Drums in Belfast

July 1st. It's not the victory/defeat, depending on your viewpoint, in the Battle of the Boyne, fought on another 1st of July, back in the 16-hundreds, that they're marching for today. No, today it's just a ca. 90 year old battle. World War I's slaughter and maiming of a million young men at Somme. The good news: finally the protestant North and the Catholic South have laid wreaths together in France. Now let's hope they can do more of the same in home waters.
Apropos: We were at the Ulster Museum today. A fabulous exhibit, extensive, well put together, interactive, called “Conflict: The Irish at War”. From the megalithic pre-Celts to the wall-divided city of Belfast. The panels and exhibits dissect and analyze the Irish participation in any number of wars at home and abroad. The exhibit is extended by popular demand. I could've spent more time there if the museum hadn't closed at 6pm.

Which gives us the opportunity to observe another battle. At a pub. England is mired down in battle with the Portuguese, in Germany. World Cup enthusiasts are cheering on their warriors. Mostly for Portugal!? A very few for England, and no animosity in the pub. Standing room only through two extra periods and the penalty shoot-out. Giving Portugal the battle's only fatal shot. Ronaldo's. Football battles, however inane they may seem, tend to have fewer casualties than the ones with pikes and guns. Football hooligans may not be a Sunday school class. On the other hand, the young men, dead and wounded, of the trench battles at Somme, had they marched 10 abreast, would have made a long, grim parade.

It would have taken two years for them to march by.