Kern (soldier)
A kern was a Gaelic warrior, specifically a light infantryman, in Ireland in the Middle Ages.
Etymology
The word kern is an
Military roles
Kerns notably accompanied bands of the
Earlier, the ceithern would have consisted of myriad militia-type infantry, and possibly light horse, most likely remembered later in the "horse boys" that accompanied gallowglass and fought as light cavalry. They would be armed from common stock or by what they owned themselves, usually with swords, shields, bows, javelins and filled out numerous portions of an army, probably forming the vast bulk of most Gaelic forces. In the mid-16th century Shane O'Neill was known to have armed his peasantry and Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, outfitted many of his Ceithernn with contemporary battle dress and weapons and drilled them as a professional force, complete with experienced captains and modern weapons.[3][4]
- Military equipment and tactics
Jean Froissart (c. 1337–c. 1410) includes a description of the Irish wearing "very simple" armour (perhaps leather or fabric forms of protection). Kerns were light troops who relied on speed and mobility, often utilising
Kerns did not cling to their obsolete weapons and tactics but wholeheartedly and with great speed adopted weapons and military methodology of the continent, becoming heavily dependent upon firepower. However, they retained their original armaments and used them to great effect in areas where pike-and-shot formation was ineffective, such as woodland and dense scrub.[7]
Woodkerns
Native Irish displaced by the Anglo-Norman invasion, operated as bandits in the forests of Ireland where they were known as "wood kerns" or cethern coille.[8] They were such a threat to the new settlers that a law was passed in 1297 requiring lords of the woods to keep the roads clear of fallen and growing trees, to make it harder for wood kerns to launch their attacks.[8]
In literature
Notably, Kerns appear in Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part 2 (1599):
Cardinal.
My Lord of York, try what your fortune is.
The uncivil kerns of Ireland are in arms,
And temper clay with blood of Englishmen.
To Ireland will you lead a band of men,
Collected choicely, from each county some,
And try your hap against the Irishmen?[9]
Shakespeare mentions kerns (and gallowglasses) in his play Macbeth (1606):
The merciless Macdonwald,
Worthy to be a rebel, for to that
The multiplying villainies of nature
Do swarm upon him, from the Western isles
Of kerns and gallowglasses is supplied
[10]
See also
References
- ^ Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language (eDIL), column 107; www.dil.ie
- ^ MacBain, A. Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language (Stirling: E. Mackay, 1911: reissued Glasgow: Gairm 1982)
- G. A. Hayes-McCoy, in his article on Irish military tactics, gives a detailed discussion on their training and tactics.
G. A. Hayes-McCoy, "Strategy and Tactics in Irish Warfare, 1593-160", Irish Historical Studies; No. 7, Vol. 2, 1941, pp. 255–279. - ^ Similarly, the kerns are mentioned in Seán Ó Domhnaill's 1946 article on warfare in sixteenth century Ireland.
Seán Ó Domhnaill', "Warfare in Sixteenth Century Ireland", Irish Historical Studies, No. 5, 1946–1947, pp. 29–54. - ^ Simms, "Warfare in the medieval Gaelic lordships", p. 104; Cal. Carew MSS, v, p.83
- ^ "'Hags of hell':late medieval Irish kern". History Ireland. 25 February 2013. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
- OCLC 1029504463.)
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has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ a b Montgomery, William; Hill, George (1869). The Montgomery manuscripts: (1603–1706). J. Cleeland. p. 60.
- ^ William Shakespeare: King Henry VI, Second Part: ACT III, SCENE I. The Abbey at Bury St. Edmund's. (continued)
- ^ Macbeth, Act I, Scene II