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| Irish actor Dave Swift in Redshank attire circa late 1500s |
The text below is a chapter from my book 'The Laggan Redshanks, The Highland Scots in West Ulster, 1569-1630.' It is the very interesting tale of a migration of Highland Scots from Argyll to Donegal in the 1500s. They were, and still are at times, called Redshanks. My interest in this part of the history of Ireland came to me naturally enough, my own family is a Redshank family and in the course of my family's DNA project I stumbled upon this fascinating story. This chapter posted below discusses the use of the term Redshank.
Link to purchase book: The Laggan Redshanks, The Highland Scots in West Ulster, 1569-1630
It is not known when the term Redshank came into general use, but
the word began to appear in published works by the mid 1500s. At that time Redshank was a Lowland Scottish
term for a Gael from the ‘Highlands.’ Scottish writer John Jamison included the term
in his Supplement to the Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language
published in 1825. His entry is an
interesting summary of early usage of Redshank in English. Jamison includes quotes by the sixteenth-century
writers Edmund Spenser, Thomas Stapleton, Raphael Holinshed, and John
Elder. In the citations provided by
Jamison the term Redshank is consistent in that it always refers to a Scottish
Gael. As for the origins of the word
Redshank there are two stories; one that the name came from the hair-out roe
deer buskins (a calf high boot) commonly worn by Gaels and the other being that
the name came from the Gaels going bare legged, or ‘rough footed.’
The dress of Scottish Gaels in the 1500s was in general very similar
to Irish Gaels. The léine, or linen
shirt, and short woollen jacket were worn in both Ireland
and Scotland. The léine came down to just above the knee
and in warm weather the wearer would be barelegged. But, while this mode of dress was common,
various forms of trews were also in wide use.
Most contemporary examples of the trews are ankle length, though there
is one illustration from the 1570s drawn from life which shows a short trew, or
a short pant, similar to a type that was worn in other parts of Western Europe at that time. The use of the kilt, or the féileadh mór,
dates to the mid 1500s, and it was worn over the léine. So, during the 1500s when the term Redshank
came into common use in Scotland,
Ireland, and England, a
Scottish Gael would have been dressed various ways, both barelegged and with
trews. Of importance perhaps is that the
one consistent element of Gaelic dress was the hair out roe deer buskins, which
is at least suggestive that this gave rise to the Scottish Gaels being known as
Redshanks.
Whatever the origin of the term is, the meaning in the sixteenth
century was certainly clear. Raphael
Holinshed, in his History of Scotland,
describes some of the soldiers with Robert the Bruce as ‘Irish Scots, otherwise
called Katerans or Redshanks.’
Holinshed’s work was published 1577 and the word ‘Irish’ meant ‘Gaelic’
in modern usage. Calling Scottish Gaels
‘Irish’ was common in the 1500s. There
was a need in the sixteenth century to differentiate between the ‘Irish’ or
traditional Gaelic Scots and those Scots in the Lowlands, especially the
southeast Lowlands, which spoke Lallans and
had developed their own unique society.
Additionally, Tudor writers often would describe Highland Scots in Ireland as Scots-Irish or Irish Scots, to give
clarification when they were referring to Gaels from Scotland
in Ireland
and not native Irish Gaels.
The term was used for several centuries. In the 1600s, in both the Wars of the Three
Kingdoms (1639-1651) and the Williamite War (1689-1692), Scottish Highlanders
from both Ulster and Scotland were
commonly referred to as Redshanks in English.
Redshanks, sometimes styled ‘Redlegs,’ was also used in the Caribbean to
describe poor whites, usually of Gaelic origin, that were the descendants of Highland
soldiers exiled there by Cromwell. It was
also used to a certain extent to describe all poor whites of Gaelic ancestry,
even Irish. In the Caribbean
the term ‘Beck e neck’ or ‘baked neck’, meaning ‘red-neck.’ was also used to
describe Redshanks. Any possible
etymological connection to the Southern USA term Redneck can only be speculated
upon, but it is of interest that in the American South this term referred in
large part to the descendants of Gaels in Upland
and rural areas.
