The First Scottish International Aviation Meeting

Abstract

The First Scottish International Aviation Meeting took place at Lanark, the ancient Scottish town south-east of Glasgow, in August 1910, but aerial spectacles were by no means new to the Scottish public. Scotland's first recorded public attempt at flight took place on the ramparts of Stirling Castle in 1507. In this early display Damian made wings out of chicken feathers, strapped them to his arms and jumped! He was only saved from serious injury by landing in a myre full of sharn (mud). It is not recorded what the public made of this but the event finds its way into the annals of Scottish scientific experimentation when the incident was included in William Dunbar's great epic poem The Makars. But Damian proved his serious scientific intent by learning from his failures. He acknowledged that the prototype probably would have worked better had he used feathers from an eagle — a bird not defeated by gravity!