borne in front of princely personages by their esquires. The broad
surfaces they presented for decoration, and the esteem they were held
in, induced even very great artists, like Giulio Romano, not only to
design them, but actually to work upon them. It is far from rare to
find in collections of drawings by old masters, designs for shields,
like those signed Polydore and B. Franco hanging in the corridors at
Chatsworth. Under the Tudor and later Valois kings they were usually
round and of steel, but sometimes elliptical, obovate, vesica-shaped,
rectangular, and even heater-shaped, with painted arms. One of the
finest ever produced is the Milanese buckler at Windsor, believed to
have been in England since the time of Francis I. The repoussé work
is of most exquisite finish and the gold damascening of extraordinary
delicacy. Others not inferior to it are at Dresden, Turin, and Madrid,
the latter by Colman of Augsburg. The shield of Charles IX. in the
Louvre is also superbly damascened. Magnificent specimens are known
from the hands of the Negrolis and Picinino of Milan, Gasparo Mola of
Florence, Giorgio Ghisi of Mantua. A description of one, now lost,
by Hieronymus Spacini of Milan, states that it comprised forty-eight
engravings in gold upon niello. Hans Mielich has left several
designs, some of which were carried out by Colman. The finely-embossed
target in the Kensington Museum is signed by Georgius Sigman of
Augsburg. The Bernal, Meyrick, Soltykoff, and other collections now
dispersed, included examples illustrating the story of Coriolanus,
Siege of Troy, Judgment of Paris, etc.
[Illustration: FIG. 31.--_Target of Etched Steel. Italian or German,
about 1550. Mr. P. Davidson's Collection._]
Those intended to receive the hard knocks of active service must
have presented unembossed surfaces, though perhaps richly etched and
gilded like the morions. The specimen (Fig. 30) belonging to Mr.
Currie is rich enough for parade, with its bands of embossing and fine
damascening, while the second illustration (Fig. 31) might have been
the war target of an Italian or Spanish Captain under Philip II. It
is remarkable that the first Greenwich inventory only contains eight
bucklers, "of steele, seven guilte and wroughte." They were probably
somewhat like Fig. 31. Another among the jewels was of silver gilt,
with the arms of England, roses, castles, and pomegranates. This,
like the quaint little roundel belonging to Lord Kenyon (Fig. 32),
was probably English. It appears that London bucklers acquired some
celebrity in the time of Elizabeth, who limited the length of their
steel points to two inches, for the young King of Scots greatly desired
to possess one. George Brownfelde, Roger Morgan, Tothill Street, and
Richard Hamkyn, King Street, Westminster, were buckler-makers to Henry
VIII.; and Peter Lovat, a Frenchman, supplied steel pavices at the sign
of the cock in Fleet Street at eight shillings each. They are seldom
mentioned as playing a part in actual warfare, though when Lord Grey
de Wilton called for forlorn hopes at the siege of Guynes, fifty stept
out "with swordes and roondelles to view and essaye the breatches." The
celebrated Jarnac duel, witnessed by Henri II., was fought with sword
and target.
[Illustration: FIG. 32.--_Roundel with National Badges and Inscription.
Belonging to Lord Kenyon._]
[Illustration: FIG. 33.--_Hilt of Two-handed Sword with the Bear and
Ragged Staff on the Pommel and Quillons in chased steel. Penshurst._]
The chanfron or head-piece to the horse's armour, originally called the
chevron, received as much attention as the helmet or buckler of its
rider. It was the pride of the noble, when Monstrelet wrote, to make
the horse's head-front blaze with jewels. Designs for horse-armour by
Hans Mielich, and that actually executed for Christian II. at Dresden,
are as rich as the suits themselves. The latter illustrates the labours
of Hercules, and is the one for which Colman received 14,000 crowns.
The chanfron bears a spike, an appendage dating back to the time of
Edward III. In the _Anturs of Arthur_ we read--
Opon his chèveronne be-forn
Stode as a unicorn
Als scharpe as a thorn,
An nanlas of stele.
The charger ridden by Lord Scales in his tourney with the Bastard of
Burgundy had a "schaffrõ with a large sharpe pyke of stele," which,
penetrating the nostrils of the Bastard's steed, caused it to rear and
throw him. The oldest chanfron handed down is that in Warwick Castle,
which was there when visited by Sir William Dugdale. The lower part of
one belonging to the suit, Fig. 29, is seen in Plate VII.
