Cavalry Tails

[fillo]

F molloy, I can see that fitting a few heads alright

[Ex-soldier]

The glengarry is a form of head dress that has a ribbon around it and tails hanging down the back. The tails are almost always black. This type of hat has been worn by the British Army for over a century and bagpipe bands have also worn it for years. I think the Collins story is fiction. Now the story that some officers wear glasses because Dev wore them is quite plausible. I also heard that they kept the Cavalry horses in stables because that's where Jesus was born....Coincidence.....I think not!!!

[hptmurphy]

So now we put the cavalry in the same order as gods....not a bad analogy really.Please note that in the history of the modern Irish army, the Cavalry have never been mounted on horseback....The only combatant unit to be was the Artillery....as for the glengarry looking like muck...petty jealousy!

kermit you are corrrect in asssuming I meant RDF officers.

[Bravo20]

What about the Blue Huzzars? What corps were they part of?

[Groundhog]

The Mounted Escort were artillery I think. The Blue Hussars was a nickname.

I thought we'd agreed that the ribbons were to adjust the fit for the wearer. And of course the green ribbons on the RDF officers glengarry are to distinguish them from the peasants in the cavalry corps at large. :D

[The Joker]

So since it has been clearly established on this board that the myth about the glengarry being given to the CAV as a mark of respect for Mick Collins. Do people think we should keep it. I know Ill start a poll.

[Ex-soldier]

No such thing has been clearly established. It was stated but that doesn't mean that it was established. The glengarry was around long before Collins. If it were so important to mark the cavalry as being connected to Collins then why oh why were the 4th Infantry battalion stationed in "Collins barracks" in Cork while the cavalry were sent out to the wilderness of Fermoy. There is no cavalry unit in West Cork where the man was from and where he was killed either. If I am not mistaken the same can be said for the cavalry in Dublin. There was an infantry battalion based at Collins barracks while the cavalry were elsewhere. I have never heard of a cavalry unit present at the memorials every year either. However, it has also been said that Dev had the man killed and that has never been proven but he certainly did keep a lot of cavalry around him for protection. Didn't he have 100 of them on motor-cycles escorting him in his big English Rolls-Royce. Hang on a minute, the glengarry is a british form of head dress too.....mmmm Coincidence, I think not!!

[FMolloy]

What exactly are you getting at?

[T.I.M.]

I`m guessing that hes alleging that the Brits dressed as Irish (thus the glen's) killed Collins....

[Bailer]

The Silly thing that people believe that Collins killing was a planned action after all these years! It's like our own little JFK conspiracy!! Collins was killed by a richochet from the Armoured Car (CAV) or the Hatch lug that had been blown off the armoured car.

At that time in south west Munster the IRA were organised into flying Columns as they had been pretty much since 1916, They had ambushed the RIC and the Black and Tans and British Army in exactly the same way up and Down cork and Kerry for years the fact that on this occasion they were "lucky" enough to get the Chief of Staff in one of their ambushes has led to people going as far as to believe that Dev pulled the trigger himself!! No one else was killed in that action and it's been proven that collins was not actually shot directly. Yes the Cav were his escort that day and a lot of the time BUT the cav were the only Unit capable of moving him around at all

[macca]

But that doesn't make for a good story! My granda was a real blueshirt, and he always maintained Dev was behind a rock with a rifle at Beal na Blath! I know its a bit off topic but a very good true story about Collins is about the salute from the British Destroyers in Queenstown as his funeral cortege sailed out into the harbour. It was told by Emmet Dalton on the TV series "Seven Ages", very emotive