In the 1500s the Gaelic writers in Ireland
called the Redshanks, who had settled in Ulster ‘Albanaigh,’ which is Gaelic
for ‘Scots.’ The term ‘New Scots’ was
also used to describe Redshanks as a way to distinguish them from the ‘Old
Scots’ that were the Gallóglaigh clans in Ireland. The Gallóglaigh Scots settled in Ireland circa
1250 AD to 1350 AD and as previously noted, Redshank settlements came later,
from 1400 to 1600 AD.
Some consider Redshank as a pejorative term, but many Scottish
Gaelic writers when writing in English would describe themselves as a Redshank
without any negative connotation.
Redshank is still occasionally used to describe people of Highland Scottish
ancestry both in Ireland and
Scotland.
Redshanks were a common feature of Irish armies throughout the
1500s. Almost all of them came from the
western Highlands, primarily Argyll, and from the Hebridean Islands,
but there are examples of Redshanks coming from Ayrshire and Gallowayshire in
the southwest Scottish Lowlands. In the
1500s the southwest Lowlands still had a sizeable Gaelic speaking population
and a culture that was not significantly different from the Highlands. Clann Chaimbeul had lands and alliances in
the western Lowlands and they were the largest
suppliers of Redshanks. The Caimbeuls
drew men and captains from these southwest Lowland connections to serve in
their military forces. The Redshanks
were also in high demand in both the English Tudor army and with various armies
on the Continent. As mercenaries they
were considered hardier than English soldiers and superior to Irish soldiers.
The Elizabethan English were very cognizant of the Redshanks in Ireland. The Calendar of the State Papers Relating To
Ireland has many letters and reports of English officials in Ulster concerning Redshank
activities from the mid 1500s until the early 1600s. English concern and fear of the Redshanks
grew greatly when they began to settle in Ulster. The nature of the Redshanks’
function was changing in Irish society. Initially,
the Redshanks were only paid for time in service and there was the added benefit
that the Irish lords did not need to grant them land to live on. This made them popular with these lords as
they were less expensive than Gallóglaigh.
However, more Scottish warriors were needed as the wars against the
Elizabethan English escalated. The
Redshanks were available in much greater numbers than the Gallóglaigh and the
broadening scope and changing nature of warfare of the 1500s led some Irish
lords, those that could afford it, to have Redshanks settle in strategic areas
on their lands.
From the early fourteenth century, the Gallóglaigh were the elite
element in Irish armies. They were the
armoured heavy infantry and were a warrior caste that functioned much like the
samurai did in medieval Japan. The Gallóglaigh were drawn from Hebridean and
west Highland kindred groups. Their leaders married into the Irish
aristocracy and were granted lands throughout Ireland. These warriors had not changed their basic
mode of warfare and accoutrement of battle since the 1200s. They had an iconic dress and weapons which
included a conical helmet, coat of mail, and two handed axe. Their accoutrement of war was archaic even in
their heyday and was drawn from their mixed Gaelic and Norse heritage. The Gallóglaigh were very effective on the
field of battle. They could stand up to
the shock of English cavalry and were superior to English infantry. Every Irish lord of any importance had them
in his retinue. In the 1500s however,
the technology of war was changing along with the scale of warfare in Ulster. Gallóglaigh were expensive to equip and train
and it was very hard to organize them in numbers sufficient to counter the
growing English threat in Ulster. The Redshanks were available in much greater
numbers and became the most effective way to counter the growing English
threat.
The Redshanks were very successful soldiers and had distinct
advantages over the English soldiers they faced and also over the Irish infantry
and Gallóglaigh. The Redshanks were not
a structured entity in Gaelic society as were the Gallóglaigh. The Gallóglaigh required very formal,
elaborate, training and often the sons of a Gallóglach would follow their
father into the profession. In this
sense the Gallóglaigh were a bona fide warrior caste and were more than simple
mercenaries. The Redshanks were much more
flexible. There were some similarities
of course and at times there was very little difference between a Redshank
warrior and a Gallóglach. The Redshanks were
also soldiers for hire and they came from the same Hebridean and Argyll
kinships as did the original Gallóglaigh.