[Illustration: FIG. 34.--_Venetian Cinquedea, engraved, with Ivory
Handle. The Duke of Norfolk._]
Swords varied considerably in the sixteenth century, the extremes
sometimes meeting in the same army, the two-handed sword, scimitar,
rapier, sabre, cinquedea, falchion, and malchus, being borne perhaps
simultaneously by the mercenary bands comprised in it. The two-handed
sword represents the largest dimensions ever attained by this weapon,
perhaps originating in the sword of state, like that of Edward III. in
Westminster Abbey. It was used in Scotland at an early period; if not
wielded by whole clans, certainly by champions of exceptional vigour.
Thus Froissart relates that Sir Archibald Douglas fought on foot and
wielded an immense sword, the blade of which was two ells long, and
so heavy that scarcely any other man could have lifted it from the
ground. This great sword is the real claymore, though the name has been
misappropriated to the Scottish basket-hilted broadsword of the last
century. The Swiss and Germans were the only people who made it an
offensive weapon for large disciplined bodies of troops, and in the
sixteenth century it had become an essentially Teutonic weapon. Henry
VIII.'s great personal strength and agility enabled him to wield it,
as a young man, and to withstand all-comers. The fine hilt illustrated
(Fig. 33) from Penshurst, with the pommel and quillons carved and
chased out of the solid steel into the bears and ragged staff of the
Leicesters, is undoubtedly the most beautiful in the country. The blade
has been shortened, perhaps under the edict of Queen Elizabeth, who
posted guards at the City Gates to break all swords that were too long.
[Illustration: FIG. 35.--_Main-Gauche with Steel Hilt. Belonging to Mr.
Percy Macquoid._]
[Illustration: FIG. 36.--_Main-Gauche with Silver Guard. Windsor
Castle._]
[Illustration: FIG. 37.--_Rapier with Silver Guard. Windsor Castle._]
In striking contrast to this is the well-known Cinquedea, the
Italian translation of the French _Sang de dez_. The name of a
spear, _langue-de-boeuf_, has been improperly applied to it since the
eighteenth century. The handles were frequently ivory with pierced
brass insertions, like the illustration (Fig. 34), belonging to
the Duke of Norfolk; but the finest examples are of chased steel,
exquisitely worked and silvered. The Cinquedea was highly esteemed in
Venice.
[Illustration: FIG. 38.--_Inlaid Ivory Cross-bow. Tower of London._]
Until the introduction of the Spanish rapier the sword used with
the buckler was short and heavy in the blade, though with handles
sometimes richly worked and inlaid with silver. The rapier appeared
about 1570 to 1580, the slender tapering blade being relatively of
great length, rendering it difficult to sheathe. The guards to the
hilts were generally of open work, the variety of form, though endless,
falling into three leading groups, the swept-hilted, shell-guard, and
cup-hilted, the finest workmanship being as a rule found on the latter.
The quillons, generally very long, are either straight or curved.
With the rapier, a long dagger held in the left hand and called the
_main-gauche_ was used to parry, the blade being notched near the
base to entangle and break the opponent's weapon. Two varieties are
figured, both with superbly chased hilts; the one of steel belonging
to Mr. Percy Macquoid (Fig. 35), and one with silver guard (Fig. 36),
belonging to Her Majesty. The cup-hilted rapier (Fig. 37), reproduced
on a slightly smaller scale, is the companion to the latter dagger
and is also partly silver-hilted and chased with representations of
combats. The quillons are engraved with flowers, and the blade is
signed Heinrich Coell, Solingen. The blades and hilts were frequently,
perhaps usually, made in different workshops. Many of those in
Vienna have German hilts and Italian blades, others have Solingen
blades and Milanese hilts. Toledo blades were, however, preferred,
and their marks were frequently imitated by German makers. The first
ship of the ill-fated Spanish Armada to fall a prey to Drake and
Howard was the _Capitana_ of the Andalusian squadron, which among its
treasures carried a chest of swords, richly mounted, and intended for
presentation to the English Catholic peers. Frequent reference is made
in Elizabethan plays to Bilbao and Toledo blades, but more especially
to "Foxes," so called from the Nuremberg mark. Certain passages show
that these were used with the buckler, in this country at least; and in
the engraving of the funeral of Sir Philip Sidney, targets both round
and oval are carried.
