asked if i was irish

[The Thing]

Interesting how traditions diverge. The motorcycle squadron of the SA Army used to be from the Signals Corps (not sure if they still have them), and of course the MPs also ride motorbikes.
And like the blogger, I find it odd that the Irish Army has a School of Equitation, but no (horse-)mounted escort troop.
And again odd that the Celtic-style uniform proposed was never used, and instead a British uniform copied.
The newspaper clipping also I found interesting, especially since the word used for January (Jänner) is not standard German. Was it perhaps a Swiss paper? (Okay, you might not have the answer to that.)
In closing, the first comment on the blog points out that the Blue Hussars belonged to the Artillery Corps.
This has a parallel in the military of the old Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek (later the Transvaal Province), which had a uniformed service called the Staatsartillerie.
While its primary function was manning the guns, in a country where the majority of the armed force comprised Burgers in civilian clothes, it also incorporated a medical branch (doctors and nurses), a signals branch and a band.
Regards,
Mike

I guess it's cheaper and easier to maintain a motorbike, plus the distances that the Cavalry cover in an escort would be too great for a horse mounted troop to cover in time. The Irish army signal corps are still equipped with motorbikes for dispatch but rarely use them. The Cavalary corps largely fill this role if needed in an ad-hoc basis.

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[Jack Daw]

That's odd, because every time I see Zardoz in a kilt (which is all the time) I ask him if he's Scottish.

[McClef]

Post by highland mafia removed for Moderator review.

[Red Stag]

I have a customer that asks me if I'm Welsh. He said that he has a friend that is Welsh and wears a kilt.

[Arlen]

Whether I'm wearing a Kilt or not people hear my accent and assume I'm Irish. Some even hear me say clearly that I am Scottish but still think that Scotland is in Ireland and I'm Irish.

At first it didn't bother me but after 2 years it's wearing a bit thin.

[Dale Seago]

I have a customer that asks me if I'm Welsh. He said that he has a friend that is Welsh and wears a kilt.

I've been asked as often if I'm Irish as Scottish. (Though Ive both in my ancestry, I'm neither.)

As for Welsh. . ."Welsh tartans" seem to have become popular, and it appears to me that the wool tartan kilt is rapidly becoming, or has become, not just a iconically Scottish garment but a much broader symbolic expression of "Celtitude".

[McClef]

As for Welsh. . ."Welsh tartans" seem to have become popular, and it appears to me that the wool tartan kilt is rapidly becoming, or has become, not just a iconically Scottish garment but a much broader symbolic expression of "Celtitude".

That is certainly true given the Welsh, Irish, Cornish, Manx and Breton tartans that are now in circulation.

Welsh does not actually have a word for "tartan" so a Welsh one is called Brithwe which means "weave."

[Macman]

Where I live most people know the kilt is Scottish. The only person that ever thought I was Irish was my wife, but she's from New York City. A friend of hers corrected her before I had to!

[MacBean]

Where I live most people know the kilt is Scottish. The only person that ever thought I was Irish was my wife, but she's from New York City. A friend of hers corrected her before I had to!

LOL! My wife thinks I must be Irish too, and said as much only yesterday (in Ireland). I take it as a complement; I must say, I found the Irish friendly, engaging, and welcoming of Americans. I guess I'd never realized how many surnames I knew here in the States were Irish surnames.

There are so many folk with Scottish surnames in Ireland, one has to wonder how many of our ancestors came from Ireland rather than Scotland.

[Mike_Oettle]

Irish is one thing my wife will not accuse me of being. She is very proud of her Irish ancestry. Trouble is, it is strongly influenced by her English ancestry, and she dislikes pipe music (squashed cats, she says) and is nowhere as keen on the kilt as I am.
And when I suggested that she wear tartans to which she has some connection, she said she was a little old to start wearing tartan. (Struck me as a silly and pointless remark, and I will not be deterred by it.)
She pours scorn on my Scottishness, but she is no more Irish than I am Scottish. (I am one-eighth Scottish; she is one-eighth Irish – and I suspect that that might be Ulster Scottish.)
Regards,
Mike