incident there for comic relief only--or what larger issue is being brought up? How does the Sargent "sell" the war to the soldiers--and how is this different from the way that the wars were described in previous generations?

6)The Gallant Forty-TWA
Let's all go through this together and try to sound out the words that we are not sure of--we can help each other sing this song.

7)Pub 2 and 8) History
This section deals with the way that soldiers were brought into the war. How were they recruited? What sold them on joining? How is this different from the promotional material we heard (will hear) in class? The men place themselves in the "bird's" role--why? What role does history play in this regiments understanding of war and responsibility?

In the shorter history section, I'm interested in discussing how the "official" history plays out in the "practical" history that the soldiers discussed? Are they the same? Different?

9)Embeds and 10) Blueys
There is no way for me to talk about this section without bringing up the whole scene from Jarhead. Relate the two together and discuss how they are connected. Bluey's has no dialogue but I also think it relates a lot to Jarhead. Connect.

11)Allies
What are the soldiers understanding of Americans. Is their animosity? Why? How does that relate to the larger thought about America.

12)Pub 3
How is this different from the other scenes in the pub? Is it getting meaner? What more is being revealed? Why does this word "bullying" come up again and again?

14)On patrol
What is the scene about? Is it all setup? Or how can you relate this to Jarhead?

15)Pub 4
Again, this scene is getting a bit harsher and darker. More violent and eerie.

16)Suicide and 17)Casualties

18)The Future
Why is this called the future? The future of what? This also seems to be the most articulate scene in the whole play--what is being expressed? And how does this relate to the rest of the play?


Okay, as always, I will leave a lot of space for you to talk about the things in this play that you want to talk about. Some come into class with your ideas and things you wish to discuss. See you soon.

Preview of BlackWatch.