Book description
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 Presidencey 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.
As a boy, Archie Raeside travelled throughout Ireland and parts
of England, Scotland and Wales with the scouts, meeting both the
President of Ireland and the Pope in this capacity. He is a lifetime
member of Scouting Ireland. After joining the Irish Air Corp, he
travelled to the Congo with the UN, and was a recipient of the
Military Service medal, United Nations Service medal, Nobel Peace Medal.
