Simon

Speaking of the Irish...

On page 84 in Medieval Warfare there is a picture of a barefoot man with an axe and this caption:

"Irishmen, wrote Gerald of Wales in 1188, always carry an axe and are all too ready to use it. This 13th century English representation of a barefoot Irish axeman reflects the view, widely held from the 12th century onwards, that the Irish, like the Scots and Welsh, went 'naked' into battle. Their lack of armour left them so vulnerable to archery that they rarely got close enough to use the dreaded axe."

Take it for what it's worth.

Elmo