_Of chusing and mounting a_ Blade.
Courage and Skill being often of little Use without a good Weapon, I
think it necessary, before I lay down Rules for using it, to shew how to
chuse a good Blade, and how it ought to be mounted.
The Length of the Blade ought to be proportionable to the Stature of the
Person who is to use it: The longest Sword, from Point to Pommel,
should reach perpendicularly from the Ground to the Navel, and the
shortest, to the Waste; being large in Proportion to its Length, and not
extremely large, nor very small, as some People wear them; the over
large Blades being unweildy, unless very hollow, which makes them weak,
and the narrow ones being not sufficient to cover the Body enough.
In Order to chuse a good Blade, three Things are to be observed: First,
that the Blade have no Flaw in it, especially across, it being more
dangerous so than Length-way. Secondly, That it be well tempered, which
you'll know by bending it against a Wall or other Place; if it bend only
towards the Point, 'tis faulty, but if it bend in a semicircular Manner,
and the Blade spring back to its Straitness, 'tis a good Sign; If it
remains bent it is a Fault, tho' not so great as if it did not bend at
all; for a Blade that bends being of a soft Temper, seldom breaks; but a
stiff One being hard tempered is easily broke. The third Observation is
to be made by breaking the Point, and if the Part broken be of a grey
Colour, the Steel is good; if it be white 'tis not: Or you may strike
the Blade with a Key or other Piece of Iron, and if he gives a clear
Sound, there is no hidden Fault in it. In bending a Blade you must not
force it, what I have said being sufficient to know it by, and besides
by forcing it, it may be so weakened in some Part as to break when it
comes to be used.
It would not be amiss for a Man to see his Sword mounted, because the
Cutlers, to save themselves the Trouble of filing the inside of the
hilts and pommel, to make the Holes wider, often file the Tongue[1] of
the Blade too much, and fill up the Vacancies with Bits of Wood, by
which Means the Sword is not firm in the Hand, and the tongue being thin
and weak, is apt to break in Parrying or on a dry Beat, as has been
unhappily experienced. Care should also be taken that the End of the
Tongue be well riveted to the Extremity of the Pommel, lest the Grip
should fly off, which would be of very dangerous Consequence.
Some Men chuse strait Blades, others will have them bending a little
upwards or downwards; some like them to bend a little in the Fort, and
others in the Feeble, which is commonly called _le Tour de Breteur_, or
the Bullie's Blade. The Shell should be proportionable in Bigness to the
Blade, and of a Metal that will resist a Point, and the Handle fitted to
the Hand.
Some like square Handles, and others chuse round Ones; the square are
better and firmer in the Hand, but as this Difference depends on Fancy,
as does also the Bow, which in some Cases may preserve the Hand, but may
be a Hindrance in inclosing, I shall leave it to the Decision of the
Fashions.