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'Irish foot-soldier'
Chapter House Liber A
London, England, late 13th century
p.107, Arms and Armour of the Crusading Era, 1050-1350, Western Europe and the Crusader States by David Nicolle
273 'Irish foot-soldier', English manuscript, late 13th century
(Public Record Office, Chapter House Liber A, London, England)
A fanciful and mocking picture of the 'wild Irish' made by their foes. Nevertheless, it does include some interesting elements based upon verbal or perhaps even lost pictorial evidence about Irish costume and equipment. The man's fool's cap forms part of a cloak comparable to that worn by the Scots shown in the Carlisle Charter. He wears baggy hose, has bare feet, and wields the axe associated with the most effective of Irish warriors.