The staves, bills, pikes, morris-pikes, holy-water sprinklers, etc.,
played a very important part in war at this period. The halberds and
partisans carried by officers of the harquebusiers, royal guards,
and officials were the vehicles for an immense amount of decoration,
especially throughout the seventeenth century. Albert Dürer, writing
from Venice to Pirkheimer, mentions that the Italian lansquenets
"have roncoins with 218 points, and if they pink a man with any of
these, the man is dead, as they are all poisoned." This could hardly
have been serious, but a sheet of drawings by Leonardo da Vinci shows
some very extraordinary forms. Most of the varieties of staves were
no doubt originally developments of the peasant scythes, bill-hooks,
pitch-forks, and the poll-axe; each country preserving some peculiar
form. The cross-bow had long ceased to be a military weapon, but was,
owing to its silent fire, still in great repute for sport. It was
usually inlaid with ivory, engraved, sometimes stained and heightened
with pearl. A fine specimen in the Tower is illustrated (Fig. 38).
V
FIREARMS AND GUNLOCKS
_By_ MAJOR V. A. FARQUHARSON
The actual date of the first employment of portable firearms is
uncertain, but representations of them are frequently met with in the
illustrated MSS. of the early part of the fifteenth century, their
form at first being simply a tube fastened to a wooden stock, and,
according to the coloured drawings, the tube was either of brass or
iron. The manner of firing was to apply a match by hand to a touch-hole
situated on the upper part of the barrel. The first improvement was
to drill the touch-hole in the side of the barrel, with the priming
held in a pan formed in a projection also on the side of the barrel,
which had a cover, moving on a pivot, thus protecting the powder from
the wet or wind till the moment of firing, when it was pushed back
by hand. This was the general kind of firearm used during the first
half of the fifteenth century. For some time after their introduction,
hand firearms were viewed with disfavour, and it was considered more
or less unfair to employ them, seeing that the Gothic armour worn by
the knights had power to resist the ordinary weapons of the field, but
took no account of the effects of missiles from the clumsy "gonner."
That they were in use in 1453 is evident, as the great Talbot, 1st Earl
of Shrewsbury, buried at Whitchurch, came to his end from this cause.
"Though at first with manfull courage and sore fighting the Earle wanne
the entre of their camp, yet at length they compassed him about, and,
_shooting him through the thigh with an hand-gonne_, slew his horse and
finally killed him lying on the ground, whom they never durst look
in the face, while he stood on his feet" (Hollinshed's _Chronicle_).
This was at Chatillon, 20th July 1453.
[Illustration: PLATE VIII.--Wheel-lock of bright steel, with engraved
and pierced brass. German, 17th Century.
Wheel-lock of blued steel, with gold and silver inlay, and wheel-guard
of tracery in thin gold. French, 17th Century. Collection of Major
Farquharson.]
The first lock was apparently a curved piece of metal in the shape of
an S and pivoted in the centre, the upper point holding the match,
the lower part, which was prolonged like the lever in the cross-bow,
by its weight keeping the match from the pan till this lower part was
compressed to the stock on firing.
The next stage was the matchlock proper. This is the first lock where
the mechanism is complete on a plate. The cock is kept back by a spring
acting on the long arm of a lever, while fastened to the short end was
a sear or trigger. The pan still projects on the side of the barrel,
a principle seen in modern Eastern matchlocks. The next matchlocks
had the pan fixed to and forming part of the plate; later matchlocks
only vary in the shape of the plate. In the reign of William III. the
plates are of the same size as the flint-lock, so that the locks could
be changed when required. The matchlock was altogether in use for
nearly 200 years, owing to its great simplicity and cheapness. There
is a variation of the matchlock in which, by elaborate mechanism, the
match is caused to descend on the priming with a snap-action. It is
difficult to see the advantage to be obtained from this, as the match
it would appear must have broken by contact with the pan, unless it
may have taken the form of a stick of hard composition. The head of
the match-holders in these locks is a short tube, which gives some
probability to this theory, but there is no record to prove it.
