The 18th Regiment of Foot, the Royal Irish, 1759

Pricing:  $85 USD SRP per set Features: - white metal - hand painted - historically accurate Delivery: In Stock

Faced with the potential threat of French landings and with much of the army despatched to North Germany to take part in the campaigns of the Seven years war, those regiments in England, Ireland and Scotland earmarked for home defence embarked on an often highly competitive recruitment drive. Manpower became scarce as the war went on and vying with the navy, and often each other, regimental recruiting parties, in their splendid full dress uniforms , scoured the towns and the countryside offering blandishments, bounties or even at times resorting to kidnappings in an effort to bring up to strength their peacetime establishments .

Inns and Public houses were natural places to recruit at, being popular and central to the way of life of the mostly rural population, so recruiters would use the attraction of such places and often relied on inebriation to hasten the recruiting process.

This set represents one such recruiting scene in rural Ireland with a splendidly turned out sergeant of the Royal Irish regiment extolling the virtues of "marrying Brown Bess", impressing the potential, naïve young recruit returning from a market day, piglet under his arm, with tales of bravery and the chance of spoil and plunder, if only he drinks to the King and takes his shilling!