Eglinton Tournament of 1839 - Aftermath

Aftermath

After the tournament Lord Eglinton appeared in the lists, apologised for the rain, and announced that, weather permitting, they would try to joust again the next day or the next. Then he announced to the special guests in the grandstand that the medieval banquet and ball that evening would have to be cancelled as banquetting tents had also succombed to the weather.

The rains had flooded the Lugton Water, which ran around the Lists on three sides. No carriages could cross it, so the entire audience, apart from Eglinton's personal guests, was stranded without transportation. They had to walk miles through the rain and the mud to nearby villages, where only the first people found any food, drink, accommodation or transport.

It did however succeed in publicity terms. "Perhaps the most spectacular manifestations of the Medievalist movement were the Grand Tournaments; historical pageants featuring elaborate ceremonies, costumes, sets, re-enactments of battles and jousting displays. Between 1750 and 1839 at least eighteen of these events were staged throughout Europe, the final being the Eglinton Tournament. This event stands as one of the most glorious and infamous follies of the 19th century. Although a torrential downpour resulted in the 'knights' and their mounts struggling through mud and sleet, all but invisible to the enormous crowd, Eglinton struck a sympathetic chord in the Victorian imagination. It served to whet the public’s appetite for medieval martial spectacle, and this was partly appeased by a 'Tournament and Siege' produced at Astley’s Amphitheatre a few weeks later." William Gilmor of Baltimore, who was there, the next year introduced tourneys in the USA.

The Eglinton Trophy or Eglinton Testimonial is a Gothic style one metre high silver centrepiece presented to the 13th Earl of Eglinton by friends and admirers to commemorate the 'Eglinton Tournament'.

Panoramas illustrated the tournament, using long strips of painted canvas wound round a tube and slowly unwound to give a view of the event. The venue was Edinburgh in 1839 or 1840.

It inspired a successor event in July 1912.

A local pub was named after the event. The Tourney Inn, located at 119 Fergushill Road, Kilwinning was built in 1968 and demolished in 2008. It was designed in the shape of a twin peaked marquee and contained many internal references to the 1839 tournament.

Armour used at the tournament has been preserved in the Leeds Armoury, Kelvingrove Museum, Dean Castle and elsewhere.

The remnants of the tournament were sold off at a public auction and the glasses and crystal used in the marquees for the medieval ball and feast were sold off soon after. A ship named the 'Eglinton' was partly constructed from the wood used for the jousting arena.

A mid 18th C Scottish 'Basket Hilted Back Sword', the hilt elements including a forward quillon and an oval rein aperture, from Eglinton Castle, is now in the Royal Ontario Museum.

The bow used at the tournament by one of the Cochran-Patrick family of Ladyland House is preserved in the Kilwinning Abbey Tower Museum. This bow was made by David Muir of Kilwinning, using Degame wood, otherwise known as lemonwood.

The flag that flew over the castle bearing the earl's coat of arms was eventually donated to North Ayrshire Council and is now kept in the North Ayrshire Heritage Centre.