What we portray
Backstory
Who we are
our Fallen
In the sixteenth century, just as now, money made the world go round. Life altering decisions were made based on finances of fathers. For the daughter of an impoverished family, the best that she could hope for was to amass a decent dowry so that she would be able to marry someone of either equal or slightly greater standing than her own family. For sons of impoverished families, however, there were more paths available to them. For the first son, there would be an inheritance of whatever happened to be in his father's coffers. For a second son, if there was enough money available, there was the possibility of an apprenticeship or maybe, if he was lucky, a position within the Church. If there were more sons, things looked rather bleak, but they still had options open to them. They could either take to the country as an outlaw, work for their brother or, take up what had been seen for centuries as an honorable profession: soldiering.
As early as the fourteenth century, the Scottish and Irish peoples found themselves leaving home in order to seek their fortunes as soldiers in other countries. For centuries, the Celts had been known for their fighting prowess and so, were well respected as soldiers even into the sixteenth century. Commonly employed as soldiers throughout Europe, Scottish and Irish soldiers found themselves employed from Italy to Germany, Spain to Sweden.
There were two options open to them when selecting the occupation of a soldier. They could either join a mercenary band or join up with a trained company for hire. While both would meet their immediate needs, there was no hope for long term success within a mercenary band since they were formed only for short periods of time to partake in brutal skirmishes where their pay would consist of nothing more than a portion of the loot. Joining a trained company on the other hand, afforded the soldiers a much more stable income. Throughout history, trained bands were employed for extended periods of time to protect and assist in defending cities. With a stable income and somewhere to call home, trained companies were much more successful over the long term than were those that elected to join mercenary bands.
We are a predominantly Scottish and Irish trained company and as such, we train, fight and live together as one cohesive unit. Taking into consideration that Torc Dubh makes their money though soldiery, it is not difficult to understand that some aspects of the military life-style permeate all aspects of life in the trained company. From the men too old to fight to the wives and young children of the soldiers, everyone has responsibilities that enable to company to be as successful as it is. While it is indeed the able-bodied men that are responsible for the income, it cannot be said that they alone make the success possible, for without the women, children and elders each pulling their own weight, our successes would not have been achievable.
While many of us left home, serving with other professional companies with the intention of making money, we all came to the same conclusion at one point or another; that in order to make a profit, one must go to where one's services are actively sought. With the tensions between the Protestants and Catholics continually threatening to boil over into a nation-wide war, it was clear that France was a place where cities would be desperately searching for trained companies that could be bought with some coin in order to reinforce their own soldiers as well as serve as an added line of defense. Continually growing in numbers, Torc Dubh has found that by being in the right place at the right time, one does not need to search for work. Instead, work finds you.
It was August 24, 1572. The muskets of the Ecossais du Roi of King Charles IX fired into the poorly armed groups of peasants that had roused from their sleep. Their axes and swords bit deeply into the peasants unarmored flesh. So it was to be a soldier fighting for the glory of God and King. When the slaughter ended on St Bartholomew’s day, the Ecossais du Roi stood facing the remnant of the village: men too old to fight, women and children; those unable to defend themselves. One officer of the Ecossais du Roi was ordered by his captain, and friend to take his men and "dispose" of the "heretical filth." Because the Ecossais were forced to follow orders, two soldiers and friends left the ranks of the Ecossais du Roi that day to an uncertain fate.
Their time in the Ecossais had taught them well. They knew what defenses worked well against a heavily armed and armored opponent, and that not only does the life of a soldier mean attack, but it also consists of defense. They soon found though, that because of their refusal to follow orders, the two men had a problem. Two men, who wish to survive, cannot defend a tree, much less a city by themselves. They needed to form a company.
The native French, being suspicious of foreign soldiers, no matter how good their intent, refused to either follow a traitor to the crown, or serve under the King's foreign "savages" from the Isles (dependant upon their faith). So the pair traveled far a field looking for bold men to answer their call to arms. What they found was that many of their fellow foreigners (the Scot and the Irish at least) had come to France to make their way in the world as they had, away from the troubles at home. Being foreign to the French, the new arrivals found it difficult to keep food on the tables for their families.
Sitting down with their Gaelic brethren, the new arrivals discussed their problems as well as that faced by the two deserters of the Ecossais du Roi. Finding a solution to both sets of problems was rather simple. The immigrants needed money to feed their families, and the two former Ecossais needed fighting men that had no issue with being led by "savages from the Isles." The solution was that the former Ecossais finally had the company they had been looking for. Many of these folk were not "professional" soldiers per say. Most of them, being born on the Isles however, knew how to handle themselves on the field due to experiences either fighting the English in Erin, or being involved in deadly feuds with their neighbors throughout their lives. They were, as their ancestors had been, folks that had grown up fighting for one cause or another.
The Ecossais had a band to begin training. Now, all that was needed was a way to identify the group as a unit, and a contract... these two dilemmas were solved almost simultaneously. One evening while sitting around a table during one of the new company’s many drunken discussions, a blacksmith recounted a tale from his youth. His story was of an old, mean boar that had roamed the areas around his home as a child. No matter who hunted the old boar, or how seemingly grievous the wounds it received, it returned year after year, older and meaner. In their drunken state the moniker had come to them: "The Company of the Black Boar," or tripping more easily off the Gaelic tongue as Torc Dubh.
In the month of November, a young French herald approached the company from the city of La Rochelle. He had come looking for soldiers to help in the defense of the city against the King, who had recently declared war on La Rochelle. The council of the city had refused to pay their taxes to King Charles due to the massacre on St. Bartholomew’s day, and as a reprisal the crown was marching on the city. After agreeing to a hefty sum for Torc Dubh’s participation in the defense, the company broke camp and began moving the fighting men to La Rochelle with great haste, leaving only an escort force for the baggage train.
La Rochelle is a city situated on the coast south west of Paris. Although the siege laid upon the city by Henri d’Anjou, the brother of King Charles IX cost all sides dearly, the 14 month siege failed to break the Protestant defenses. The ability of the city to re-supply by sea made the siege an utter failure. The siege train of d’Anjou, with the protestant leader Henri de Navarre as hostage, eventually forced a truce with the Protestant leaders and a treaty was signed. While they had come to terms with the Catholic crown, it was obvious that the Protestant leaders were not satisfied with the terms of the treaty.
After lining out the terms the mutual agreement within Torc Dubh, the members learned quickly that their brethren had all been exposed to new thoughts, ideas, and beliefs. Followers of the teachings of Calvin and Luther fought alongside those that followed the doctrine of the Holy Father in Rome. More than once, these opposing views have brought members to brawl amongst each other, however, their common heritage has allowed Torc Dubh to forge itself into a closely-knit family.
It matters not at all, the beliefs of those that would take Torc Dubh into service. The company cares not about their philosophies. As long as the employers maintain their portion of the agreement, Torc Dubh will defend their families, subjects, lands and properties.
*While the Ecossais du Roi or, Scotts of the King were in fact the loyal bodyguard to King Charles IX, we have not yet found any confirmation that they took part in the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre. This composition is entirely historical fiction.
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