ABSTRACT
The history of the Volunteer Force began as a study of patriotism. The Volunteer movement became the Volunteer Force, an institution which proved to have a remarkable ability to survive times both of neglect and abuse. The reason for this seems to be that for most members of the Force volunteering had an instrumental value which was unaffected by doubts in military circles as to its value for the defence of the country. For its members the Volunteer Force provided recreation. Middle-class contemporaries were not unaware of this, and it made them somewhat uneasy. To upper-class Victorians the Volunteer Force, the embodiment of patriotism in a military institution, was something to be patronised at annual prize-givings, and called upon for service in times of crisis. Patriotism, to the upper class, was more acceptable as an ideal than a reality, and its manifestation in the Volunteer Force was repellent enough to send them instead to the grouse moors and golf courses.
