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Redshank was a nickname for
Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
mercenaries A mercenary is a private individual who joins an War, armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rath ...
from the
Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Africa * Highlands, Johannesburg, South Africa * Highlands, Harare, Zimbab ...
and
Western Isles The Outer Hebrides ( ) or Western Isles ( , or ), sometimes known as the Long Isle or Long Island (), is an island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. It is the longest archipelago in the British Isles. The islands form part ...
contracted to fight in
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
; they were a prominent feature of Irish armies throughout the 16th century. They were called redshanks because they went dressed in plaids and waded bare-legged through rivers in the coldest weather. An alternative etymology, illustrated by Jamieson by a quote from
Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...
, is that it referred to the untanned deer leather buskins worn by Highlanders, although Jamieson notes that Scott's source, John Elder of Caithness, actually stated its origin was from their habit of going "''bare-legged and bare-footed''".Jamieson (ed), '' Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language'', v2, p.280 The term was not derogatory, as the English were in general impressed with the redshanks' qualities as soldiers.


Weapons

The redshanks were usually armed alike, principally with bows (the short bow of Scotland and Ireland, rather than the
longbow A longbow is a type of tall bow that makes a fairly long draw possible. Longbows for hunting and warfare have been made from many different woods in many cultures; in Europe they date from the Paleolithic era and, since the Bronze Age, were mad ...
of Wales and England) and, initially, two-handed
claymore A claymore (; from , "great sword") is either the Scottish variant of the late medieval two-handed sword or the Scottish variant of the basket-hilted sword. The former is characterised as having a cross hilt of forward-sloping quillons with ...
s or Lochaber axes. English observers reported that some Highlanders fighting in Ireland wore
chain mail Mail (sometimes spelled maille and, since the 18th century, colloquially referred to as chain mail, chainmail or chain-mail) is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh. It was in common milita ...
, long obsolete elsewhere.Fforde, ''The Great Glen'', 2011 Later in the period, they may have adopted the
targe The targe is a type of strapped round shield that was used by Scottish Highlanders in the early modern period. From the late 16th century, until the Battle of Culloden in 1746, the Scottish Highlander's main means of defence in battle was his ...
and single-handed
broadsword The basket-hilted sword is a sword type of the early modern era characterised by a basket-shaped guard that protects the hand. The basket hilt is a development of the quillons added to swords' crossguards since the Late Middle Ages. This varie ...
, a style of weaponry originally fashionable in early 16th-century
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from where its use could have spread to Ireland.Stevenson, ''Alasdair MacColla and the Highland Problem in the Seventeenth Century'', 1980, p.83 Combined with the use of
musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually dis ...
s, this credited by some writers to have influenced the development of what was later referred to as the " highland charge", a tactic of firing a single coordinated musket volley before closing at a run with sword and targe. However, this is strongly disputed and evidence from earlier periods such as at the first Battle of Inverlochy or the Stettin Woodblock of 1631 indicate that the volley and charge tactic originates in earlier tactics such as the "Boars Snout" to smash shield walls and in the mobile tactics of the Cathearneachd. Many clan levies, however, could have remained relatively poorly armed.


