National Scout, noun phrase

Forms:
Also with small initials.
historical
During the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902): a member of a corps consisting of Boers who, having deserted to the British forces, were used as scouts in various British units. Cf. joiner sense 1.
Note:
The corps was raised in 1901; its members were looked upon with opprobrium by Boers, both during and after the war.
1900 A.C. Doyle Great Boer War (1902) 519The National Scouts, or ‘tame Boers,’ as they were familiarly called.
1902 P.J. Du Toit Diary (1974) 92We have about 70 National Scouts, who, I noticed, are always put in advance and sent out in different directions, showing what confidence is placed in them.
1913 J. Brandt Petticoat Commando 148The thought has occurred to me that the words ‘National Scout’ may convey nothing to my English reader...The first downward step to becoming a National Scout was the voluntary surrendering of arms to the enemy, to become a ‘Handsupper’, as the burghers were called, who laid down their arms while the Boer leaders were still in the field.
1915 J.K. O’Connor Afrikander Rebellion 57Had certain Afrikanders not joined the National Scouts, and had there been fewer ‘hands-uppers’, the Republican forces would have victoriously emerged from the war.
1921 W.C. Scully Harrow 197Were the fires of our tribulation to be kindled again tomorrow, these men would without hesitation go over to the side of our oppressors. Beware of such and — thrice and three times thrice — beware of the infamous ‘National Scout’.
1928 E.A. Walker Hist. of S. Afr. 507Farmers..refused to allow bijwoners to return to their farms, especially as many of these tenants-at-will had been National Scouts.
1936 Cambridge Hist. of Brit. Empire VIII. 610Prisoners of war, inmates of the Concentration Camps, ‘hands-uppers’ or even National Scouts in the service of the enemy.
1943 I. Frack S. Afr. Doctor 99The most detested appellation of all was ‘National Scout,’ implying that a man had deserted to the enemy during the Anglo-Boer War.
1974 J.P. Brits Diary of Nat. Scout 3The joiners..were burghers who, instead of laying down arms and ceasing to fight, defected openly and accepted remuneration for services rendered to the enemy. Grouped together as Town Guards, Farmers’ Guards, Volunteers, Orange River Colony Volunteers and National Scouts, they put their knowledge of the topography and of the Boers’ military tactics at the disposal of their British overlords.
1977 T.R.H. Davenport S. Afr.: Mod. Hist. 142National Scouts and their families were particularly vulnerable to Boer retribution, and it was in the first instance to protect them that the British military authorities decided in the second half of 1900 to set up concentration camps.
1978 R. Welch Brothers. (Unpublished MS)Robbers, murderers, adulterers and fornicators the Lord and I can forgive — but National Scouts? Never!
1980 Cape Times 29 Mar. 8At the end of the war, ‘for the sake of future generations’, Generals Botha, De la Rey and De Wet agreed to destroy a list of National Scouts.
a member of a corps consisting of Boers who, having deserted to the British forces, were used as scouts in various British units.
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19001980