The _wheel-lock_ is supposed to have been invented in 1517, although
a lock belonging to the writer has the date of 1509, yet it is not
certain if 1569 is not meant. Nuremberg is reported to be the place of
its invention, where indeed, at the time, most things were claimed to
have been invented; and the city mark is constantly met with on early
locks. It was an important invention, and, except for the delicacy of
its mechanism and great expense of production, it was an efficient
lock. It consisted briefly of a steel wheel, having from two to four
grooves affixed to an axle which passed through the lock-plate, the
edge of the wheel appearing through the bottom of the pan. The outer
part of the axle was square for a key to fit on, and the inner had a
shoulder or crank, which was connected by a shackle chain of three
links to an extremely strong spring. The fire stone (pyrites) was
fixed in a holder, screwed to the farther end of the lock-plate. The
pan had a sliding cover. To put the lock in action a key or "spanner"
was placed on the outer end of the axle, and given a 3/4 turn; by this
the spring was compressed, and kept at tension by the nose of a sear,
connected with the trigger, entering a small hole on the inner surface
of the wheel. The pan was then primed, the sliding cover brought over
it, and the pyrites holder depressed, bringing the pyrites down on the
cover. On pulling the trigger the wheel revolved, its axle shoulder
knocked back the pan cover and allowed the grooves to grate sparks
from the fire-stone, thus firing the priming. There are numerous
variations in the wheel-lock of all dates and of many nationalities.
By the shape of the feeds, the number of grooves, and by the internal
mechanism, and of course by the ornamentation, a tolerable idea can
be got of the date or origin of a piece. It is remarkable that the
earliest locks were more complete and had appliances that we fail to
find in the later. Thus in Fig. 40, a type of the earliest pistol, the
lock possesses a safety catch to prevent premature discharge, also a
spring-catch to keep the pan cover back. Those, which would be thought
advantages, are not to be found in the two examples in Plate VIII. of
later date and finer workmanship. In some cases the wheel winds itself,
when the pyrites holder is drawn back, thus dispensing with a key. This
principle is such an obvious improvement that it seems strange it was
not universally adopted.
[Illustration: FIG. 39.--_Pistol by Lazarino Cominazzo. Collection of
Major Farquharson._]
[Illustration: FIG. 40.--_Early German Wheel-lock Pistol, used by the
Reiters. Collection of Major Farquharson._]
A result of the introduction of the wheel-lock was the invention of
pistols, which never carry match-locks. The name may have been derived
from Pistoia in Tuscany, or, as it has been suggested, from the name
of the coin pistole, referring to the bore. There is a word in Italian
_pistolese_, but it signifies a knife. Fig. 40 is a good example of an
early pistol. It is of the class used by the Reiters, German cavalry,
the first body of troops armed with pistols. The barrels at this time
are of great thickness, owing to the dread of bursting, and the stocks
sloped abruptly, being terminated by a ball butt. This was probably to
act as a counterpoise, and also to facilitate drawing the piece from
the holster. It would be more efficient, too, when used as a club,
as it very frequently was, according to pictures of the time. In
early engravings of the Reiter he is armed not only with a pair, but
on occasion with four of these pistols, two in the holsters and two
fastened to his belt by hasps (Fig. 40 is furnished with a hook or hasp
on the reverse side). The Reiter also had a sword. The introduction
of the pistol altered the tactics of war; the bodies of horse no
longer charged home, but galloped up by ranks, within a few paces of
the enemy, discharged their pistols, and then wheeled outward by half
troops towards each flank, leaving the front clear for the succeeding
rank to take their place. They then reloaded and re-formed ready for
another advance. Many of the earlier pistols were wholly of steel.
The smaller pistols had a flat butt, cut slanting, and were called
Dags. In course of time the barrels were made longer and thinner, the
stocks became more straight, and the ball butt elongated, and finally
disappeared. The wheel-lock was used for pistols up to 1650. Crusoe, in
the Instructions for the Cavallerie, 1632, gives some fifteen motions
for the "firing Exercise" of the wheel pistol.
