Marsh Warden
Just what IS a "Marsh Warden" anyway??
shareI came here wanting to ask exactly the same question. And why would the British "import" someone from - presumably - Northern Island to be one? Why wouldn't his job be fulfilled by the Home Guard or something?
I asked the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.
The film may not shed a lot of light but the book provides a fair amount of detail.
A marsh warden is employed by the land owner to work on his property. It is not a military position. The job involves vermin control (Foxes) and checking and maintaining the dyke gates in the coastal parts of the property. The work was not particularly hard and so was suited to Devlins cover of being an Irish man who was wounded while serving in the British Army. An ideal job for a wounded war hero.
The job came with an isolated cottage, a motor cycle and a shotgun which enabled Devlin to travel freely in the district while preparing for Stieners arrival.
Thanks for the info. Did the Irish fight with the British in WW II? I thought they were neutral. And it sure seemed like Devlin was hated in the village.
I asked the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.
The Irish were neutral during the war but many Irish joined the British forces. For example there were 10 Irish men in the RAF during the battle of Britain as well as 564 other non British including people from Poland, New Zealand, Canada, Chechoslavakia, Australia and more than 8 other countries.
Dislike for Devlin was simply because he wasn't from around there, he caught the local girls eye and he received some work equipment that others had not. (Motor bike and shotgun). Studely constable was a small village the same as any other the world over. If you were not born there you were not really a local. Taking that part out of the equation, an Irish man who served in the British forces as Devlin was presented would normally have been well accepted.
to Thumpah. Good info. And we should also remember that most British would have liked those from the northern parts of Ireland who were mostly "loyal to the crown" and Protestant. These were mostly descendants of land hungry Protestant Scotsmen and English nobles brought there by English monarchs like James I to supplant the local Catholic nobility (stripped of their lands and titles)and the local indigenous Irish Catholic population.
share