... the English would be foreigners to most of the Irish and Scots recruits. The same viewpoint could also be taken by people from different counties in the same country. In fact, even today, anyone from outside Cumbria (for example) is a foreigner to the indigenous population, irrespective of their nationality or English county of origin. Glover (Michael) provided, I think, the lead for this type of analysis. Leaving aside the Irish recruit’s predilection for unlimited service (for which, an extra 5 guineas were offered) and also the problematic nature of regional affiliation and recruitment at this time, the Irish “provided a high proportion of the soldiers for the British infantry. Naturally the thirteen specifically Irish battalions were almost wholly recruited from Ireland, but the Irish also provided a large and growing proportion of the strength of English battalions. In 1809 34 per cent of the Fifty Seventh (West Middlesex) were Irish. In the Twenty Ninth (Worcestershire) there were only 19 per cent, but this rose to 37 per cent in the next two years.” Glover, M, Wellington’s Army in the Peninsula, 1808-1814, (David and Charles, 1973), p. 25.