The Queen possesses a double-barrelled wheel rifle, in which one barrel
was placed vertically over the other, dated 1588. It is fired by means
of two wheel-locks on one plate, in one of which the works are outside,
and the other has them hidden by the plate, the stock is of dark wood,
and the fittings of the locks are of chased and gilt metal. Its double
barrel, date of the rifling, and the fact of its having a steel ramrod,
all make it remarkable. The Dresden arms are on the heel plate, a
cypher HF on the stock, and the barrel has a bear as armourer's mark.
The wheel-lock was rarely used for infantry arms, but was of necessity
employed by cavalry, where the match was inconvenient.
The next form of lock was the _Snap-hance_, evolved from the wheel-lock
by converting the pyrites holder into a fire-steel, and replacing the
wheel by a hammer, acted on by a spring and affixed to the opposite
side of the pan. The pan and cover remained the same, and the latter
slid back as the hammer fell on the steel, leaving the powder bare for
the sparks to fall on.
The earliest actual lock of this sort is on a pair of pistols in the
Dresden Armoury, dated 1598. The pistols are of the Scotch form,
but are probably of Spanish make, as the Highlanders obtained their
firearms largely from Spain.
The example Fig. 42 is a snap-hance of Italian make, but of later type
(about 1640). It was selected on account of the beautiful chiselled
steel of which it is composed. This is in three degrees of relief. The
hammer has two dragons entwined on it, and the plate and fire-steel are
very richly fashioned, having the armourer's signature on it, GIOVANNI
· VATE · BORGOGNONE · IN · BRESCIA. Part of the fire-steel is missing.
The most famous makers of firearms of the middle of the seventeenth
century lived in Brescia, such as Lazarino Cominazzo, father and son,
Lazaro Lazarino, Francino, and others. Their weapons were famed for
extreme lightness and beauty of decoration.
Fig. 39 is a late example of Cominazzo's work. The barrel has a
beautiful fluted twist on it, and the lock-plate and hammer, as well as
the butt, are chiselled in high relief. These armourers made weapons
with each class of lock. It was quite the thing for any one on their
grand tour to visit Brescia, and bring back one of these famed weapons.
Evelyn in his _Diary_ tells us how he paid a visit to "old Lazarino
Cominazzo," and got from him a carbine for which he paid a good deal
of money. He seems to have been rather proud of his acquisition, as he
more than once alludes to it.
The Civil War in England showed firearms in use with all four classes
of lock. The infantry on both sides were chiefly armed with the heavy
musket fired from a rest, having the match-lock. The cavalry had
carbines fitted with snap-hances or the early complete flint, or were
provided with wheel-locks.
The wheel-lock disappears from military arms about 1670, but continued
in use in Germany for sporting rifles until a much later date. The
_Flint-lock_ proper came into use about 1630. The earliest specimens
appear to be Spanish. The mainspring in these was on the outside of the
lock-plate, and the mechanism of the simplest character, consisting of
a catch forming a ledge, protruding to the outside of the lock-plate,
for the foot of the hammer to rest on when cocked, and on this ledge
being drawn back on pressing the trigger the hammer falls, striking the
steel, which also covers the pan.
[Illustration: FIG. 41.--_Richly Decorated Flint-lock. Probably
Spanish. Collection of Major Farquharson._]
[Illustration: FIG. 42.--_Snap-hance of Italian make, about 1640.
Collection of Major Farquharson._]
The example Fig. 43 is one of a class where the ornamentation is very
elaborate. The design is formed mostly by the chisel and hammer, and
even in the internal mechanism the file appears scarcely to have been
used. Many of these fine locks exist, but never have any armourer's
mark on them; the mechanism, however, points to their Spanish origin.
Works of this description were found in Spanish locks to the latter end
of the eighteenth century. In both English and French flint-locks the
mechanism was on the inside of the lock-plate, and a tumbler connected
the hammer with the action of the mainspring. A later improvement
was to add a bridle to give two bearings for the tumbler axle, and a
small swivel connecting the tumbler with the mainspring, both of these
improvements ensuring greater smoothness in the action. This form of
improved mechanism was continued in the percussion lock, after the use
of a flint was discontinued, and, indeed, the hammer used in the first
military breechloader generally employed in our army, the Snider, was
acted on by mechanism of much the same sort.
[Illustration: FIGS. 43, 44.--_Highland Pistols. Collection of Major
Farquharson._]