the Great Highland Bagpipe playing important roles in the culture of their respective nations. Exported Gaelic Warfare Gallowglass The most prolific Norse legacy in Gaelic warfare was the introduction of the Gallowglass, gallóglaigh (Irish) or gallòglaich (Scottish Gaelic), a kind of heavy infantry, shock troop and elite bodyguard for the Gaelic Nobility. Similar in function to the Housecarls of the English nobility or the Varangian Guard of Constantinople. The original Gallowglass were Norse–Gaelic mercenaries who came from the Hebrides and the Isles. They appeared in Ireland in the 13th century, following the Wars of Scottish Independence and the Bruce campaign but by the 15th century most large túatha had their own hereditary force of Gallowglass. They fought and trained in a combination of Gaelic and Norse techniques, and were highly valued; they were hired throughout the British Isles at different times, though most famously in Ireland. One of the first battles believed to have to included Gallowglass was the Battle of Connacht. As Áed na nGall Ó Conchobair, the King of Connacht who defeated the Anglo-Normans, was known to travel with a retinue of 160 Gallowglass that he received as a dowry. Gallowglass usually wore mail and iron helmets and wielded heavy weaponry such as the Dane axe, Sparth axes, Lochaber axes, Longswords, Claymores and sometimes spears or lances. These Gallóglaigh furnished the retreating Gaels with a "moving line of defense from which the horsemen could make short, sharp charges, and behind which they could retreat when pursued". Their heavy armor made them less nimble than kern, so they were sometimes placed at strategic spots along the line of retreat. Gallowglasses were frequently hired and served as mercenaries in continental armies and units, such as the Dutch Blue Guards, Swiss Guard, the French Scottish Guard, and the forces of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden in his invasion of Livonia during the Thirty Years' War. Gallowglass later became a caste of warrior rather than a indicator of a norse gaelic origin, with Irish Gallowglass clans producing their own. Despite the increased usage of firearms in Irish warfare following the 16th century, Gallowglass remained an integral part of Hugh Ó Neill's forces during the Nine Years' War. Following the combined Irish defeat at the Battle of Kinsale in 1601, the recruitment of the heavily armored warriors finally waned. Hobelars Hobelars were a mounted, highly mobile skirmisher unit. Some were mounted archers, some