Warriors For The Working Day
145 Walsall Road
Border Pricker– Elizabethan Light Horseman
This figure is interpreted from John
Derricke’s ‘Image of Ireland’ a book produced in 1581 relating events of
English action against Irish rebels.
This soldier is a light horseman, most likely recruited amongst the
feuding families of the Anglo Scots border. He wears a fully sleeved mid
thigh length mail shirt, a burgonet helmet and a plate gorget to protect
his neck, long leather riding boots offer some protection for his legs. He
is armed with lance and sword and carries a shield bearing the English
emblem of the Saint George’s cross.
These were light cavalry, used for reconnaissance and raiding but did
prove themselves very effective against the far more primitive and ill
disciplined Irish horsemen. However, they would probably have fared less
well against the pistol armed light cavalry of continental Europe.