Quote Originally Posted by MacConnachie
My understanding of the situation, although limited, was that the Black Watch government tartan was worn by the "Black and Tans," amongst others. The Black and Tans were "beasts of the lowest degree," according to the eyewitness descriptions of their activities on behalf of the British crown in pre-republic Ireland in the years between the end of WWI and the partition of Ireland. They were very greatly despised. A friend of mine who was first in Ireland in the 1970's said that an aunt of his - whose family members remained there as contrasted with thousands who emigrated to North America during those immediate pre-Republic days - would get absolutely flintey-eyed when speaking about the Black and Tans' depredations at a time when she would have been a teenager.

From a popular song of an early era of the 20th Century:
"Come on out ye Black and Tans
Come and fight me, like a man
Show your wife how you won medals
Down in Flanders
Tell her how the IRA
Made you run, like Hell, away
From the green and lovely lanes
Of Killeshandra"

There are still Irish-Americans in our region who cringe or turn away when they see anyone dressed in Black Watch. It's interesting that this is the tartan of choice for an Ancient Order of Hibernians pipe band in a nearby town. Their response to the Black and Tans debate? Many a brave Irish lad saw military service in such dress . . .

Mac
Mac,

the Black and Tans and the Black Watch are two different things all together. The Black Watch, the Royal Highland Regiment, is a regiment of the British Army. The "Black & Tans" were part of the old Royal Irish Constabulary and were recruited during the Anglo-Irish War of 1919-1922, mostly from out-of-work First World War veterans in the UK. The Tans and the Auxillaries, or "Auxies" (another auxillary police force of the RIC) were NOT British soldiers, but para-military police.

Neither the Tans nor the Auxies wore kilts or tartan, although they did wear khaki balmorals. Their name came from their uniform, which was a mixture of army khaki and RIC uniforms, which prompted the Irish to nickname them after a famous breed of hunting hound, a "black and tan".

I can understand the confusion of the two because of the similarity of names, but again, the Black and Tans and the Black Watch are not the same.

Regards,

Todd