This Scouting Life

Exploding tins of beans over a campfire. Hammering down tent pegs in the rain. Marching for hours, singing for days, and playing ‘Bulldog’s Charge’ at every opportunity. This Scouting Life is a story about the experiences shared by millions of people worldwide, and in communities all across Ireland. For the author, Archie Raeside, this is the story of how an eight-year-old boy in Dublin of 1947 decides he wants to become a Scout and how that desire becomes a reality. As the author rose through the ranks, his memories paint a picture of a changing organisation and a changing Ireland, recounting his involvement with Presidency of Eamon De Valera and the visit of Pope John Paul in 1979. This is a book that tells the story of one man’s life within the Irish Scouts, but in the memories he evokes and the scenes he recaptures, this is a book about a simpler time of which we were all a part.