Origins

Many redshanks came from the
clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...
s of the Hebrides. Others originated from the poorer clans of mainland
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. Their presence was, in general, an indication of the politically unsettled conditions in the west of the country during the period, particularly following the breakup of the
Lordship of the Isles Lord of the Isles or King of the Isles ( or ; ) is a title of nobility in the Baronage of Scotland with historical roots that go back beyond the Kingdom of Scotland. It began with Somerled in the 12th century and thereafter the title was h ...
at the end of the 15th century.Stevenson, ''Scottish Covenanters and Irish Confederates'', 1981, p.4 Other than the
Clan Donald Clan Donald, also known as Clan MacDonald or Clan McDonald ( ), is a Highland Scottish clan and one of the largest Scottish clans. Historically the chiefs of the Clan Donald held the title of Lord of the Isles until 1493 and two of those chiefs a ...
, who had furnished Irish lords with soldiers in earlier times under the
gallowglass The Gallowglass (also spelled galloglass, gallowglas or galloglas; from meaning "foreign warriors") were a class of elite mercenary warriors who were principally members of the Norse-Gaelic clans of Ireland and Scotland between the mid 13th ...
system, the men were mostly drawn from the clans of
MacLeod MacLeod, McLeod and Macleod ( ) are surnames in the English language. The names are anglicised forms of the Scottish Gaelic ', meaning "son of Leòd", derived from the Old Norse ''Liótr'' ("ugly"). One of the earliest occurrences of the surnam ...
, MacQuarrie, MacLean, Campbell, and MacKay,Falls, ''Elizabeth's Irish Wars'', p.79 and were often drawn to contract themselves out due to poverty and overpopulation in their home areas. There are records of men of other clans being hired, such as in 1564 when
Sorley Boy MacDonnell Somhairle Buíodh MacDonnell (Scottish Gaelic: ''Somhairle Buidhe Mac Domhnaill''), known as Sorley Boy MacDonnell, whose last name was also given as MacDonald (c. 1505 – 1590), was a Gaelic chief, the son of Alexander Carragh MacDonnell, ...
procured a group of MacGregors, led by their chief, for a season's campaigning in Ulster.Lenman, ''England's Colonial Wars 1550-1688'', 2014, p.51 A further source of manpower was the tenantry of the MacDonnells of Antrim, recent Hebridean settlers in north-eastern Ireland. Their first recorded use was in 1428, when Niall Garve O'Donnell imported a large force of Scots mercenaries to assist in the siege of
Carrickfergus Castle Carrickfergus Castle (from the Irish ''Carraig Ḟergus'' or "cairn of Fergus", the name "Fergus" meaning "strong man") is a Norman castle in Northern Ireland, situated in the town of Carrickfergus in County Antrim, on the northern shore of B ...
.Duffy (ed) ''Medieval Ireland: an Encyclopedia'', 2005, p.554 Unlike the gallowglass, who were hired for long periods of service, were generally settled in Ireland and paid in land and beef, the redshanks were hired for the summer months, often on three month contracts.Lenman, p45 They were
billet In European militaries, a billet is a living-quarters to which a soldier is assigned to sleep. In American usage, it refers to a specific personnel position, assignment, or duty station to which a soldier can be assigned. Historically, a billet w ...
ed (housed) with civilians, usually by force. This was known as the '' buannacht'' system. As the custom of mercenary hire spread from its origin in the north of the country, the scale and destructiveness of warfare in Ireland steadily increased. Mercenary hire was often founded on family links, with Shane O'Neill's alliance by marriage with the MacLeans and Campbells facilitating his importation of fighting men from those clans.Falls, p.81 As the Elizabethan conflict in Ireland proceeded to its culmination in the
Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...
, the use of seasonal Scottish mercenaries was further expanded, as the gallowglass system could not meet the demands posed by the extremely large armies that
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...
employed in Ireland. Despite this, the English never considered engaging the redshanks on a large scale themselves, although Lord Deputy Russell advocated it, and gallowglasses had been employed in the early years of Elizabeth's reign.Falls, p.84 This initial period of the redshanks' employment ended with the final collapse of native Irish resistance in 1603.


Use in the Confederate Wars

In the mid 17th century, a large number of Scottish Highlanders, also often called "redshanks", fought in the
Irish Confederate Wars The Irish Confederate Wars, took place from 1641 to 1653. It was the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, a series of civil wars in Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, all then ...
, notably the clansmen serving under
Alasdair Mac Colla Alasdair Mac Colla Chiotaich MacDhòmhnaill ( – 13 November 1647), also known by the English variant of his name Sir Alexander MacDonald, was a military officer best known for his participation in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, notably the I ...
, himself a member of a minor Hebridean branch of Clan Donald (a cadet family of Macdonald of Dunnyveg).Ohlmeyer, ''Civil War and Restoration in the Three Stuart Kingdoms'', 2001, p.198 However, the Highlanders who fought at Dungan's Hill and Knocknanuss were to be the last of the redshanks.Stevenson, 1981, p.189 The subsequent
Cromwellian conquest of Ireland The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland (1649–1653) was the re-conquest of Ireland by the Commonwealth of England, initially led by Oliver Cromwell. It forms part of the 1641 to 1652 Irish Confederate Wars, and wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three ...
saw the end of the employment of Highland mercenaries, both through the destruction of their employers, the Irish nobility, and the pacification of the Highlands.


References

*Heath, Ian and Sque, David. (1993) ''The Irish Wars 1485-1603''
Osprey Publishing Osprey Publishing is a British publishing company specializing in military history formerly based in Oxford. Predominantly an illustrated publisher, many of their books contain full-colour artwork plates, maps and photographs, and the company p ...
. {{reflist Scottish mercenaries Scottish soldiers Mercenary units and formations of the early modern period