The state herald., 1920-12-03

has been heard OF the Black and
Tans" In the chaotic war Of assas.
sinations. ambushes and reprisals in
Ireland, but probably few people
abroad have much information as to
who and what these men are.
The official title Of the corps Is the
Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish
Constabulary, and they were organ
lied when the supply OF recruits for
the r. l. C. began to fail The r. 1.
c., long famous as one OF the most
efficient bodies OF semi-military police
IN the world. was formerly exclusive
ly composed Of lrishmen. Men Of
magnificent physique, and superior
Intelligence. they ranked much high
er than the ordinary policeman, and
IN the better-ciass Irish farmer fami.
lies It was a subject for pride that
they had son In the r. I. c.
Equally efficient as cavalry or in
fantry. and armed with swords, rifles,
bayonets. revolvers. clubs and hand
grenades, the r. I. C. rarely had much
trouble with the most turbulent Irish
mobs. Only on rare occasions did
they need any other weapon than
their clubs, and couple Of these har,
dy horsemen would break up an ugly
mob Of contestants without doing
more damage than cracking head or
two. And the people thus clubbed
bore no malice; In fact the r. !. G..
were generally well liked.
Knowing that they could never stir
up much bitterness against this for
midable force. the Sim Fein extrem.
lists set themselves to breaking II up
by persuasion. intimidation and ANAL.
ly assassination. Some. they reason
ed with on patriotic grounds. and Sc
cured q few designations. while a
strenuous propaganda campaign.
coupled with actual intimidation and
boycotting. prevented many young
men joining who would otherwise
have done 30. The recent open cam.
paign Of assassination naturally
weakened the morale OF the force. es.
pecially as a boycott was rigid!y en-
forced against the wives, relatives
and known friends OF the members Of
the r. I. c. b
With the supply Of recruits cut Oh.
the British authorities realized that
bold steps had TO be taken. especially
az there was no time to train i'm
ported recruits to R. !. C. standards.
They accordingly formed the Auxil.
larry Division and particularly appeal
ed to English expfacers and soldiers.
well-trained In the use Of arms, scout.
ing. and already disciplined. The late
war left many enterprising. restless
and reckless young men more or less
on their beam ends. and these readily
jumped at the prospect Of more 'ex.
citement" with the attractive and un.
usually high pay of one pound day.
with uniform. equipment and all
found. The authorities were able to
take their pick from thousands Of vol.
unteers. and probably the world has
never seen more formidable body Of
war-wise daredevils enlisted. Natur.
ally II was these men who. feeling
themselves scouting In an enemy
country and carrying their lives In
their hands. were responsible for
most Of the reprisals.
The nickname BLACK and Tans"
was given them In derision. when the
authorities, not being quite sure how
they were going to uniform them,
and not having sufiicient r. I. c. uni.
forms In stock. fitted them out partly
In the dark green (almost black Of
the parent corps and partly In ordi.
nary army khaki. This sncer that
these half.black. k.half.brown.ciad men
resembled the snappy little bIack.and.
tan TERROR was soon stincd and
BLACK and Tan" is now n name OF
terror. Mostly. however. the BLACK
and Tans" wear ordinary oficer's
khaki uniform. without rank badges,
except for the black accoutrcments
and bandoliers Of the r. I. G. and
lately Scotch bonnet" with n white
81. Andrews cross MS badge. instead
OF the regulation cap.
Other forces In Ireland, apart from
the regular British troops, are the VI
stcr Volunteers. force formed by tho
unionist leader. Sir Edward Carson
In 1913. TO resist the passage Of Home
Rule. This again Ia n decidedly dan
gcrous army. numbering somc i50. .00t
men. many OF whom are well trained
I