The lineage of the Irish Jack is not so clearly defined as is that of the other Jacks. Although "Paddy" has always been so ready for a shindy that fighting has come to be considered his "natural diversion," he has never found himself particularly at home on the sea. It is on land that he has found play for his fierce delight in mingling where the fray is thickest. It is as a soldier that the Irishman has always excelled. Wellington, Wolseley and Roberts attest his power in command, and in many a forlorn hope the wild energy of the Irish blood in the ranks has scaled the breach and carried the stormers past the anxious moments of the onset, displaying that same "eager, fierce, impetuous valour" with which, in the charge of the Heavy Brigade at Balaclava, the "Inniskillings went into the massive Russian column with a cheer."[74] [74] Kinglake: "Invasion of the Crimea." It may be that as Ireland was at no time distinguished as a maritime nation, and its local shipping not developed to any great extent, the display of her national Jack had not been so much in evidence among the sailors of the early days as were the Jacks of the two sister nations. The banner of St. Patrick (28), which is the "Irish Jack," is a white flag, having on it a red cross of the same saltire or diagonal shape as St. Andrew's cross, the heraldic description being, "_Argent, a saltire gules_," red saltire cross on a white ground (Pl. I., fig. 3). [Illustration: 28. ST. PATRICK'S JACK.] St. Patrick was the Christian apostle of the Irish, and thus became their traditional patron saint. The story of his life is that he was born in Scotland, at Kilpatrick, near Dunbarton on the Clyde, and being taken prisoner by pirates when a child, was carried into Ireland and sold there as a serf. Having acquired the native language, he escaped to the continent, and afterwards becoming a Christian and having been ordained to service in the Church, returned to Ireland for the purpose of converting the people. The British name said to have been given him in his youth was _Succeath_ (valiant in war), a temperament which he certainly impressed upon the Irish. This name was afterwards, when he returned to Ireland, changed to _Patricius_, in evidence of his noble family descent, and to add importance to his mission.[75] [75] Smith: "Religion of Ancient Britain." The legends of the saint date back to A.D. 411, when he is reported to have commenced his mission, and to have afterwards devoted his life to the increase of the well-being of the people and the spread of Christianity throughout Ireland. Tradition reports, although some do not put much faith in it, that the saint suffered martyrdom upon a cross of the shape of this red cross, and thus, when he became the patron saint of Ireland, it was held in recognition as his emblem, and for that reason was adopted as the Irish cross. On the other hand, some people declare that the cross of the saltire shape is sacred only to St. Andrew.