gallo(w)glass

[prettygoodword]

galloglass or gallowglass (GAL-oh-glas, GAL-oh-glahs) - n., a heavily armed mercenary soldier, originally from the Hebrides and Western Scotland, in service to an Irish chieftain in the 13th through 16th centuries.


Specifically from about 1235, and I do not know enough Irish history to understand the significance of that date. I do know enough to know that Hebrideans would be of mixed Gaelic-Norse ancestry, which must have played interestingly with the Norse settlement of Dublin. The bulk of them supposedly settled in Ireland after backing the losing side(s) in the Wars of Scottish Independence, but those didn't really pick up till the end of the 13th century, making the 1235 date still a puzzle. The word is from Irish, of course, from gallóglach, foreign soldier, from gall, foreigner/non-Gael + óglach young man/warrior, and has been used in English since 1515 -- which says something about England's meddling in Irish politics.

---L.

Comments

[thistleingrey.livejournal.com]

I would guess that some of this, this, and the immediate history of the earls of Pembroke. (Let's see what I can repiece in two minutes. William the Marshal married Isobel, daughter of Strongbow and granddaughter on other side of deposed king of Leinster; after son Richard died and his Welsh alliance with him, Richard's brother Gilbert acceded, and he'd married a daughter of the Scottish king; these deaths occurred in quick succession, but mad consolidation/expansion of both territory and bureaucratic record-keeping occurred as well.) There is also this--speaking of bureaucratic consolidation!--which I hadn't known. Those mad increases in record-keeping made it easier to keep mercenaries happy (paid/fed).

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

Ah! Some useful glimpses into the glass darkly. *squirrels these and their clickthroughs away for future reference*