The Redshanks were trained and hardy, but they were not a Gaelic
societal institution as were the Gallóglaigh.
As soldiers they were straight forward mercenaries, but they would farm,
or fish, or turn to a trade if they tired of a soldier’s life.
The Redshanks were also more flexible even as warriors. They were quick to take up the use of
firearms to supplement their two handed swords and bows and they were noted for
their excellent marksmanship. They
provided the swiftness of Gaelic light infantry, or the Ceithearn, yet also had
the dynamic hitting power and shock of the Gallóglaigh. By 1575 Redshank pay was equal to that of the
famed Gallóglaigh. An example of their increasing importance in Ireland is found in the 1566 letter to the
Elizabethan court by Sir Francis Knollys, an English agent in Ireland. The letter referenced the
growing number of Redshanks the English encountered in the Irish armies they
faced. Knollys reported to Queen
Elizabeth that 300 Redshanks were ‘harder to be vanquished in battle than 600 Irishmen.’
As mentioned, the initial settlement of Redshanks in Ulster
was in the Glens of north Antrim. The
Biséd family of Scotland
had gained control of the Glens circa 1245 AD.
The family held the Glens until the end of the 1300s when the head of
the clan, Eóin Mac Eóin, failed to produce a male heir. His oldest daughter, Máire Nic Eóin, married
Eóin Mór Mac Dónaill of Clann Dhónaill in 1399 AD. The marriage was the beginning of a large migration
of Redshanks into north Antrim under Clann Dhónaill’s auspices. These Redshanks settled in the Glens and
Route districts that were controlled by Clann Dhónaill. In 1542 John Travers, the Master of the
Ordnance in Ireland
wrote:
where as a company of
Irishe Scottes otherwise called Redshankes daily commeth into the northe
parties of Irelande and purchaseth castels and piles uppon the seecoste there
so as it is thought that there be at this present above the nombre of 2 or 3
thousande of them within this Realme
In April of 1571 Lord Justice William FitzWilliam wrote to the Privy
Council:
The Scots in the North
build, manure the ground, and settle, as though they should never be removed.
There is a description of Redshanks found in the early 1600s book Beatha Aodha Ruaidh Uí Dhomhnaill (Life
of Aodh Rua Ó Dónaill), written by the seanchaí of Clann Uí Dhónaill, Lughaidh
Ó Cléirigh:
They were recognized among
the Irish soldier by the distinction of their arms and clothing, their habits
and language, for their exterior dress was mottled cloaks of many colours with
a fringe to their shins and claves, their belts were over their loins outside
their cloaks. Many of them had swords
with hafts of horn, large and warlike, over their shoulders. It was necessary for the soldier to grip the
very haft of his sword with both hands when he would strike a blow with
it. Others of them had bows of carved
woods strong for use, with well seasoned strings of hemp, and arrows sharp
pointed, whizzing in flight.
Ó Cléirigh’s comments referred to an arrival in Derry of a thousand
Scottish Gaels lead by Dónall Gorm Mac Dónaill (presumably from Skye) and ‘Mac
Leóid’ of Arran in 1594. These Redshanks were
in the service of Aodh Rua Ó Dónaill. Ó
Cléirigh was an eye witness of the Redshanks living in west Ulster and his
comments provide an accurate assessment of their dress, weapons and
characteristics. By the late 1500s the
unique Scottish dress of the belted kilt was worn by many Redshanks. The two handed swords and bows described by Ó
Cléirigh were favourite weapons of the Redshanks. Ó Cleírigh also notes the Gaelic dialect of
the Redshanks, which was unique to the Isles and Argyll. As in Antrim, so many Redshanks settled in
west Ulster
that they influenced the Gaelic spoken there, giving it many elements of
Scottish Gaelic.
The Redshank migration to Antrim came primarily from the Hebrides and Kintyre, which were lands controlled by
Clann Eóin Mhóir. The Redshank movement
into West Ulster came primarily from mid Argyll and western Lennox
and was organized by Clann Chaimbeul.
